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I still recall the first time I set eyes on an e36 M3 convertible in the flesh. We were headed to the movies on a summer evening just as it was starting to cool off. After we parked, there was a brand new one in Estoril Blue over Dove Gray. The top was down which gave us a nice chance to live vicariously from the outside looking in — dreaming of cruising home in the open air while sinking into a new leather interior and driving just a little faster than everyone else as the light went down.
It would take years before I got an e36 M3 of my own, but that connection early on certainly played a part in my eventual ownership. Mine was a coupe but a friend of mine who was a broker at the time had a 98 convertible for sale that I got to compare side by side. While the lack of a top is an obvious difference, the lack of B-pillars was also a strong visual character trait of the convertible. Unfortunately this translates into a lot more shaking in the cabin, especially at the windshield. Then again, you don’t purchase a convertible over the coupe because it makes more sense on the track. You get the ‘vert because it’s a fantastic excuse to go for spirited Sunday cruise when the weather is nice.
While running errands the other day, I came across a 560SL in signal red, parked, with its top down. These late model R107 roadsters are finally getting their due in the marketplace, which isn’t surprising. Classic lines combined with features that still make this roadster feel modern are the usual hallmarks of Mercedes-Benzes from the 1980s. This 560SL for sale in Illinois comes to us by way of our friends at Evolve Motors. This car represents the first year of the 560SL, with barely over 40,000 miles on the odometer.
The BMW S54 engine is right up there in a long line of wonderful inline sixes from BMW, marking a large step forward from its predecessor, the S52. While the S52 provided great sound and smoothness, it lacked the brute force that other great BMW engines have shared. The S54 brought an extra 75 (!!!) horsepower to table, an increase of over 30%, for the last two years of the E36/7 and E36/8’s lives. This one comes claims to come with an extra 30, matching the power of the E46 M3 – not bad when you’re carrying several hundred fewer pounds. The clownshoe may be the funkier of the pair, but the M Coupe keeps all the drop-top fun of the Z3 while losing most of the hit to the self-esteem via some swollen fenders, quad pipes, and serious power. Like an 18 year-old jumping the border to drink, you can hop to Canada for some cheap thrills with this classic silver example, coming with fewer miles and priced a good $5k less than the nicest US examples. And according to the ad, it’s the ONLY example sold in Canada with headlight washers! That’s gotta do something for the rarity-resale value down the road, right?!
Karosserie Baur has a history of making drop top versions of our favorite BMW models. This Stuttgart firm went into insolvency in 1998, but before this occurred, they had one last shot at making a memorable BMW cabriolet. This 316i TC4 you see here was the result. Four-door cabriolets are almost extinct in the modern world and this one was a different take on the theme, given it had four fully framed doors and a targa-esque roof setup that folded all towards the rear decklid. This Baur TC4 for sale in central Portugal won’t set the world on fire with it’s 1.6 liter four cylinder engine, but you and your four closest friends can have some fun this summer with four-door, drop top motoring.
The Porsche 964 went relatively unnoticed for quite some years. The rush on air-cooled Porsches changed that, with the immense popularity of its successor and predecessor, the 993 and 3.2 Carrera, respectively, increasing values on this 911 steadily. This Carrera 4 Cabriolet for sale outside of Philadelphia is one of around 4,800 C4s produced out of a production run of just over 17,300 964 Cabriolets. This particular car has just over 60,000 miles and also comes with a Porsche Certificate of Authenticity.
