Cool Cars, Revelstoke Coffee, And One Excellent BMW E46 M3

Alex Stoyle knows a thing or two about cars and coffee. He owns Revelstoke Coffee in Concord, New Hampshire, organizes Cars & Coffee on Capitol right outside the front door, and has a few interesting rides including a sweet E46 M3 drop top. He is the consummate gearhead that also sells world-class coffee. So, when a mutual friend – one Jon Gaffney – connected us for a conversation at Revelstoke, I jumped at the chance. Because without my morning gallon of coffee, I wouldn’t be able to think about cars all day. A win-win you might say.

Revelstoke faces the capitol building in downtown Concord and inside it’s a coffee lover’s paradise. The mug of Costa Rican black gold I enjoyed made the visit worthwhile all by itself. But Alex’s car stories were even better. Formerly a motorcycle guy, a bad accident several years ago shook him up. To the point that he quit his job, founded Revelstoke, and went deep down the car enthusiast rabbit hole.

His current stable includes a 1994 BMW 530i, a RADwood-ready 1995 Subaru Sambar kei-van for the coffee shop, a 2001 Porsche 911, and a 2003 E46 M3 convertible. Alex’s daily-driver Tacoma is a cool truck in its own right, but these four excellent rides – each with 3 pedals – would all be on my list of Cars To Own One Day. However, it all started with a 1974 Fiat 124 Spider that Alex drove – hard.

Good Condition…For A Fiat

On the hunt for a convertible to enjoy New Hampshire’s coveted summer days back in Covid times, Alex found a 1980 champagne-colored Fiat. Inadvertently booking a U-Haul trailer for pickup on the same day that Boston college kids move in, he was running late. Trailer in tow, Alex headed about as far west as one can go in Massachusetts on a mission to collect his prize before another interested party arrived. Unfortunately, he was too late and the seller let it go before he could make it.

With a pile of cash and an open trailer, Alex did what any self-respecting car guy would do – refused to come home empty handed. Quickly hitting up every Fiat seller he could find in the region, a reply came through about a 1974 124 Spider. In “good condition for a Fiat”, Alex pulled the trigger and brought home a 50-year-old car that up to that point was driven roughly 100 miles…annually.

Blissfully unaware that a car such as this old Fiat required a bit of gentle encouragement to keep all systems go, Alex promptly began racking up thousands of miles and having a ton of fun in the process. That is, except for when the ignition caught on fire or the two occasions when the head gasket let go. In fairness, these are the kinds of stories car people live for, but nonetheless, between having his first child and trying to keep up with repairs, it was time to say goodbye to the wee Italian stallion.

(Fiat + Porsche 996) x Subaru Sambar = BMW E34 530i & E46 M3

And here is where Alex made another discovery, you can in fact make a bit of money in this pursuit as he profited nicely after a couple years of Fiat stewardship. It kicked off a new passion, something Alex comically describes as his “degenerate hobby”. First up was a 2001 Porsche 911. Leaning on the absurd Porschephile prejudice around the 996, Alex reasoned the Porsche would likely find an appreciative audience down the road as other more sought-after generations become increasingly out of reach. Plus, he now has a kick-ass Porsche 911.

At the other end of the automotive spectrum is Alex’s 1995 Subaru Sambar kei-van. A badass vehicle, not for its performance, but for its quirky unobtanium radness. This is the kind of ride that falls into the “If You Know, You Know” category. Wrapped in a snappy black and white Revelstoke design, this little Subaru is the coffee shop mascot. Its tiny size is blown even more out of proportion by its owner’s 6’ 7” height. Which comes in handy when your diminutive JDM minivan is dead in the garage. The frigid New Hampshire winter day that I laid eyes on it no doubt played a part here.

All he had to do was grab the mini Subie by the keister and roll it out of the garage for a jump start with relative ease. Highlights include extra excellent 12” rims, a copy of Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift on the dash, and the thumping custom sound system. Dig those Polk components. BUT, the most wonderful feature of this happy little van has to be the audible alert, in Japanese, that announces – something – when Reverse is engaged. Installed by Alex, he believes the lady on the speaker is voicing caution for bystanders. Hilarious. 

The Black BMW E46 M3 Convertible

Sitting right next to the Sambar in the garage was a glistening black E46 M3 droptop with a 6-speed, the definition of enthusiast catnip. This mint condition Bimmer was the result of Alex’s search for a BMW 135i, a car that knocked his socks off after getting behind the wheel.

But a friend instead pitched him on an M3. Specifically, the 2003 E46 M3 convertible owned by said friend’s late father with 70,000 miles that, at the time, was sitting unused in Arizona. The mother of Alex’s buddy was itching to get the car out of the garage, a deal was struck, and that sweet E46 was trucked eastward into his burgeoning car collection.

Mint-Condition BMW E34? Yes Please.

Though the E34 was not on site, it too comes with a great story, and happens to be a car I’d give my left pinky for. A 1994 BMW 530i with just 45,000 original miles – and a manual of course – that was in Rhode Island with a kindly gentleman. The asking price was, in Alex’s opinion, a bit out of line, but the conditions for purchase would attract any gearhead.

That being that only a buyer deemed worthy would be allowed to purchase this glorious BMW. The flip-side to this Indiana Jones Holy Grail Penitent Man Shall Pass scenario was that, ultimately, the seller was willing to part with his E34 for anything – given the right buyer. Talk to Alex for 2 minutes and you’d know he fits the bill. And so, the 1994 530i was his for a reasonable sum.

Cars & Coffee on Capitol

So yeah, Alex Stoyle is a serious car guy that also happens to run a top-end coffee shop with Revelstoke. All of which led to his idea for having a low-key cars and coffee affair around the state house in Concord, New Hampshire. Except it quickly became anything but. For the first event, which featured little marketing, the parking lot Alex had in mind filled up with some 80 cars in about 10 minutes.

For the follow-up Cars & Coffee on Capitol, an entire street shut down for the gearhead gathering was packed to the gills with cool rides. As you can guess, this pattern continued to the point of closing off 2 side streets and the main drag in New Hampshire’s capitol city to accommodate an estimated 1,000 cars. Now backed by sponsors, Cars & Coffee on Capitol has become an “unintentional business” all because of a guy that loves cars…and coffee.

I only recently returned to the Granite State and live about an hour from Concord, so last summer – though aware of Cars & Coffee on Capitol – I did not get out to attend one. But I can assure you, myself, the children, and if I can convince her – my better half – will indeed be piloting the old Saab (I think she will be named Betsy) over to Concord on the second Sunday of as many months as possible this year. Maybe I’ll even fix the door panel held together with electrical tape for the occasion…

Enthusiast Catnip: The BMW E46 M3

Each and every car in Alex’s stable is excellent in its own right, but special attention must be paid to that 2003 E46 M3 convertible. There are many BMW M3s, but this particular generation hits a whole lotta high points in my extra mediocre opinion. Even today, every time I see one, I do the sort of long double take that has my kids asking what I’m staring at. The subtly blistered bodywork, those deep-dish back wheels, and the dual twin-tip stainless steel exhaust outlets. All of which denote the E46 M3 as being from the era of BMW design when subtlety was valued more highly than cartoon kidneys.

Of course, the naturally aspirated S54 straight-6 and its 6-speed stick begging to rip to the redline are a major attraction the BMW E46 M3. But let’s not forget it has four seats – perfect for school drop-off duty – and with the top down in Alex’s convertible, I could happily muss up the children’s hairdos for maximum embarrassment. Perhaps most importantly in my book is the utter lack of touchscreens in the E46 M3 – driving home the inherent goodness of its analog nature. The want is strong.

2003 BMW E46 M3 Specs