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In my recent write up of two pretty overpriced 318ti M-Sports, I suggested that a vintage 635CSi would probably be a better option if you were looking for a collectable BMW for around the same ask of those two models. To put my theoretical money where my unfortunately quite real mouth is, here’s a lineup of the venerable E24 grand tourers. For a modest price you get a tremendous amount of style, sport, near bulletproof engine and drive train and a potential investment. I have five examples to look at; interestingly, four of them are the last of the run, rare to see mid-88 and up refresh models. Also interesting though less surprising is that none of them sits on their original wheels. That, and their birthplace may be the only thing that links them though, as they’re all quite different. Which would be the one you’d choose? Let’s take a look at the oldest:
The Audi 4000 Quattro has been on a fairly meteoric rise in value over the past few years, shadowing its original market competition E30 BMW. Granted, much as when new the Type 85 chassis hasn’t gained as much press as the E30 does, but we’ve recently seen $14,000 4000 Quattros – unthinkable even a year ago, and a signal that the strength of the 1980s market really has pulled up everything along with the big headlines of the 911 and M3. Of course, because they languished in value for so long, there just aren’t many mint condition 4000 Quattros remaining. Because they haven’t been valuable for a long time, and because of the robust nature of the drive train, the 4000 Quattro has been lurking for a long time as a popular tuning platform. Engine swaps abound; from 5000 Quattro spec 2.2 10v turbos through twin turbo 4.2 V8s and 1.8Ts, just about everything has found its way into the engine bay of the 4000; but by far, the one that most wish for is the 20 valve turbo version of the inline 5, with up to and above 1,000 horsepower possible and the Group B soundtrack. Today’s 4000 has just such a swap completed:
Last night, I posted a clean Corrado VR6 with some questionable wheels on our Facebook Fanpage. These Corrados, perhaps even more than their GTi cousins, seem to draw out the watercooled tuning crowd and go through many different mutations. Also like their cousins, it’s pretty rare to see them in stock condition, especially good stock condition. Well, today proves that point, so to speak; this Corrado is definitely not stock, but it certainly looks pretty interesting, so I thought it was worth a look. Plus, it’s been supercharged – a different sort of forcing induction than the VR6-swapped Turbo GTis from the other day. Painted fetching BMW Laguna Seca Blue, this Corrado looks ready for the show circuit:
