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Following on from the Opel Lotus Omega we featured on Tuesday, here’s another Opel that is now legal to import stateside. It’s hard to believe from it’s sleek design that it is now 25 years old, but the Opel Calibra was introduced in the late 1980s as a successor to the wildly popular Opel Manta. This coupe, however, switched to a front-drive platform based off of the Vectra A. A number of drivetrain options were available, from turbo four-cylinders to a V6 and there was even a four-wheel drive option available. This Calibra for sale near Hamburg, Germany is equipped with the 2.0 liter four-cylinder, 8 valve powerplant, producing a modest 115 horsepower. This car might not get you there swiftly but at least you’ll look good doing so.
Long before “Clownshoe” mania, BMW had another slightly off-beat hatchback in its lineup. The company recently spent a fairly sizable sum advertising the lineage between the new 2 series and the original 2002, but as generally impressive as the new 2 is, the one thing lacking is a model similar to the E10 Touring model. Okay, the F45 and F46 tall hatchback models channel a bit of that, but let’s be honest – they’re not exactly what enthusiasts love. And similarly polarizing is the Touring model in the E10 lineup. The Michelotti design channeled some of the GT feel from the Glas acquisition, but while the fluid lines of the 1600GT worked well in a low slung sports car, moving to the taller and more upright E10 platform gave the Touring slightly odd dimensions. Shortened by about 6 inches and with additional glass, the Touring had modern conveniences like split-folding rear seats and was available in five different engine configurations over its short three year model life. From 1600 to 2002, the model designations referred to the engine capacity – imagine that! But the top of the heap was the 130 horsepower 2002tii Touring – for enthusiasts, one of the rarest variations of the E10 made:
For all of its under-the-radar allure, the E39 M5 looks damn good in bright red. One parks at our gym regularly, and it’s a great way to draw a little attention to a car that too often goes unnoticed. This example has the beautiful extended leather all in tan, making it a dead ringer color-wise to the two-door Italian sports cars that this sedan takes such pleasure in shaming. E39 M5s with fewer than 100k miles are growing more dear with each passing year.
Click for details: 2002 BMW M5 on eBay
The last 1988 Porsche 924S Special Edition I wrote up in November was an interesting one, as it languished in a second-hand dealer with low miles and recovered seats with a seller who was apparently unaware exactly what it was but was still asking close to top dollar. Well, the secret is out on that particular example, at least to some extent. Just before Christmas, the listing was updated from around $9,000 to just shy of $19,000 in order to account for the new description which listed the car as one of the 500 “Le Mans” edition cars. While the seller’s claim is semantically incorrect, it appears they finally did some research and figured out that this indeed was one of the Special Edition U.S. spec 924S models (as a reminder to those less versed in the 1988 924S model, the “Le Mans” edition was a European equivalent Club Sport model). While that car isn’t really realistically priced anymore, there’s another of these defacto Club Sport models on eBay right now in the same scenario – at least from the listing, the seller is unaware that it’s the Special Edition model:
The E92 is a fairly innocuous-looking car in most cases, with even the almighty V8-powered M3 failing to turn many heads at the stoplight. This 335i has the looks and modifications to attract a bit more attention, most glaringly of which is the 3M Intense Blue wrap, a color not far off the E46 M3’s desirable Laguna Seca Blue. Under the hood a new intercooler and access port from Cobb Tuning, along with some serious breathing improvements including Dinan mufflers behind catless downpipes. A few carbon bits here, some ///M stripes there, and M5 wheels complete the package for a 335i that has both show and go.
