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Month: June 2014

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2004 Mercedes-Benz C320 Sportcoupe 6-speed manual

Published June 17, 2014 by Paul

For some reason, certain cars just don’t catch on in the US. Every since trading my 2007 Mercedes-Benz C230 Sport (sans fold down rear seats) for an MINI Cooper S, I’m happy that once again I have a hatchback and a car with some useful cargo capacity. It baffles me then, why those in the US don’t take kindly to hatchbacks. Plenty of folks drive around SUVs with a rear hatch, so why not transfer this versatility onto something a smaller, more efficient and in most cases, more fun to drive? Also, a rear trunk doesn’t look that good on certain small cars. Yes, Mercedes-Benz CLA, I’m looking at you.

Mercedes tried its hand at the hatchback formula shortly after BMW exited with it’s E36 based 318ti Compact. The new C class Sportcoupe, as it was known, debuted for 2002 and was experimenting in uncharted territory for the brand. This was positioned as the most affordable vehicle in the lineup, available from the outset with a supercharged four cylinder engine mated to either a 5-speed automatic or 6-speed manual. Later, a 3.2 liter V6, also available with automatic or manual gearboxes, arrived. This C320 is of the six cylinder variety and has covered just over 11,000 miles, originally ordered by an executive of the company.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2004 Mercedes-Benz C320 Sportcoupe on eBay

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1997 Mercedes-Benz C280 with 23k miles

Published June 17, 2014 by Paul

Whenever I spot a Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG with low miles, they inevitably get snapped up in short order. Just witness the one we featured last week if you need evidence. If you don’t need the power and persona of an AMG variety Benz, then a C280 like this one for sale in New York could be just the ticket. This car is barely broken in with just over 20,000 miles on the clock and represents the last year of the inline-6 in the W202.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Mercedes-Benz C280 on eBay

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1990 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Avant

Published June 17, 2014 by Carter

Another day, another story about an Audi I owned. This time I’ll evoke memories of the “dragon wagon” – my 1989 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Avant. It seemed like a great idea at the time; I saw an advertisement for an “Audi Quattro Wagon” that was sitting in a field in New Hampshire. When I arrived with trailer to pick it up, it turned over and even ran briefly with ether but wouldn’t move. The seller wasn’t the original owner. He had picked the car up from an auction and didn’t know why it wouldn’t run or move. Over the next few months it sat in my friend’s driveway as I slowly diagnosed the problems. It was remarkably clean, and I was able to figure out that the original owner had cared for the car reasonably well – but it obviously hit a point where the repairs and condition exceeded the then-owner’s threshold for tolerance and they donated the vehicle to a charity. That probably should have told me something then, but I pushed on, first diagnosing the run condition (fuel pressure regulator leaking and bad) and then figuring out why it wouldn’t move – the clutch was completely gone.

I tried with a friend to replace the clutch without a lift, but sufficed to say, it’s a repair on Audis that is fairly involved and eventually I gave up, choosing instead to pay a mechanic to replace it. While there, it turned out the car also needed brakes (no surprise) but it ran remarkably well considering where it came from. I then used the “dragon” for the next few years at work. The odometer didn’t work, making it easier to pile miles on – which I did. So did I pile on repairs, and like my V8 ownership the “dragon” seemed destined to provide me with countless stories. It almost ran over my co-worker (without anyone driving it). Then there was the time the voltage regulator went out and I had to alternate switching on and off every electrical item in the car to avoid toasting the battery. That’s difficult in a car where half the electrical items no longer work. There was the time a friend had to rescue me in central Connecticut after the car spewed the contents of the oil pan – twice – all over Route 84 when one of the oil cooler hoses let go. I referred to it as the hard way to do an oil change. And no story of the “dragon” would be complete without the story of my now wife driving me home from the hospital; me mostly naked after having crashed my bike into a tree at pretty high speed with some resulting broken bones. The entire ride home my poor wife apologized as she tried to come to grips with the idiosyncrasies of driving the Audi, of which there were many. Finally, after one last trip to pick her up from work a few months later where the brakes locked on I had enough; I retired the Audi and sold it to my uncle as a parts car, as he had a 1988 5000CS Quattro Avant with somewhere near 500,000 miles on it. Obviously, he needed the car more than me.

But I was wrong! The car returned to life a year later; I was contacted about an ad I placed selling the car, and after helping to broker a deal with my uncle and the new owner, the “dragon” moved on and was reborn. I saw it a few times in my travels – the new owner turned up the boost and fitted large wheels and Euro lights and it certainly looked the part. The travels of the Audi were a reminder of many things – the longevity of these well built cars, the complexity of keeping a cutting edge 1980s car running, and the devotion of the Audi fan base. Here’s my suggestion though – don’t find one in a field, buy this one instead:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Avant on eBay

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Motorsport Mondays: 1988 BMW M3 Evo2

Published June 16, 2014 by Carter

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – I generally try to stay away from the E30 crowd, mostly because I really don’t think the current values on the M3 are justified. For under $10,000, it was a great track car. For under $20,000, it was a great occasional driver and memory of fun times in the DTM. At $30,000, it starts to become a show car that you’re not willing to drive to the store. Past that, it’s pure speculation and there seems to be no end in sight. Likely, that won’t be the case but if the Hemi bubble taught us anything it is that there will always be something new for people to latch on to. Of course, I watched a Mecum auction this past weekend and saw a Hemi Barracuda hammer for a few million dollars, so I guess the market on those cars still hasn’t returned to anything resembling normal.

Will the E30 M3 drop back down? Well, it can’t stay on this trajectory for long, that’s for sure. Cars have tripled in value in the past two years, a trend which is simply unsustainable. They’re no longer values – they’ve become the absolute top of the 1980s BMW market outside of the ultra-exclusive M1. And why? Don’t get me wrong, the E30 M3 is a cool car. But exclusive? They made 16,000 of them, for goodness sake. Compare that to some other notable BMWs – 450-odd M1s, about the same amount of pre-war 328s, or 250 507s. To put that even into more perspective, BMW made only about 6,000 E24 M6s and a scant 2200 E28 M5s. Rarity isn’t on the side of the M3, but few have ever accused the automobile market or enthusiasts with any sense of sanity, so the climb continues. Now, in my mind there are some E30 M3s that deserve the attention and loftier prices, and the Evolution models have to be one of the most deserving. With a touch more power and a little less weight, the M3 Evolution was closer to it’s track-winning relatives than the standard production M3. As they only made 500 of each run, they’re rare to see – but the market is such that for some who got in at the right time, they’ve reached their stop on the crazy train:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M3 Evo2 on eBay

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1996 Volkswagen Passat TDi Variant

Published June 16, 2014 by Carter

In the realm of desirable German cars, the Volkswagen Passat scores remarkably low – undermining what a great car it truly is. There have been a few generations now, some based upon Audis and some based upon modified Golf platforms. Each platform has it’s own stars; the B2 saw the Audi Quattro-based GL5 Synro. For B3 fans, the 16V G60 Syncro Variant turned things up a notch, even if it wasn’t available in the U.S.. And the B5.5 saw the development version of the “W” engine platform, with one of the most highly sought after Passats in the form of the W8 4Motion Variant 6-speed manual. But while the B4 had no such enthusiast notables, there were two very competent versions of the mid-90s Passats available. First was the sporty VR6 model, especially desirable in Variant form since we didn’t receive the 4-door GTi or Golf Variant on these shores. But for the budget-minded mega-milers, one of the true hidden gems of the water-cooled community was produced – the TDi Variant. Available only for a short time and in limited numbers, these cars are easily capable of a Prius-crushing 50 m.p.g. and have room for the family. Like many of the Audi/Volkswagen products, they have a loyal community that follows them and enthusiastically cares for them, no matter how many miles pop up. Recently we saw one of these TDi Variants top $13,000 in similar condition – about as strong as money gets for any of the pre-2000 watercooled Volkswagen products outside of the camper vans:

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