[SamirD]

I'm really glad to be here and find this amazing group of car enthusiasts.

My name is Samir and I'm in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. I found team-bhp when searching for something on google. I was amazed at the quality of the posts and the awesome scene that is there in India. I had to join in on the fun.

I've been a car enthusiast ever since I was young. My father worked in Michigan for American Motors and Ford in the late 1970s so I think I got the bug from that. (He came here in the late 1960s to do his masters in mechanical engineering.) When I was able to finally get behind the wheel myself, a whole new world opened up for me.

My serious hobby, and pretty much my occupation, is a local car and bike enthusiast web site, Huntsville Car Scene.com. I try to create synergy between all the local car and bike organizations by providing event coverage and maintaining an all encompassing calendar of events. It's like a local emagazine and a lot of work. We have so many organizations for such a small city (only 300,000 people)--Corvette clubs, Ferrari, Miata, Mustang, Porsche, Viper, Volkswagon, RX8, Harley Davidson, Sportbikes, etc, etc. I've shot over 200,000 photos for the site and continue to shoot every week. But I love it as I get to do things most people only dream. Just recently, I met former Indy, Nascar, and Lemans driver Davy Jones, and sat in and touched the new 2011 Jaguar XJ. I've also met (at the time) Indy driver Scott Sharp as well as others over the years.

And since I'm also an enthusiast, I own nine cars. I don't have nearly as much time to drive them all, as each is for different purposes, but I love them all and want more!

Here's the list of them with details:
2005 Porsche Boxster - black on black. Just a mid-level Boxster with the premium Bose 11 speaker stereo and power everything like seats, heated seats, etc. I added RS60 front lip spoilers after an encounter with a coyote tore off the front nose of the car. $4500 USD later it's back like brand new. This is my car for curves. I love the handling. It's custom license plate reads '4CURVS'.

2002 Mercedes e55 AMG - black on black. I originally bought this car as a gift for my dad, but he drove it so many miles without changing the oil that I told him to park it so I could change the oil. Well, the battery went dead and it took me two years to figure out how to get back in the car. It's currently sitting, but has been in a climate controlled garage and now has a new battery. I need to get the oil changed and a good lookover on everything and it will be back on the road! This is probably the lowest mileage w210 e55 in the USA. It has less than 24,000mi on the odometer.

2000 Chevrolet Corvette - red with sand beige interior (my avatar). I bought this car from a good friend who did all the modifications to this monster. This car dynos 510+hp to the rear wheels on nitrous. It will do 0-60mph in 3 seconds and will hit 123mph faster than you know it. The car isn't happy until about 140mph, but there's not too many places you can drive it that fast. This is my straightline car for drag racing, but it is very daily drivable. It's custom license plate reads '4STR8S'. It has dual zone climate control, a heads up display, a strengthened automatic transmission, a Bose stereo, and gets 33mpg on the highway when cruising. But push the pedal to the floor at 70mph, and you feel the traction control kick in (even with 295 width tires on the rear), and by the time you count to the 'th' in three, you are already at 123mph. And this is without the nitrous. The fastest I've had it was 168mph. It can probably hit 180mph, but I'm too chicken to do that on public highways. If the police catch you at those speeds, the car would be impounded and I would be in jail.

1996 Mitsibushi Galant S - white with cream interior. One of my daily drivers. This car is your basic four door automatic transmission car with power windows. I upgraded the front brakes to a 13" rotor Baer big brake upgrade, and the wheels to 17" to accommodate the new brake system. This is the same brake system found on c4 Corvettes and older Mustang Cobras. This upgrade has only been done on about 5 other Galants in the world, as far as I know.

1995 Nissan Altima SE (2) - black with charcoal interior. I actually have two of these. My brother and I bought twin cars. His was in California for most of its life while mine stayed here. My brother recently gave me his, so now I have both. I modified mine with suspension modifications as well as an header and a Greddy exhaust. Friends told me it was the fastest Altima in Huntsville. I lost control one night chasing friends in an Mitsubishi Evo 7, a Subaru WRX, and a Mitsubishi Galant VR4, and ran off the road. The damage was bad, but amazingly I didn't get hurt. I have the car parked in my garage and will completely rebuild it someday. I'm currently driving my brother's daily and working on restoring it completely.

1994 Honda Accord LX - dark blue with charcoal interior. Another basic four door commuter car with power windows. I've added 17" wheels to have better tire compound choices. I'm also researching the same 13" Baer big brake upgrade for the car. In theory, I believe it is possible. And if I do complete it, it will be the first Accord in the world with this setup.

1993 Nissan Altima SE - black with beige interior. This was my first car. I never modified it and didn't really know much about cars back then. I just knew I loved it. I lost control one night and the car was totaled by the insurance company. I bought it back to restore it. It sits in the garage next to the 95. It has less than 37,000 miles on the odometer

1987.5 Plymouth Voyager - Silver and Grey two-tone with matching interior. This was our family minivan which was driven over 300,000 miles. It was parked one day and then was left for dead until I came along. It's been a rocky restoration project, but it does run again. It's useful for transporting used oil or parts for the other cars.

I started into cars after my fiancee Bhumika left me. The only thing I loved more than her was cars, so my love went into cars. I also picked up a camera at the time, so I've become a semi-pro photographer as well.

I started with street racing, but then moved into autocrossing and car shows. I love everything with wheels though, and as one of the moderators here posted in their introduction, "I'll watch any type of racing, even lawnmower racing." Basically, if it has wheels, a motor, and will go on or off road--I love it.

I've spent about 3 months of my life in India, many of them riding my grandfather's Red Sunny in the streets of Vidyanager and Anand in Gujarat. A good Parsi friend of mine, now here in the US, is originally from Mumbai and I've spent some time there as well. When I was in India, I could feel that there were enthusiasts around, but I was never able to connect with them. I guess they were all inside on team-bhp.com.

I hope I can be a resource to BHPians on what's happening on the other side of the pond, as well as connect with BHPians as to what's going on in the motherland. One world, one love.


Note from Mods : Welcome aboard. Congrats on your attempt at breaking the smiley world record, however, please do familiarize yourself with our rules before continuing (2 smileys max per post!). Have a good time on the forums, and do post some pics of your cars.

[khan75]

Howdy neighbor! Dude it must be incredibly hard to choose what car to go cruising in lol.

The Peachtree Porsche PCA out here in Atlanta's pretty active with drives in the mountains happening almost every month, get the ol Boxster on her toes with a nice run. Be sure to drop by sometime.

Oh, and welcome to TBHP.

[SamirD]

Small world. I'm sure you've seen the Heart of Dixie PCA President's GT3RS out there in ATL at some point. Speed yellow with a carbon fiber wing. :-)

I've worn my Boxster's tires to the cords! There's enough drives with me hanging with all the local clubs here. My weekends stay booked solid. But I have a friend in ATL, so I'll have to coincide a trip to visit her with a driving experience. :-D

Thank you for the welcome!

You've got some killer cars! Love the RS6 and the BMW. A buddy of mine from Germany has an ARS exhaust on his coupe and it's sick.

[navan49]

HI Samir,

Welcome on board. Very long introduction. Always Keep touch with India.

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by navan49

HI Samir,

Welcome on board. Very long introduction. Always Keep touch with India.

Thank you for the welcome. If I only had less cars...

[Cyborg]

Hello Samir,
Welcome to Team-BHP!
Wow, thats an awesome garage you have - keep it up.
If you can have all the cars in the world - why not
Cheers

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Hello Samir,
Welcome to Team-BHP!
Wow, thats an awesome garage you have - keep it up.
If you can have all the cars in the world - why not
Cheers

Thank you for the compliments! It's a lifetime of work that continues every day. I'm still saving up for a Porsche 997 Turbo.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by SamirD

I'm still saving up for a Porsche 997 Turbo.

That's cool! You are already in the right place - am sure the right time too shall come for the 997!

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

That's cool! You are already in the right place - am sure the right time too shall come for the 997!

I rented one in Dallas for a weekend. It was expensive, but what a ride! It's like piloting your own roller coaster.

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by SamirD

Congrats on your attempt at breaking the smiley world record...and do post some pics of your cars.

You mean I didn't break the record?

Sorry about the smilies. I knew I'd forget one of the rules.

As requested, some pictures of the cars.

2005 Porsche Boxster

Day after the coyote damage was repaired with the new RS60 lip spoilers. Note the Accord in the backgroud.

Filthy dirty, but fun cruise with a group of friends.

Prop in a test shoot with a model.

2002 Mercedes e55 AMG


With a bow on top as a surprise gift for my dad. He was very surprised. Note the Porsche and Corvette flanking the AMG.

Parked happily with the rest of the fleet.

2000 Chevrolet Corvette

Best car picture I've ever taken. A shot from this cruise.

Parked happily with the rest of the fleet.

1996 Mitsibushi Galant S

Right after I added the wheels.

The Baer brake upgrade installation.

1995 Nissan Altima SE


Mine, albeit filthy dirty.

My engine bay.

My brother's. Now also mine.

1994 Honda Accord LX

Right after I bought it. Note the Galant in the background.


Right after I added wheels.

1993 Nissan Altima SE
No pictures readily accessible

1987.5 Plymouth Voyager
No pictures readily accessible

[khan75]

That 5-0 pose in the second snap looks awesome. Reminds me of the time I posed for a fake arrest picture in the back of a NM state trooper's CrownVic with secured handcuffs. Would've been even better with someone behind the wheel, I think.

If you hadn't mentioned the color of your Boxster, I would've surely mistaken it for Midnight Blue. My CS looks the same in most lighting conditions.

Is it just me or do the alloys in that model shoot look a bit dirty?

Either way, nice 'ster!

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by khan75

That 5-0 pose in the second snap looks awesome. Reminds me of the time I posed for a fake arrest picture in the back of a NM state trooper's CrownVic with secured handcuffs. Would've been even better with someone behind the wheel, I think.

He was so cool. He actually had a Crown Vic at first but asked us if we wanted the Charger since it had blue LEDs. He went and got that and came back. And when leaving, he peeled out. Coolest police officer ever.

Originally Posted by khan75

If you hadn't mentioned the color of your Boxster, I would've surely mistaken it for Midnight Blue. My CS looks the same in most lighting conditions.

Is it just me or do the alloys in that model shoot look a bit dirty?

Either way, nice 'ster!

It's black, but I know what you mean about the midnight blue. Lovely color as well.

And yeah, that's brake dust on the wheels. I never have time to clean my cars.

But when I do clean them, I go through every detail. I usually pull off my wheels and clean and wax both sides. I haven't had a chance to do that yet on the Boxster so the brake dust really sticks.

[abhayshanu]

WOW!!
Great Garage, why dont you sell off some of the cars and get more enthusiastic cars?, that would be an awesome garage to see.

[Mpower]

Hi Samir, welcome and great collection there.

Driven Road Atlanta yet? I can't wait to do it again. Barber is another killer track I'd like to do sometime.

[SamirD]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

WOW!!
Great Garage, why dont you sell off some of the cars and get more enthusiastic cars?, that would be an awesome garage to see.

Because I love them all. Each has it's own unique characteristics that make it special. I'll never sell a car once I buy it. I put too much care into one for any financial return. They're worth more to me just to drive.

I just plan to keep adding to my collection.