Apples rarely fall far from the tree, or so they say, but the sentiment rings true for Alvin Louie and the Louie family. As a group of BMW-owning car enthusiasts, it came as a surprise to no one when Alvin eventually set out to build one of his own. The undertaking involved, however, was nothing short of monumental. The yield, on the other hand? One of a kind.

Alvin attributes his BMW roots to his older brother Alex.

Race cars are cool. Inherently so. What’s better than a purpose-built machine with one intended purpose: beating everyone else? The answer is “not much,” but with that comes a constant battle between form and function. As cool as race cars often are, they’re often also saddled with looks only a mother could love. There are, of course, numerous liveries that stand as all-time greats, but more often than not, a grid of idling race cars has an ugly majority.

The daily grind can be monotonous at times: a sentiment I’m confident we all share on occasion. Even for those that love their jobs, which includes myself, a break away can be refreshing. Our friends at Race Service have embraced that fact, and have transformed Wednesday mornings in Los Angeles into the ideal way to give pause to the week’s toils and labor.

At this point, there are no excuses for missing Car Week in Monterey. Opinions seem unanimous: it’s the event of the year for lovers of automobiles both new and old. The week itself hosts dozens of events, each focused on celebrating facets of the automotive world. Whether your passions lie in vintage racing, modern supercars, high-dollar classics, or quite literally anything in between, Car Week has something for everyone, no doubt about it.

Classic cars aren’t for everyone. They can be picky, finicky, and costly to keep on the road. Parts can often be hard to find, service can be difficult to source, and the experience as a whole can be an endeavor, to say the least. For Kevin Zimmermann, however, there was only one clear and obvious choice after his 2001 VW Polo GTi left him stranded one too many times.