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Month: April 2015

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Tuner Tuesday: 1996 Alpina B8 4.0

Tuner Tuesday: 1996 Alpina B8 4.0

Published April 21, 2015 by Carter

While Ruf and AMG grab most of the big tuner headlines from Germany, Alpina quietly and competently produced some of the wildest and best executed BMWs ever made. Simply put, Alpina made already good BMWs better – and arguably still do today. One of the most interesting aspects of the company is the close working relationship they have with the factory; a partnership which results in truly special treatment. Take the Alpina B8 for example; any normal tuner might have simply enlarged the inline-6 under the hood of the already potent M3. Or, in the tradition of the 1980s Alpinas, they could have turbocharged the engine. But instead Alpina asked BMW to make them a special V8. And, somewhat surprisingly, BMW did – a new block was designed for Alpina since the normal 4.0 couldn’t be bored out. The result was a 4.6 liter motor which was fit to the B8 4.6 and B10 as well. The motor was so large in the E36 that a special oil pan had to be designed, and neatly a German camera maker had to be employed to design and build a special oil pump to run it. Yet in true Alpina tradition, the fit and finish was factory and accompanied a host of suspension, interior and aerodynamic tweaks. Capped off by special Alpina paint, these B8s are truly special E36s. While the B8 4.6 is the headline grabber, Alpina built a short run of 5…or perhaps 6….4 liter models that were sold in Japan:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Alpina B8 on Bimmerforums

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1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe

1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe

Published April 21, 2015 by Rob

1989 was a big year for Porsche and the 911. It saw the return of the Speedster as a special variant based off of the 3.2 Carrera. The 930, which was entering its final year after almost 15 years of production, would finally see a 5-speed manual transmission mated to its 3.3 liter turbocharged engine. And most significantly: it was a year of change. The classic 911, which under the guise of the 911SC and 3.2 Carrera, had restored life to, and insured the future of, the 911 and was to be fully redesigned with the release of the 964. Porsche even released the very first of this new model as an all-new variant: the Carrera 4 – the first road-going 911 equipped with all-wheel drive, an idea we first saw on the 959. 1989 thus served as a beginning and an end. This was the beginning of the modern 911, which has continually pushed the boundaries of performance and luxury, but it was also the end of a very important era for the marque itself. Porsche was moving into the future on surer footing and much of that is thanks to the success of the outgoing 911. Here we look at a nice example from that final production year: a Grand Prix White Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in Louisiana, with 65, 124 miles on it.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe on eBay

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Convertible Week: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

Convertible Week: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster

Published April 21, 2015 by Paul

Following on to the 1998 Mercedes-Benz SL500 we featured yesterday to kick off convertible week, here’s that car’s grandfather: the 300SL Roadster. Painted in a similar hue of black, this example for sale in Los Angeles has lived there most of its life, originally being sold in Europe. This is an early build 300SL roadster on its fourth owner, having undergone a repaint in 1981 along with a few other items being refreshed.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster on eBay

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1990 Audi V8 quattro

1990 Audi V8 quattro

Published April 21, 2015 by Carter

I have a fun ongoing exchange with our reader John; we send each other pretty much every V8 quattro that comes to the market in the U.S., usually accompanied by some brutally honest and laughable one-liner. Considering the number of V8 quattros imported – less than 4000 – and that they were both expensive and a DTM star, they would have been coveted like the rest of the Audi lineup. Yet, many have fallen into extreme disrepair or neglect, leaving precious few left running today and making good ones a rare find. For example, recently John sent me a pretty worn Pearlesant White ’93 model with the line: ” ‘cheap’ and haven’t seen it before, but that’s about it”. I responded that I’d done the “cheap” V8 route before, and that were I to do it again I would have been better off spending three times as much to get a maintained example. The V8 is truly a car that could bankrupt you trying to restore a poor one to original condition. However, if you find a reasonable example that’s well priced, is it a better proposition?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Audi V8 quattro on eBay

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Feature Listing: 2001 Audi S4 Avant

Feature Listing: 2001 Audi S4 Avant

Published April 20, 2015 by Carter

For some time, the B5 S4 was dismissed by a fair amount of enthusiasts as a heavy, complicated car. Truth told, the B5 seemed a bit of a let down initially compared to the already gone and instantly legendary C4 S4/S6 with the venerable inline-5 power plant. But Audi had a new range of motors when it came to the B5, and the inline-5 did not really fit under the more compact hood in the lineup. Replacing the single turbo 5-pot was a new 2.7 liter V6 with not one but two turbochargers. Despite that, performance seemed a bit tame; 250 horsepower was nothing to sneeze at, but it was only a bit more than the outgoing M3, after all. However, the B5 had a few trump cards over its competition. Of course, the major one was that quattro all-wheel drive continued to be the high-performance platform for Audi. In this guise, the lockable options were completely removed from the driver, instead having the computer’s brain work electronically locking differentials coupled with electronic stability. While the combination of these things didn’t sound like an enthusiast’s dream, out of the box the S4 was a quite competent performer. Of course, the big bonus with turbocharging was that there was a tremendous amount of performance potential on tap with some upgrades. Free up the exhaust and turn up the boost, and these Teutonic turbocharged wonders went from tame to terror. There was one other major trump card the B5 had over the competition; as with the last of the run C4 S6s, Audi finally allowed their fast wagons to come over to these shores. They were an instant hit amongst the Audi faithful, and brought many more customers over to the four rings from other marques as well. Arguably the most popular were the two wild color options; the ever popular purple-blue Norgaro Blue and the retina-searing shade of Imola Yellow. Only a reported 64 Imola Yellow Avants were imported between 2001 and 2002, making it one of the more rare B5s produced. Paired with a 6-speed manual gearbox, these Avants have stood the test of time and are still highly sought by enthusiasts:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S4 Avant on eBay

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