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Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort

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Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort | Top Gear

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Mark breaks his own rule and decides to name his E24 M635CSi after he who must not be named

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Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark breaks his own rule and decides to name his E24 M635CSi after he who must not be named

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark breaks his own rule and decides to name his E24 M635CSi after he who must not be named

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: henceforth, my BMW shall be known as Lord Voldemort

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark breaks his own rule and decides to name his E24 M635CSi after he who must not be named

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Renowned photographer Mark has been working with Top Gear for many, many years. When not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars. Here he shares his addiction with the world

I have always avoided giving cars human names. Partly because it's a terrible way of getting overly attached to something, but mostly because they are ultimately just lumps of metal. And while some can now drive themselves, or even create music based on your driving, not even Elon has managed to make one fully sentient... yet.

Yet after 20 years of motoring and God knows how many questionable car purchases, I’ve finally broken this rule with one car – my BMW E24 M635CSi. Or as it shall now be known, Lord Voldemort. And not through a love of Harry Potter; last time I checked, Hogwarts wasn’t a division of BMW M even though some of the recent M Performance parts can only be explained with the use of dark magic. But no, there’s a simple reason for the name – it’s the car who shall not be named.

The mere mention of it sends a shiver down my spine. And just like the Potter series, its presence is usually accompanied by a gaggle of Dementors. Albeit these aren’t trying to take my soul. They’re doing something far worse... they’re bringing me invoices which need paying immediately.

But this isn’t a criticism – I adore this car and the level of work going into its build is utterly mindblowing. Especially now it’s beginning to resemble an actual car again after many years. Its 280bhp M88 is bolted back in place, the KW two-way Clubsport dampers are fitted, and all the body panels are back in place. But progress always comes at a cost, and when a project gets rapidly out of control – which tends to be a recurring theme here – you can’t simply reuse old or tired parts during the reassembly. Everything needs to be new... or at the very least, as good as new.

Now this is all entirely my own fault. I bought this car as a non-running barn find back in 2018, got it running shortly after and what I should’ve done was sell it for a decent profit quickly after that. Instead, I thought a much better idea would be to create a roadgoing Group A tribute, courtesy of CNC Motorsport, which handily preps E24 BMWs (among many other cars) for history racing. And it’s the level of detail which is both terrifying and brilliant.

The M88 powered M635CSi was never used in Group A racing, so it might seem backwards to use this rarer and more powerful model for a ‘tribute’ build. And you’re absolutely right. But in all the time I’ve owned this car, it’s been a bit of a nail. It’d cost just as much (if not more) to restore it back to original condition, and with 106,000 miles on the clock some smart arse would always consider it ‘leggy’ despite it being better than new. The solution? Ignore all of the nonsense usually associated with collectible cars and build something genuinely entertaining I can actually use.

That last sentence would be more believable if I hadn’t driven it just 11 miles in six years, but with Recaro buckets, AP brakes and an FIA spec cage all being added in the next few weeks... it’ll at least look fast while it sits gathering dust again.

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Renowned photographer Mark has been working with Top Gear for many, many years. When not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars. Here he shares his addiction with the world

I have always avoided giving cars human names. Partly because it's a terrible way of getting overly attached to something, but mostly because they are ultimately just lumps of metal. And while some can now drive themselves, or even create music based on your driving, not even Elon has managed to make one fully sentient... yet.

Yet after 20 years of motoring and God knows how many questionable car purchases, I’ve finally broken this rule with one car – my BMW E24 M635CSi. Or as it shall now be known, Lord Voldemort. And not through a love of Harry Potter; last time I checked, Hogwarts wasn’t a division of BMW M even though some of the recent M Performance parts can only be explained with the use of dark magic. But no, there’s a simple reason for the name – it’s the car who shall not be named.

The mere mention of it sends a shiver down my spine. And just like the Potter series, its presence is usually accompanied by a gaggle of Dementors. Albeit these aren’t trying to take my soul. They’re doing something far worse... they’re bringing me invoices which need paying immediately.

But this isn’t a criticism – I adore this car and the level of work going into its build is utterly mindblowing. Especially now it’s beginning to resemble an actual car again after many years. Its 280bhp M88 is bolted back in place, the KW two-way Clubsport dampers are fitted, and all the body panels are back in place. But progress always comes at a cost, and when a project gets rapidly out of control – which tends to be a recurring theme here – you can’t simply reuse old or tired parts during the reassembly. Everything needs to be new... or at the very least, as good as new.

Now this is all entirely my own fault. I bought this car as a non-running barn find back in 2018, got it running shortly after and what I should’ve done was sell it for a decent profit quickly after that. Instead, I thought a much better idea would be to create a roadgoing Group A tribute, courtesy of CNC Motorsport, which handily preps E24 BMWs (among many other cars) for history racing. And it’s the level of detail which is both terrifying and brilliant.

The M88 powered M635CSi was never used in Group A racing, so it might seem backwards to use this rarer and more powerful model for a ‘tribute’ build. And you’re absolutely right. But in all the time I’ve owned this car, it’s been a bit of a nail. It’d cost just as much (if not more) to restore it back to original condition, and with 106,000 miles on the clock some smart arse would always consider it ‘leggy’ despite it being better than new. The solution? Ignore all of the nonsense usually associated with collectible cars and build something genuinely entertaining I can actually use.

That last sentence would be more believable if I hadn’t driven it just 11 miles in six years, but with Recaro buckets, AP brakes and an FIA spec cage all being added in the next few weeks... it’ll at least look fast while it sits gathering dust again.

# data.attributes.field_standfirst
Mark breaks his own rule and decides to name his E24 M635CSi after he who must not be named