A long time ago on a website far, far away, David Tracy introduced us all to the concept of the ‘Holy Grail’ car. The Holy Grail car is the best, weirdest, or rarest version of a common car. In the olden days, the Holy Grail was a common Jeep Grand Cherokee, but with a rare manual transmission. Then, David started finding these Jeeps over and over again. It became an inside joke and then an entire series over on this site. Outside of our little bubble, the grail is supposed to be the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Yet, we keep on finding grails of our own.
This fact has ruffled some feathers over the years. There’s usually at least one comment on a Holy Grail history entry about how we’ve ruined the meaning of the term. Perhaps we have, but when you see us write about a ‘Holy Grail,’ it’s really just our way of saying that this vehicle is something special.
To David Tracy, the Holy Grail of BMW i3s is his Galvanic Gold 2021 BMW i3S Rex with Giga World interior and every option but the moonroof. Of the 1,476 i3s sold in 2021, perhaps only 200 of them were painted in gold. Of those, perhaps 50 had David’s chosen interior, perhaps 30 of those with the Rex, perhaps 10 of those as the Sport model, and maybe a handful with the Harman Kardon sound system.
DrDanteIII is onto David:
At this point David Tracy has bought more holy grails than the catholic church.
EmotionalSupportBMW has an idea that has me feeling all tingly:
Now that you have two i3s. It’s time to ruin one. Create the Overland i3. Roof top tent, little A/T tires, bit of lift, whole nine yards.
Dr Buford knows old David is still around:
DT: I swear to god I’m no longer a car hoarder!
Also DT: and this is my *other* i3…Nice work! Nothing like getting a car you really want and already love.
As does StillNotATony:
Five years from now-
DT: “So, the city code enforcement has declared the 15 BMW i3s in my backyard in various states of repair constitute an unlicensed junkyard. Now I gotta figure out which ones to keep , and which ones to sell.”
Speaking of David, he wrote a take that off-roading in a convertible is one of the greatest automotive experiences you can have. Honestly, anything involving a convertible is pretty much an adventure, so I agree. MikeInTheWoods has a funny story involving ‘vertibles:
For my wedding, we rented a convertible instead of a limo. I was driving to the church in my tux on a sunny, summer day in Vermont. It was so nice that when I drove past the church, I thought: “wow, someone else is getting married today too.” Then it dawned on me that it was the church I needed to be at and turned around.
Have a great evening, everyone!
does this mean he stopped hoarding Jeeps and moving on to BMW? I haven’t seen a jeep article in a while from DT
I think we’ve reached the point where we’ve had so many “Holy Grails” that it went speeding past stupid all the way to funny.
It’s so unique, it’s almost one of a kind.
Yeah, this is a good point and I must agree. “Holy Grail” carries with it a heavy connotation that this machine is concocted almost exclusively of unobtanium. You may be aware of its existence, but likely have never seen one in person. When you get all Corvette Boomer Board about it, it loses a lot of its luster. It also carries a heavy connotation that said machine is a very desirable configuration. Tell me about the options that everyone wants, but no one got. Hemi ‘Cuda Pistol Grip 4 speed convertible, you say? You have my Holy attention. Weird stuff is neat, too. Often times even more interesting. However, let’s not overuse HG.
What would The Autopian be without holy grails, seedy taillight nightclubs, and shower spaghetti?
Keep using it. It amounts to an inside joke that keeps this place light, and not as self-serious as a lot of the other sites. It’s for the culture.
I understood that reference!
I propose we gather all the Holy Grails and try do decide the One True Grail. Be one heck of an article. Although we need a better way to find out. It didn’t work out well for that one guy. Maybe invite Harrison Ford to pick?
John Cleese as MC. Of course it would break out in a largish debate as everyone has a differing version of what is holy and what is not. For safety reasons search everyone entering the awards ceremony.
And take away Torch’s Escalade blade tailight.
That might trigger yet more holy debate.
Ya mean holey debate? Those taillights are a spear
You make a good point.
Clearly David has the most holy vehicles.
Because of the rust.
Yeah, but then there will just be two levels – Holy Grails and One True Grails.
So, in the end, we’ll have 30 One True Grails within a year’s time.