This is about as mid- to late-70s as a Porsche 911 gets. Bitter Chocolate over Tan with black trim and the Carrera script running down the sides. For a while now the mid-year 911s have been some of the least expensive classic 911s on the market, especially when compared to the long-hood examples that immediately preceded them. There have always been two exceptions to that rule: the Carrera 2.7 of the US market and the Carrera 2.7 MFI in the European market. It is that MFI Carrera that we see here and with prices for mid-year 911s slowly creeping up these models have set the bar for the heights these machines can reach. Mechanically similar to the ’73 Carrera RS Touring, the Carrera 2.7 MFI serves as an alternative for those who don’t have a spare million dollars lying around for a RS and the example we see here, a Bitter Chocolate 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 MFI Coupe located in Atlanta, comes from the final year these models were produced. These would be the last of the mechanically fuel injected road cars that Porsche would build.
Month: August 2015
This E28 M5 was the car Dinan used for R&D to create their own modifications to supplement BMW’s upgrades to the platform. Not only does that make it a cool piece of American tuner history, but it clears the air of any pretension or garage-queeniness. This M5 has been used and worked on from the get-go. That makes things like the Euro bumpers, recovered seats (now without heat), and early engine rebuild (likely due to the early testing?) not as big of issues. It’s a very clean and good-looking M5 with a fun – if not flawless – history. Even with over 100k miles and bumper conversions, clean E28 M5s have been garnering some serious attention and money. A colorful but respectful past just seems like more of an excuse to drive a great M5 if you can afford it.
Click for details: 1988 BMW M5 on eBay
3 CommentsLast week I wrote up a gorgeous E34 540i/6 M-Sport that was listed just below $20k. Seems that most people thought the price on that was too high, despite the low miles and it’s owner being a long time BMW enthusaist. So, when I saw this ’91 M5 on Pelican Parts with a sale price about $2k lower than that of the 540i, I knew I had to write it up. I’m interested to see what ya’ll think of this deal, because while this car has nearly double the miles of the 540i, it has some Dinan bits, and it’s an M5. Is this car really so special that it warrants the price being within a months rent of a 540i with much lower miles?
Yes. Yes it is.
This is the E34 M5 we’re talking about here. This is THE Bimmer of the 90s. I acknowledge how cool the 540i M-Sports are, but I’m an enthusaist, and I’m the target audience for specialty models. The M5 is popular with everyone, and if you’re looking to get into a young timer classic, name recognition is important. There might be more costs upfront but the return on investment will be higher as well. Five or ten years down the road, when you’ve had your fun and are ready for something different, what would you rather be listing, an M5 or a 540i/6 M-Sport? The answer should be M5 every single time, that is if you’re into making some money on the deal. I’m not saying that isn’t possible with the 540i or any other specialty variants that were similar to a top dog car, but I know it’ll be harder.
Name recognition goes a long way and down the road when the bubble on 90s German vehicles bursts, you’ll want the well known hardware on your hands. I still don’t think the 540i I wrote up last week is a bad deal. What the seller wants is perfectly reasonable for a car of that class, with that many miles, no matter how old it is. This M5 on the other hand can command nearly the same amount with much higher miles because of its cultural cachet. Have I hammered home that the M5 is the better deal? Okay, lets get into the nitty gritty of what I like about this example.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991Â BMW M5 on Pelican Parts
1 CommentThe Grey 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe we featured in early July has come back up for auction. This time the starting bid has been lowered from $49,500 to $39,500, but it is up as a reserve auction rather than with no reserve. The seller probably will not have budged much on price, but hopefully we’ll at least see some bids this time around. Whether it will meet the seller’s reserve, we will have to see.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe on eBay
The below post originally appeared on our site July 8, 2015:
2 CommentsWhen I think about simplifying my life, one of my largest hurdles is what would I ever do with the E28 M5? Acquiring it realized a major life goal, and I still love it every day, but as life goes on will I always have the means to give it the (financial) love it deserves? When I imagine a world where I could do without its sound, rarity, story, looks… where was I? Oh, right. If I could let go of the things that are unique to the M5, a Mk1 GTI is where I’d head. Yes, it would still be an 80s German toy, which is not exactly “simple” to most, but it would provide legendary driving enjoyment without requiring regular valve adjustments and insanely priced out-of-production parts.
While GTIs have been steadily gaining in value, for the moment they’re still within reason. This extremely clean example received a new paint job last year, matching classic silver with some serious blue accents that provide an interesting counterpoint to the typical red striping. The hood stripe doesn’t quite do it for me, but I absolutely love how rally’d-out it looks from behind with the painted rear window surround and “Rabbit” mudflaps. It has a few needs that should be attended to sooner than later – but this GTI is an ideal candidate for some inexpensive home-wrenching and some massively rewarding driving.