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I was at my mechanic’s just the other day picking up my Passat when he asked me to give him a hand pushing a Mini Cooper S with a blown motor out of the way. He laughed as it rolled to a stop and remarked how heavy it was for such a small car. Of course, BMW made up for this by upping the power and the first of the new Minis is still a hoot to drive in S form, but he said to me “I’d rather have an original GTi”. I concurred; a legend even in its own time, the A1 GTi’s magic has never really been replicated by even Volkswagen themselves. Sure, there are faster, better built and better looking hatchbacks, but there’s something magical about the original – right down to the crazy stories both of us had about 11/10ths driving, flinging the small hatch at corners, overpasses, underpasses, small pets and occasionally pedestrians with abandon. Has all of that nostalgia turned into dollar signs in today’s market, though?
There is a certain timeless quality to the design of a vintage Mercedes that few marques are capable of replicating. Many of those models offered some of the highest levels of luxury and refinement on the market during their time and through their technological innovations they performed like much more modern vehicles on the road. The W114 sometimes gets lost in the MB catalog, but as the first post-war Mercedes built on an all-new chassis they remain important cars from their period. Between the W114 and, its counter-part, the W115 these cars offered a wide variety of engine choices, whether petrol or diesel, in either a sedan or coupe body. The 1975 Mercedes Benz 280C we see here, located in North Carolina, came with a 2.8 liter inline-six mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission and is reputed to be one of the most original condition examples of its kind available in the US.
The Audi C4 platform has been a perennial favorite tuning platform; just the other day in my Facebook feed a quick video popped up of an original S4 putting out over 1,000 horsepower at a staggering 11,000 RPM on a dyno. If that alone doesn’t tell you a bit about the stoutness of the turbocharged 5-cylinder mill, then perhaps the multitude of 400+ horsepower examples burbling happily along would. At their right foot the owners hold back a soundtrack of 5 barking cylinders which produce tunes that sound roughly like Pavarotti was being squeezed to death by Zeus, replete with lightning bolt cracks and flashes of fire in the sky with every shift. But properly building an AAN or other turbocharged 5-cylinder to handle really heavily increased boost will quickly double the purchase price of your budget S4/S6. So, is it a better proposition to buy one that’s done?
The 1991 Volkswagen Cabriolet Etienne Aigner Edition is back up on offer, this time with a Buy It Now price. If you’re looking for a summer cruiser and a manual gearbox isn’t high on your list of priorities, keep reading…
I remember my uncle telling me he found my first car, a 1988 BMW 325is, on the used car lot of a Cadillac dealership. Not exactly where you’d expect to find one of these German icons from the ’80s, but you really never know where a car you lust after might turn up unexpectedly. Case in point this final year Porsche 968 for sale at a McLaren Toronto. While it might get lost amongst all the high end machinery on the lot, for the Porsche purist, this is one car that will stand out. Originally a US market car, this car made its way to Canada last year. While it wears a repaint in Black Metallic, mileage is under 50,000. With only 624 968s sold in the US and Canada in 1995, this is a chance to join a rather exclusive club.
