Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
When it comes to Porsche exclusivity for your dollar, you would be hard pressed to find a better value than the 944S2 Cabriolet. Less than 2,000 examples made it stateside for one model year, 1990. As of late, values have been creeping up, following the trend of the front-engine, water-cooled set. Boxster a bit too mainstream for your tastes? Here’s a good way to stand out with this fully documented 944S2 Cabriolet for sale in Connecticut.
There are plenty of special cars in the realm of classic German automobiles, but one of the most capable and affordable is the S6 Avant. Only a few hundred of these special wagons made it to U.S. shores; denied the S4 Avant, enthusiasts lined up for the U.S. replacement for the fabled 200 20V quattro Avant. It was worth the wait, as great styling coupled with even more power for a truly luxurious sleeper wagon. It was unique on U.S. shores, too – BMW and Mercedes-Benz didn’t really offer any competition to these cars. Most have been pretty used by this point, but thanks to eagle eyes from our readers John and Jack, we can enjoy two great examples today – from mild to wild. Which would be the one you’d want?
The E30 M3 mythology continues to grow unabated, with more articles and videos attesting to its perfection coming out each month. As this was the BMW that caught my eye and got me hooked almost 20 years ago, I can’t say that I’ve stopped believing either. The ludicrous prices have made it hard to have dreams seem like anything more than that these days, yet every time I see an M3 like this one, a little voice starts chirping in the back of my head, trying to calculate what it would take to come up with the cash and live the dream. It looks outstanding in Schwarz with Sport Evo bumpers and spoiler – those red stripes are a nice piece of flare to accompany the massive flares and wing. The history has a few holes as the block was replaced but there aren’t any details. If there were, however, it’d probably be for sale for even MORE money. Let’s see… if I sold the E28 and a kidney and drained my savings…
What did you get if you wanted a reasonable German commuter that was no frills but fun to drive and got good mileage in 1997? After a long run of Audis, I was ready for something that was a little less dear to fix considering at the time I was putting around 55,000 miles a year on my cars for work. My mechanic glanced towards a faded but reasonably clean Tornado Red Golf K2 he had in the lot and said “You can have that for $1,500”. Done. I never once regretted it – it was a great little car; it would get 34 m.p.g. in a pinch, the air condition blew cold, the K2 came with heated seats, and even after 3,000 hours of polishing I restored the “Tornado Pink” to red once again. It was also fun to drive – the 8 valve has been given the nickname “2.slow” by enthusiasts, but the reality is that the ABA is more than adequate to motivate the lightweight Golf at speeds the original GTi would be envious of – plus, it had torque. Put sticky tires and a stiffer suspension on it and it was fun in the twisties, and good snow tires let you toss it around in the white stuff with no problems. But the best part of the Golf was its simplicity; it was just basic transportation, but it added character to a daily commute. I loved it, and smile every time I see a clean one like this Memory Red Pearl example with lower miles come up for sale:
The popular automotive program Top Gear once asked “can a car be art?†I’ve always thought one can find beauty in industrial or mechanical things, be it a simple household good such as an alarm clock or a more complex mechanical apparatus like this 1980 Porsche 928. Introduced in 1977 at the Geneva Motor Show, 1980 would see a more powerful S model, but not for those customers stateside. The 928S wouldn’t arrive until model year 1983 in the US, leaving the 1980 to 1982 US spec 928 a bit of an afterthought amongst collectors today. This 1980 example we see here has but 45,000 miles on the clock and looks quite fresh. Is it enough to attract a would be 928 owner into one of the forgotten years?