Many M3post members may be familiar with our story of creating the Blue Max for our client Nelson. For those that have not seen the story, please follow this link and read on:
For me, it is easy to concisely summarize the Blue Max project. During the two months available for us to design and build the car, our goal was to create an M3 that could compete for the admiration of a man who is privileged enough to have a vast and ever changing collection of some of the most exotic cars ever built.
Legendary car builders like Enzo Ferrari, Ettore Bugatti, the Maserati brothers, and the many others that have inspired Nelson’s love for great automobiles all had an innate understanding that a car cannot simply perform well to be a true work of art. The right automobile must have the right interior finish, the right materials choices, and the right feel. Meeting those goals was the focus of our original story.
As satisfying as it was to fly to Florida and see Nelson’s reaction to this M3, nobody at IND could truly relax, as the car had not yet been track tested. Nelson’s busy schedule does not allow for many opportunities to go to the track, so we had to wait for some time to see the Blue Max put to the test. The date was set for December 11th, the track was Palm Beach International Raceway, and every staff member at IND counted down the days until the event with eager anticipation.
That same week, news of the event started to come in. Nelson and his friend Brian (username Coach on M3Post) both took time to tell me some stories about the M3’s day at Palm Beach, and the news was good. Nelson brought a small collection of supercars to Palm Beach that day, and the Blue Max held it’s own!
We were shocked to learn that as the Blue Max began to brake at the end of Palm Beach Raceway’s nearly 1km long straight, it’s maximum speed exactly matched the straightaway speed of Nelson’s 997 Turbo S and Ferrari 458! All three cars hit 155mph before braking into the following corner. Nelson and Brian both reported that the Blue Max was a pleasure to drive on the track, and held up to the hard use with flying colors.
Nothing brings me greater satisfaction at IND than seeing a client enjoy their car, and this is especially true of the Blue Max. I hope that these photos of this M3 in action will bring you as much pleasure as they did to me.
