Bmw

Ebay watch 1951 Mercury "Woody" wagon, sold, $15,050: No matter the year, make or model of a car, if it's a "woody" with real wooden doors and trim, you know it's a keeper. This '51 Mercury is neat for the simple fact that it's a two-door and not a four-door wagon. The car is in need of a full-on restoration, although the seller says the car is complete and runs and drives well. Since you can't put a price on nostalgia, it's no wonder the car sold for a top bid of $15,050.

The M1was originally built to win races and influence customers, but ultimately lost the race against time. With its mid-engine location, low weight and impressive output, the M1 seemed to have all the right ingredients to make it competitive. And, back in 1975, that's exactly what BMW's motorsports division wanted: a win-at-all-costs machine that could outduel the Porsches and other European makes in production-class track battles. Under international rules, "production class" meant that BMW had to build a minimum of 400 M1s for the street before the car would be allowed to compete on the track.

Crowned the best of the best - year after year - and a car that the rest of the industry scrambles to match, the BMW 3 Series is already considered the pinnacle of European style and performance prowess. Now what? For 2004, BMW will continue its don't-mess-with-perfection approach, almost daring anyone to spot the subtle changes to its coupe and convertible versions. When contemplating alterations to the company's most popular model, tweaking, trimming and incorporating mild body revisions is as far as the designers dared to go. Perhaps that's as much as its loyal group of contented buyers - about 150,000 strong in 2002 - are prepared to accept.

gregs@herald-mail.com A Hagerstown man charged in an October accident on Mount Aetna Road in which two people died is scheduled for a trial later this month in Washington County District Court. Matthew David Meyer, 23, of 11010 Sani Lane faces two counts of negligent manslaughter by automobile in the deaths of Gerald Eugene Dietrich, 59, and Mary Ellen Dietrich, 61, who lived on the 2000 block of Academy Lane in Hagerstown. Meyer also was charged with multiple violations including reckless driving, negligent driving, failing to control his vehicle's speed to avoid a collision and passing in a no-passing zone.