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With a few of the most prestigious auctions of the year coming up this weekend it seemed worthwhile to see what sort of interesting vehicles would be crossing the auction block this season. I encourage anyone curious about these things to peruse the listings. There are quite a few of the typically fantastic vintage machines and racers from various periods. The car we see here may not immediately attract as much notice since compared with other options it looks quite subdued, but a closer appraisal reveals it is quite special. The 3.2 Carrera Club Sport remains for many the best of the ’80s 911s Porsche produced. As with most companies whose pride of place stems from its racing history, the competition variants tend to attract greatest notice. The Club Sport is no different as it follows in the footsteps of the Carrera RS showcasing both a lighter overall weight and improved performance to provide the ultimate 911 package. The particular Club Sport we see here further distinguishes itself from other examples in that it is said to be the only one produced in Irish Green. I’m not sure if this would be the ultimate paint-to-sample option one could choose for attracting collector notice, but it surely would exist on a short list of very desirable exterior colors.
Last Saturday, I went to the local Cars & Coffee with fellow GCFSBer Craig. While there, we met a gentlemen who showed up in a Smoke Silver 190E 2.3-16. Being the Mercedes enthusiasts we are, we had a lengthy conversation about Mercedes we’ve owned and the car amongst us. But revisiting this vehicle in the flesh made me realize what a departure it was from Mercedes of the era. When this Cosworth engined W201 appeared, we were all getting used to the idea of a smaller Mercedes at the time, but were just emerging from the era of the W123 but were still in an age when you could pop on down to your local Mercedes forecourt and buy an R107 SL, a classic design that had been with us for over a decade at that point. So here comes a tuned version of the baby Benz along, designed originally for homologation purposes the rally circuit but wound up competing in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) instead.
These cars competed viciously against the BMW E30 M3 on the track and while the Mercedes wasn’t an outright speed demon in a straight line, they had respectable balance and poise that led them to be a success both on and off the track. These days, they are a downright bargain as compared to what we see E30 M3s pulling in the marketplace. This 190E 2.5-16 for sale by Gruppe H in the Czech Republic is a variant that we did not see in the US market. This engined offered a slight horsepower bump and double-row timing chains to fix issues surrounding the single chains on the 190E 2.3-16 model.
In the wake of the Brexit vote, the British pound has plummeted against the US dollar. This means that importing a car from Britain has suddenly become a bit more affordable. As a Brit living in America, I feel a bit guilty recommending that you take advantage of my home country’s economic plight to get a good deal on a car. But only a bit. Which brings me to today’s car. The 500SE was a V8 powered, short-wheel base version of the W126 S-class. Made for the European market and never offered in the US, it offered the grunt of a larger engine in the slightly smaller and (in my view) better proportioned chassis. This one is for sale on UK eBay. Not only is it reasonably priced, it’s a LHD car. So no need to worry about the steering wheel being on the wrong side if you choose to bring it over.
A couple of years ago this video of a murdered-out 560SEC AMG surfaced on Jalopnik and I fell in love. Not only did the car have tremendous, old-school presence, the film showed an owner who wasn’t afraid to smoke the back tires while driving it quickly and aggressively. Hooning the large, pillar-less brute looked like tremendous fun. Unfortunately, authentic AMG cars from the pre-merger period don’t come to market very frequently. And when they do, they are usually priced well beyond the means of mere mortals like myself (you can see examples we’ve featured before here, here and here). A cheaper alternative would be to find a regular SEC that has had some AMG exterior parts installed, like this one.
Transporting the ’70s into the late-80s sometimes results in something a little disjointed. Even only a decade on items that were once loved now no longer are seen in that same light. The 911 we see here may fit into just such a category. Here we have a Cognac Brown Metallic 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, located in Oregon, with Cashmere leather interior and 68,400 miles on it. Porsche has offered a variety of shades of brown for their cars throughout most of the marque’s existence, but we tend to see them most frequently in the late-70s to early-80s. Those seem to be the years when such natural tones predominated. In recent years, I’ve begun to notice some of these colors making a resurgence, especially among the darker shades, but still a lighter metallic brown like the one we see here remains pretty uncommon on the roads these days. To be honest these aren’t the most dynamic of colors but in the right light they do look good. And, of course, for those that are a fan the lack of love usually results in a lower cost of entry.
