Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The wild Guards Red 1985 Andial-modified Porsche 930 3.5 turbo is back up for sale, this time with a $5,000 lowered “Buy It Now” to one penny short of $85,000. That price is still pretty steep for a older heavily modified example, but this is a pretty neat and rare bit of Porsche Motorsports history. What would you pay?
When you have effectively the exact same car as many thousands of other enthusiasts, it’s hard to stand out. Countless Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen enthusiasts try their best to personalize cars, but the reality is that even when you select numerous individual details your car is still one of many that are probably pretty similar. One solution is to buy a car that’s fairly obscure and modify it to your liking; but you’ll struggle to have a car that’s like new and probably won’t function well as a daily driver. If you want something new, reliable and with a warranty, your options are limited – that is, of course, until you select some of the special options offered by Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW. All will paint your brand new car either one of their options outside of the normal color pallet for an additional fee; for a lot extra, they’ll even paint it any shade you can find anywhere. It’s an expensive option – but if I were thinking long term, it’s one I’d probably select. Chose wisely, and you’ll end up with a stunning package – one like this Java Green 2013 M3 Individual:
The 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230 we featured earlier this month is back up for sale once again, this time at no reserve. If you’ve been wanting to delve into the realm of vintage Mercedes but find yourself on a budget, there are few better place to start than with this fintail.
Ah, another Motorsports Monday, and another opportunity to tick off the purists! I’ve had a string of LS swapped cars that I’ve reviewed recently, and here’s another to add to the list. In the 1990s, Porsche actually ran a program to develop a tube-frame race car; manufactured by Fabspeed – who notably also built Porsche’s tube-frame 944 racers, one example is still actively campaigned by Musante Motorsports in Connecticut. This car doesn’t appear to have the credentials of that particular example, but switching to a tube frame really allows racers to optimally set up both the suspension and engine configurations. In Fabspeed’s case, they moved the engine forward to create a mid-engined 911 long before the GT1 project. In this example’s case, it’s allowed for a 6.2 liter, 525 horsepower V8 to be mounted in the back. Under the guise of early 1970s RSR bodywork, this is clearly a track weapon:
Let’s take a moment to spend some time with the unloved. Porsche’s 996, the first of the water-cooled 911s, remains one of the least valuable, appreciated, respected – basically just pick your adjective – variants of the 911. There are good and bad reasons for that, but we are at the point now where a buyer looking for an entry-level 911 may be best suited by finding a 996 that is in good shape and using that to see what all the fuss is about. The example here is a beautiful Cobalt Blue Metallic 2003 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Coupe, located in California, with 82,400 miles on it. 2002 saw a number of changes to the 996 that would benefit this car: displacement was increased from 3.4 liters to 3.6 liters, along with a corresponding bump in horsepower and torque. The model also received a minor face lift to help quiet the uproar over what many considered a particularly ugly 911, and, specific to this car, the Carrera 4S was released allowing buyers to experience the wide-body glory of the Turbo, complete with upgraded suspension and brakes, while still making use of a lower-strain naturally-aspirated engine.
