Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
A few weeks ago I looked at a quite rare 2002tii Touring that was available for import from Europe. Uniquely styled and a very late production tii Touring, the seller was looking for around $35,000 plus importation fees – which, truth told, can get pricey. So, what about a resto-mod 1600 Touring that has been thoroughly upgraded with a 2 liter motor, 5-speed transmission, air conditioning and a helping of Alpina details for a few thousand dollars less?
Starting with the 2015 model year, Mercedes-Benz started producing the Sprinter van with four-wheel drive for the US market. While the Sprinter has been one of the ideal, cost-is-no-object adventure vans for a while, the relative lack of 4WD left Ford Sportsvans and Syncro Westies as the true kings of the go-anywhere home on wheels class. Well, that’s all fixed now, and you can spend scores of thousands of dollars on a Mercedes-built, diesel-powered, all-wheels-driving box. This particular 2015 model is the specification I’d want – the 144-inch wheelbase is more manageable in the real world compared to the 170, while the High Roof makes standing up a reality and storage options plentiful. This couple bought it to install a wheelchair lift (available for extra money if you want it) for their son and drive to the mountains, but the high-top wasn’t the right fit for them so they’re selling it with just 2k miles on it.
In recent features of the 991 GT3 RS I’ve talked about alternatives to these very high-priced machines given that most of them are currently priced above $300K. Of course, there isn’t much of an alternative that’s going to get you 100% there, but there are options like the Cayman GT4 or previous generations of the GT3 RS that at least begin to reach the dizzying heights of such machinery at a fraction of the cost. To present one such alternative I’ll reach back to a reliable favorite of mine: an Orange over Black 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The one here is fitted with the optional carbon ceramic brakes and sits with just 17,069 miles on it. While the last of the 997 generation, the GT3 RS 4.0, remains extremely cost prohibitive even compared to the new 991 GT3 RS, these earlier examples with the 3.6 liter engine remain, at least in a relative sense, a pretty reasonable value. Even in these earliest examples you still get 415 hp delivered to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission along with a lightened and stiffened chassis to help keep all of that power directed precisely where you intend.
The words “Q-Ship” and “Sleeper” get tossed around a lot when describing the super-performing sedans, coupes and wagons from Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW – but truth be told, virtually any enthusiast and most non-enthusiasts can spot a high performance model a mile away. We have to go really pretty far back to find examples that were true sleepers – models where it was only the number of tail pipes, subtly wider wheels, or maybe one single badge that hinted at their greater performance. There were no extra gills, bulges, flared fenders, red trim, flashy colored brake calipers and 29″ wheels with 375 section tires. For models like the 450SEL 6.9, you had to know what you were looking at to fully appreciate the performance. But even as we got towards the E28 M5, manufacturers were slapping badges, lowered suspensions, spoilers and special trim to help set their client’s substantial investments apart. In the vein of the 450SEL 6.9, though, Volkswagen launched a discrete performance sedan – a true sleeper – in the Passat W8:
I’ll spare readers my usual rant about how I don’t like SUVs. But what I don’t like even more than SUVs is when their popularity precludes me from buying a car in the US that I normally would want, such as the Audi S4 Avant. Audi hasn’t offered a non-Allroad style Avant since 2012, which is a shame, given how attractive the B8 A4 Avant was. At least the US got a few years production sent over here, though. This 2010 A4 Avant 2.0T finished in Deep Sea Blue Pearl has got me pining for the days of when Audi understood its traditional customer. The all-wheel drive Avant driving customer.
