Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Two weeks ago, we saw a pan-off restored Volkswagen Type 3 Notchback, a car that rekindled my interest in these rare air-cooled VWs. This week we’ll take a look at another restored Notchback, this time from our reader Ben in North Carolina. While not stock, this Notchback has been modified tastefully, with selective accessories that lend a clean, period look. With an extensive record of receipts and photos from the restoration process, this is one Type 3 air-cooled fans won’t want to miss.
If yesterday’s pristine S4 DTM Edition with low miles got you excited, then this is probably the type of car that you’d really like to see. Normally when we’ve done Wagon Weeks, I’ve written up some of the more notable fast Audi wagons; the RS2 and the S6 Plus, for example. But today I wanted to visit a few we don’t spend so much time on – hence the S6 Avant duo from earlier. What we have here, though, is even that much more special; what is probably the best condition, most original and lowest mile Audi RS4 outside of Audi’s possession. The RS4 was an instant hit, with quattro GmbH combining forces with Cosworth to tune the engine of the B5 up to a then-staggering 375 horsepower. With beefed up bodywork covering massive wheels and tires and run through a 6-speed manual transmission, the RS4 was good to its Sport Quattro and RS2 heritage, running to 60 m.p.h. in a smashing 4.9 seconds and easily bouncing off its self-imposed 155 m.p.h. limiter. As with the RS2 and the Sport Quattro, the limited run RS4 has been the subject of many replicas, but finding a mint condition original example reminds us of how perfect the formula was:
Finding value on the air-cooled 911 market is always a somewhat relative proposition and has been increasingly difficult to come across. It is also something with which you will rarely see me lead-off a post when the car in question is a long-hood 911S. Even when only in fair condition these cars command quite a lot of money; a pristine example can easily exceed $200K. The question here, and which I’ll discuss more below, is whether the current owners of this 911S have found themselves a nice value. Here we have an Irish Green 1972 Porsche 911S Targa, located in Texas, with 74,111 miles on it. You may recall that last week we featured another ’72 Targa, that one being a Bahia Red 911T. The distinguishing characteristic of these ’72 911s is the external oil filler and, while possibly entirely anecdotal, I have noticed quite a few examples from that model year coming up for auction. They certainly seem more prevalent than other long-hood model years. As the early-911 market accelerated and then possibly cooled some it has been these rarer variants that have continued to command the most money and as such sellers continue to try to make the most of the market.
For a few short years, Audi indulged us. In 1995 only, we received the first S6 Avant on U.S. shores; though the C4 Avant would soldier on until 1998, the 220-odd horsepower turbocharged 5 cylinder hooked to a manual transmission would be gone for a few generations and not seen again in the large wagon. Though the next generation C5 platform would grow in size, Audi would answer with a new S6 Avant for these shores. Now with a seemingly impressive 340 horsepower in an all-aluminum V8, it unfortunately only came to the U.S. in automatic form. It was still a very fast car, but one that catered to a slightly different crowd than the original. It was also, for all intents and purposes, a bit of a sales flop; enthusiasts I think correctly found it difficult to pay the premium when you could get the spiritual successor to the “Ur-S6” in the 6-speed manual, twin turbocharged Allroad 2.7T. As a result, when the new C6 platform launched, although there were new forms of the S6 Avant available, they stopped coming here. Indeed, as soon as we hit 2010, Audi stopped bringing the large Avant all together; you can thank the popularity of the Q7 for that. So today we’ll look at two of the forbidden fruit; the last two generations of S6 Avant that didn’t come to the U.S.:
Akin to the modern day M3, the BMW 2002 has become a bit of a blank canvas for enthusiasts looking to try their hand at improving what already is an impressive package. BMW made their sport sedan bones with the 2002, helping the company emerge from financial crisis post World War II. The 2002 would also break new ground, becoming the first European turbocharged production car with the 2002 Turbo. With 170 horsepower and flared fenders, this car was all business and proved to be a popular template for tuners. This 2002 for sale in California is built in such a way for the new owner to enjoy it on the street or track, with turbo look flares, Momo seats and a worked over engine linked up to a 5-speed gearbox.
