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Month: May 2014

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2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion Variant with 33,000 Miles

Published May 15, 2014 by Carter

Earlier in the day that I wrote this, I was out and about doing errands with my son in my 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T Variant. I was enjoying a sunny spring day that has finally arrived in New England, sunroof open with my son pointing out everything of interest to him; which is most things, as it turns out. But what struck me as I drove around is how nice and underrated the Passat is; an Audi in a Volkswagen dress, it’s a well built, quiet and comfortable cruiser. When you want to go a bit faster, it acts more like a big GTi than a small Audi. And in back, it can swallow a load of cargo that would leave most sport utility vehicles to shame. Yet the Passat is often overlooked as a choice, heaped into the Check-Engine-Light generation of Volkswagen Audi products to look out for. Well, speaking from now 6 years of Passat ownership, it’s never once left me stranded and for what should be a dull daily driver, it’s a good looking and fun to drive reminder of why we buy German cars. To top off my drive, I ended at my mechanics where I had to drop off some parts for the Coupe GT; one of the patrons walked out and up to the Passat and remarked “It looks like a new car!” While that may be a bit of a stretch on my 12 year old, 115,000 mile example, it’s not on this top of the line Passat today – a W8 4Motion Variant with a scant 33,474 miles covered since new:

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Barn Find: 1983 Audi Quattro

Published May 14, 2014 by Carter

Sometimes when opportunity knocks, you need to answer the door. If you haven’t been following the trends of all of the mid-80s metal on its way up the charts, pretty much every single one of our favorite cars has quickly been appreciating over the past year or two; many upwards of 100%. I’ve called it the “E30 effect”; I’m not sure if I coined that phrase or I picked it up somewhere – I don’t think so, but lack of sleep and a screaming two year old blur the lines time to time. But regardless, I don’t really think it was the M3 that started this all – I blame the early 911 trends from about two years ago. Suddenly those 911s crested and blasted past $100,000, and enthusiasts looked towards the next fun, race-bred and good looking transportation; the E30 M3 was a natural choice. Because of M3 appreciation, suddenly everything around the M3 is being pulled up, too – the 944 Turbo, the M5, M6 and 500E, and of course, the Quattro. But as I’ve covered previously, finding a good, clean and well sorted example with reasonable miles can be exceedingly difficult. Audis woes in the late 1980s and early 1990s meant that many examples fell into disrepair; at one point a few years ago, I was even offered a Quattro for free if I could take it away. Opportunity knocked, and I didn’t answer the door – though it’s a long story and you can blame General Motors for that one. In any event, today on Ebay a barn-find, low mile and all original Quattro has popped up and once again there’s a knocking at the door:

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1997 Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel

Published May 14, 2014 by Paul

I feel as if time hasn’t been all that kind to the W210 Mercedes-Benz E class. We’re almost 20 years out since this car appeared on the scene and with it, a new styling language to take Mercedes-Benz into the 21st century. Under that fresh face was a good old standby in the form of the diesel engine. While most manufacturers had abandoned oil burners in the 1990s, Mercedes stayed on a few years longer in the US and offered the new W210 E class with the 3.0 liter inline-6 diesel that produced 174 horsepower and 244 lb ft of torque. There weren’t a whole lot of takers for this car in comparison to the petrol powered E320, but those who gave it a shot would be won over by the renowned Mercedes diesel durability. This E300 for sale in California has a remarkably low 70,000 miles on the clock, unusual for a diesel Mercedes.

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1985 Porsche 928S 5-Speed

Published May 14, 2014 by Carter

I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about how the 944 – especially the Turbo and S2 – have seemed to remain one of the best values in German motoring; on paper and in real life easily the match for their more popular 911 friends, they’re generally available for a fraction of the entry price into the much more air-cooled world. However, there’s another way to travel in Porsche style as well; the car that was intended to replace the 911. A revolutionary design in the 1970s that still looks remarkably fresh today, the 928 is a supreme grand tourer with plenty of power, a fantastic sound track and a tremendous amount of presence and personality. While it’s a very different character than the 911, they’re well built cars that don’t get the attention that they should. If you’re an enthusiast, that means you can pick up a great example on a budget – at least, for now:

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