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Month: February 2014

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Big Coupes: BMW M6 Roundup

Published February 23, 2014 by Carter

If you want a grand coupe, room for 4 in a pinch, looks to melt hearts and minds and a race car soundtrack, the E24 M6 and M635CSi are one of the few options for you. A supreme autobahn blitzer capable of hanging with sports cars on back roads, the M6 has a pretty unique skill set hidden beneath that flowing exterior. Right now, there are five great condition Ms up on Ebay, so I thought it was time to do a roundup of what was available and take a look at the options. The first is probably the best one money can buy, and not a stranger to these pages. We saw this ultra-low mile museum piece as part of the 1980s BMW M “Holy Trinity” post I did last fall, and while the location and seller has changed, the condition hasn’t:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M6 on eBay

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1994 Porsche 911 Speedster

Published February 23, 2014 by Rob

The Speedster is one of those iconic Porsches held in consistently high regard by many fans of the marque and which Porsche has released periodically as a means to celebrate its history and to provide its buyers with a chance at experiencing that history. While the original Speedster was intended as a budget weekend-racer, subsequent versions have tended to come at a premium relative to its standard counterparts. For the 1994 release, Porsche based the Speedster off of the 964 body and even offered a clubsport version to further solidify the relationship the car shared with the original 356. With less than 1000 total 964 Speedsters built, and almost half of those coming to the US, these remain pretty rare cars and tend to be bought up by collectors. The example featured here is a 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster in Guards Red over Black. With less than 6K miles on the clock this Speedster presents in nearly like-new condition both inside and out; the seats hardly look like they’ve been sat in!

To me, the 964 Speedster is a more aesthetically pleasing version relative to the 1989 Speedster, which derived its looks largely from the 930. The curves of the 964 body simply fit the lines of the Speedster very well and offer an appearance that is more akin to that of the 356.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster on eBay

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Anti-M5: 1995 BMW 540i M-Sport

Published February 23, 2014 by Carter

If you wanted a fast, executive super saloon in 1995, your options were dwindling. 1995 was the last year of the Audi S6, and one year after both the V8 Quattro and 500E were taken away. 1995 would also be the last year of the iconic M5, and hints were that it might be a long time before we’d see another. Why? Well, the reality was that with the 6 speed 540i the performance gap between the “super” M5 and the “normal” V8 engined 540 was so close it just didn’t make a lot of sense to have the premium model anymore. The S38 was by now a quite old motor and was getting harder to pass increasingly strict emissions standards; indeed, shrinking sales and high price had resulted in the M5 being pulled from the U.S. in 1993. As a result, BMW offered a hint at what it could do with the V8 in the form of the M540i in Canada and the 540i M-Sport in the U.S. market. The Canadian model was quite close in spec to the European M5, except that in place of the venerable S38 it ran the M60 V8 out of the normal 540i. If that sounds like a letdown, it wasn’t – mated to the Getrag 6-speed transmission it was a great driver, and with the M5 suspension, brakes and cosmetic details it was 95% plus of the M5 for most drivers. The 540i M-Sport that the U.S. got differed a bit in not having the trick floating rotors of the M540i, but with nearly everything else out of the M5 bag of tricks these are cool cars, great drivers, and even more rare than the M5:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 BMW 540i M-Sport on eBay

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1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Coupe 4-speed manual

Published February 22, 2014 by Paul

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At the outset of the 1970s, the Mercedes-Benz model range was about to have an overhaul, with a new SL roadster and S class on the way. Meanwhile, the W111 coupes and convertibles would get one last refresh in the form of the 3.5 liter, M116 engine. This small displacement V8 would live on until the early 1990s in later 3.8 and 4.2 guise. While these M116 engined 280SE Coupes are rare, add in the manual gearbox and you have a car that is extremely exclusive. Some estimate that just over 100 were produced. This example was imported to the US via Italy in the 1980s and has covered just under 50,000 miles.

Click for more details: 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Coupe on eBay

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Ur-Ur-Ur-Quattro: 1958 Auto-Union/DKW Munga

Published February 22, 2014 by Carter

Nearly 4 years ago, Paul wrote up a 1957 Auto Union Munga, rare to see at all in the U.S. and with some practical updates. In fact, it wasn’t really a Munga at all anymore; the body had been taken off and mounted onto a 1968 Beetle chassis complete with the 1600 flat-4. Now listed as a 1958 model and missing the centercaps, it appears this very same vehicle is back up for sale. What does the title of this feature mean? Well, for those in the know, the genesis of the Ur-Quattro started with a bunch of Audi models that were outpaced on a test drive through some snowy roads by a military-spec Volkswagen Iltis. So, the Iltis was really the Ur-Ur-Quattro – but in fact, the Iltis itself was heavily based upon the earlier Munga from the 1950s. That’s right rally faithful, your precious Quattro was an antique long before it was a trend-setter! Okay, so it’s an over simplification, but it is still neat to track the history of these cars and where the designs came from:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1958 Auto Union Munga on eBay

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