Over the last year I’ve really come to appreciate the high-top Vanagon. With a very different approach and look from the Westy, it’s taking the VanLife game just a little further. This early 1980 model has covered less than 50k miles with its air-cooled 2.0-liter. There’s no explanation as to why it has only covered an average of 1300 miles a year, but it looks the part. The two-tone yellow is going to make you the quintessential ray of sunshine that comes when people see awesome Vanagons on the road. Inside, the redone interior is pretty amazing with a very early-80s brown and beige color scheme and as high quality of work as I’ve seen in any Vanagon. With reserve-on bidding starting at $7k, it’s nice enough to go much higher than that.
Month: February 2016
I had my eye on a few of the larger auctions during the past few weeks and noticed an interesting trend that seemed especially prevalent among higher-end Porsches: they were almost all selling for a good bit below the auction house’s estimates. Granted those estimates may have been off, but in a few cases the selling prices were definitely lower than I would have expected. Early 930s were the most common in that regard so we’ll definitely have to keep an eye on where those are as we go forward. At the Gooding and Co. auction this trend wasn’t limited to Porsches as it seemed nearly everything was selling below their estimates, which itself could suggest a general financial tightening. The one possible exception was the 993. Not every 993 sold reached the high estimates of the auction houses – though a few certainly did – but many of them were showing much better than their counterparts from throughout the air-cooled 911 line. All is this is to say that it appears the 993 is still going strong. The one we see here is exactly the sort that could follow that trend of maintaining strong values – even though, if we’re honest, the asking price here is too high. Here we have a Black 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera S, located in California, with the factory aerokit and just 19,714 miles on it.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera S on eBay
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Familiar to U.S. fans as the Audi 4000, in the rest of the world Audi continued a naming tradition that dated back to the 1960s regarding engine output. Most of the models didn’t make it here, but prior to the 1980s there were Audi 50s, 60s, 80s and 100s. The original B1 80 was also called the Fox here, not to be confused with the later Volkswagen Fox model. When Audi switched to the B2 chassis, the U.S. nomenclature changed to the 4000 most remember. And there were several engine configurations available initially, including a diesel, turbo diesel, inline-4 and inline-5 motor in both 2 and 4 door configuration, along with the stablemate Coupe GT model though the designations no longer aligned with engine power. By the time Audi progressed to 1984 and the introduction of the 80/4000 quattro, though, engine choices dwindled. In the Coupe GT, you could only get the 5-cylinder motor – effectively the same motor that was available in the quattro but with a slightly different exhaust manifold that netted 5 more horsepower in the sedan. Otherwise, if you bought a 4000 front drive model, you got a 1.8 inline-4 that was shared with the Volkswagen model range. This continued with the refreshed models in 1985, with the only further engine change being the later 1987.5 Coupe GTs switching to the NG 2.3 130 horsepower motor.
However, in Europe there were still many configurations you could get the B2 in. There were two model levels; 80 and 90, with the later being the more upscale version with more powerful motors. This would be seen in the U.S. later with the B3 run, but in Europe there were pretty substantial differences visually and mechanically between the 80 and 90. The 90 was, for all intents and purposes, a Coupe GT under the skin. In 4-door guise, it retained the larger 10.1″ vented front brakes mated to 4×108 wheels instead of 4×100. Outside the aerodynamic bumper covers only made their way onto 90 models, while 80s carried bumper covers that looked very similar to the pre-85 models. The engine was the same 2.2 inline-5 that would be found in the quattro models, with European variants producing a few more horsepower than U.S. markets. As with the Coupe GT, these were expensive models that were more heavily taxed than the smaller motored 80s, and consequently they’re not seen as often. But a seller contacted us with a pretty stunning example that’s worth taking a look at.
Email Seller: 1985 Audi 90 on German Cars For Sale Blog
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Although BMW’s E28 M5 gets most of the laurels and notoriety for being the first super sedan, the reality is that for an entire two generations before the launch of BMW’s Motorsport branded sedan, Mercedes-Benz had led the way with a series of large V8 powered luxury sedans. The first was really the W100 “Grosser” 600, powered by the M100 6.3 V8. Producing 250 horsepower and 370 lb.ft of torque, it was a match for the hefty mass of the 600, though that car was certainly not a sports car. Mercedes then followed the 600 with a more sporting model, mounting the same M100 into the 300SEL 6.3. With a 0-60 time of around 6 seconds, the lighter 300SEL was capable of hanging with some of the most notable sports cars of the day. When production of the W109 chassis was ceased in 1972, Mercedes moved the massive V8 into the new W116 chassis. Launched in 1975 with a tremendous amount of revisions to the M100, the now 6.9 liter V8 produced nearly 300 horsepower in European trim and over 400 lb.ft of torque – a full decade before the M5 hit the market.
Into the 1980s, although Mercedes-Benz produced some potent V8s of its own it was the tuning firm AMG that took the reigns for performance, ultimately generating in the neighborhood of 400 horsepower from the M119 6.0 V8. After the merger of AMG into the Mercedes-Benz fold, they became the tuning wing of the company, but focus had moved on to inline-6 and V12 models. The big V8s returned in the W210 E55 with a respectable 349 horsepower, but supercharged versions later produced far more. By the mid 2000s, though, there was a horsepower war between the M5, RS6 and AMG models. In response to the 450-500 horsepower plus on tap from the competition, AMG upped the ante with a new M156 V8. With an astounding 507 naturally aspirated horsepower, Mercedes-Benz had doubled the original 600 model’s power with no more weight. The result? 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and relentless, effortless speed everywhere in the rev range. The motor appeared in several different models, and though the displacement was 6.2 liters AMG opted to utilize the nomenclature “63”; probably, as one of our readers noted the other day, as an homage to the 6.3 models that started this conversation. Mercedes once again held the biggest hammer in its hand, but technology and the need for greater efficiency meant that this motor enjoyed a short shelf life. The company moved on to twin turbos in the 2011, making this 2010 example of the E63 the last of the great naturally aspirated V8 tradition:
Email Seller: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG on German Cars For Sale Blog
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Of all the cars I’ve ever owned, the 1998 Mercedes-Benz C230 was perhaps the most honest. It wasn’t overly flashy, was rather basic as compared to other US market Mercedes at the time and went about its business with 148 horsepower on tap in a steady but dignified manner. While there were hotter AMG versions on offer, Mercedes did offer a Sport package for the W202 throughout its life which gave the standard models a bit more zest. This 1997 C280 Sport for sale in Illinois has covered just over 60,000 miles and represents the last year the M104 inline-6 appeared under the hood of the W202, to be replaced by the M112 2.8 liter V6 in 1998. These Sport models had came equipped with a tighter suspension, 15″ AMG wheels, blacked out exterior trim, carbon fiber look trim inside and a smaller diameter steering wheel.