Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
After failing to sell at auction for the estimated $600,000 – $800,000 projection, the AHG Studie modified M1 is back and now on eBay. Bidding as of writing is sitting around $300,000 – a steal for even a poor condition M1 these days. While it’s not likely to remain there or meet reserve, it will be interesting to see where the pricing ends up!
I can’t remember the last time I wrote up a 928, which is a fault of mine and not of the cars, but it is about time I turned my attention back to Porsche’s great GT. The 928 was with us for nearly 20 years and looking back across the range you see a gradual reshaping and evolving form, but without significant variation until you compare the first to the last. I can imagine that when first introduced they were a stylistic revelation. By the end of their run the shape certainly had changed but it was always identifiable as a 928. Of course, this is sort of what Porsche does: continually refine a design rather than implement dramatic changes. I digress, the example we see here comes from the middle of the 928’s life, a Grand Prix White 1987 Porsche 928S4, located in Oregon, with just 29,820 miles on it. The S4 featured a 5.0 liter V8 up front producing 316 hp delivered to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission. The car featured here has been been fitted with the very desirable 5-speed manual.
As with E30s, E36s, Volkswagen GTis and Jettas and Audi A4s, there seem to be a tremendous amount of modified 2002s. A popular tuning platform, they take many different forms in their personalization – not all of them good. Indeed, some of the modded 2002s that pop up for sale really leave me scratching my head as to the intentions of the owner. But when you see one that got it right, they always make me smile. Some of those “right” cars are period-look Alpina or Schnitzer cars, some are more subtle – just low, clean and with a nice set of Hella or Marchal fogs and some BBS Mahles. Then there are the updated cars, such as this more wildly Zender flared example. To me it looks pretty slick!
I still remember when my father purchased his first German car. It was a 1982 BMW 633CSi in metallic grey with tan leather and a 5-speed manual, with the original BBS Mahle wheels. It was otherworldly to me; long, lean and low compared to the Toyotas I was used to being carried around in, the BMW had a feel of quality that the other cars I had been in couldn’t match. It snarled with a wonderfully raspy exhaust note and I felt invincible inside. The 633 was also the first car I displayed at a show myself; in that case, I proudly spent hours cleaning it and getting it ready for the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in 1993. At that point, the 6 was still a pretty new car – but even then, it was rare to see 6 series and since then it’s even more rare to find them. The best of the bunch are arguably the ones that came after my father’s car was made and got the post 1983 E28 chassis updates. Although considered the lesser model due to the lower displacement motor, in fact the 633CSi was only 1 horsepower short of the 3.4 that made its way into the 635CSi replacement for the United States in 1985. Today, there are three lower mile examples of these clean coupes up for sale – which would you choose?
The Mercedes-Benz 500E is one of those cars that was fairly affordable for a long time, but dwindling supply and greater awareness has raised values considerably. I knew it was a matter of time before this legend started to increase in value. We often see these four-door hot rods with Porsche DNA in black or silver, but this metallic blue example for sale in Florida bucks that trend. This car is closing in on 150,000 miles but has had the same owner for the last 18 years.