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I’ve made it no secret that I’m a big fan of the Audi Coupe GT; obviously, it helps that I own one that I’ve had for a few decades now. They’re stellar and underrated cars, forgotten by German car enthusiasts at large they remain one of the best unsung grand touring cars of the 1980s. While not the fastest or flashiest car out there, the GT provided a good amount of luxury and isolation, but brought with it a good dose of sport to back up the DNA links to motorsport and its big-brother Quattro. The GT was a car that gave you 80% of the performance of the turbocharged model for half the price. It also, in my mind, looked great too – while we all love boxflares, like the non-M3 E30s the GT had a charm of its own. The great angular yet curved C-pillar was the best design feature in my mind and still looks great today. For a car that shared a majority of its components with the 4000 model, the GT was remarkably different in character. However, as they were generally forgotten it is exceedingly difficult to find good examples of the B2 Coupes in general, and especially the first run of the cars. Distinctive with their DOT-spec diving board bumpers and quad-headlight setup with flat grill, these GTs have a loyal following – and one of the best examples from what was clearly a loving home is up for sale today:
The 911E is a particular favorite of mine for its balance between the entry-level 911T and the top-of-the-line 911S. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to denigrate the 911S, but prices for almost any example are through the roof and you may even reach six figures for cars in only fair condition. While a 911E is no cheap alternative, generally they can be had for quite a bit less cash than a S, but still provide many of the attributes and amenities that distinguish these cars from their entry-level counterparts. The example we have featured here is a restored 1969 Polo Red Porsche 911E located in Atlanta. The seller notes that the mileage cannot be verified but that he suspects the odometer to have rolled over, putting it at 168,650 miles. 1969 was the first year of production of the 911E, which mated a fuel-injected 2.0 liter flat-six to a 5-speed manual transmission delivering 140 hp to the rear wheels, all supported by Porsche’s hydro-pneumatic suspension.
Obviously we write up a lot of cars at this site, and we see our fair share of cars from dealers with a real gap in information provided that we’d like to see. Often times, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which cars get no description or why; they can be a 300SL Gullwing for multiple millions of dollars right to a first generation GTi. Despite the range of value, one thing unites these cars; there are enthusiasts who love to see them, and buyers who would really like to know more about the car. Today’s car is no exception; a 1993 BMW 318i, this would generally be a forgotten charm right now. The E36, while a great car in its own right, isn’t in favor the way the E30 is and consequently larger engined variants are plentiful, and more importantly cheap. So what is interesting about this economy car turned racer? Well, it’s a claimed Dinan built car, and for a time in the 1990s BMW handed Dinan the keys to build some pretty wild semi-factory backed racers – so they’re well versed. But the mystery isn’t solved there:
The 964 brought with it numerous changes and innovations and marked the end of the classic 911. The Carrera 4 was first introduced, the body underwent its fist significant redesign in 15 years, and the general feel of the car took on a new level of refinement with such items as ABS, power steering, and climate control all available. There was one other technical innovation: Porsche introduced its Tiptronic transmission as an available option on the 911. While these days almost every manufacturer offers an automatic that allows some freedom to select the gears, back in 1991 this was a rare bird that would further serve to expand the Porsche audience. Though, we should note, Porsche themselves had begun offering a similar sort of system, the Sportomatic, way back in the late ’60s, well before anyone else seemed to even consider such a thing. These sorts of transmissions were the wave of the future and, love them or hate them, Porsche was at the forefront of this technology. Here we have a Tiptronic-equipped Cobalt Blue 1991 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 with 39,970 miles.
My wife and I have recently had discussions about what is the perfect Providence commuter vehicle once again, with mixed results. You see, we’d like to own something nice and high performance such as a E46 BMW M3. But there are several things counting against that; first, driving a low slung, high performance car around the “streets” of Providence is akin to entering a Group C prototype into the Dakar Rally. Second, you gain attention of the wrong characters in the city. Third, you can never realize the performance of the car in a city setting. Sure, it looks great parked, but why go through the bother? My wife’s solution is something like the 250GD Nate wrote up yesterday. Indeed, it’s the first car she’s commented on in a long time in a positive manner. She likes the rugged simplicity of the G-Wagen, the understated aggression, and the upright, go anywhere, in your face attitude. “Just wait until tomorrow”, I said, “I have something even better”:
