It’s been a while since we’ve featured a crazy low-mile imported 4WD Volkswagen from whoever these folks in Avenel, NJ are that keep bringing these insane examples stateside. Whether it’s Golf Countrys or DoKa Syncros, they have the least traveled and most original forbidden fruit. Today is no exception, with another blue DoKa Syncro with a completely enclosed metal bed cover. Big white steelies complement a the white lower half and contrast the all-business black roof and steel bumpers. It looks brand new because it almost is, with just 15k original miles on the clock (or rather, 24km). It’s as good as they come and is bringing a lot of bidders to play, though still only in the teens as I write this.
Month: March 2016
I never understood why, but hatchback seems to be a dirty word in the US. So many of my friends eschew these vehicles, whether in three or five door form. Curiously, SUVs are popular here in the Land of the Free. So it seems Americans might not be all that averse to practicality, just as long as it is jacked up and classified as something more butch than your average passenger car. BMW dabbled with the idea of a hatchback 3 series for a number of years across two generations, however, only the E36 318ti, or Compact as it was known as, was sold stateside. While there were a number of different options you could spec a 318ti with, you had one choice of engine, the 1.9 liter inline-4. Customers in other markets, however, had access to the 2.5 liter inline-6 in the form of the 323ti. Enthusiasts took note of this and we’ve seen a number of six-cylinder ti swaps appear over time. This example for sale in Miami has an S52 from a 1999 M3 under the bonnet. It looks to be a rather tidy swap, with its look enhanced by the BBS RK alloys.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 BMW 318ti on eBay
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I mentioned in yesterday’s post the relative difficulty in finding interesting 911 Coupes and that difficulty becomes even more pronounced when looking at the 964. We don’t see a lot of 964s in general compared with other models and a good Coupe is even more rare. The one we see here, a Guards Red 1994 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe with Tan leather interior, I think is well worth our consideration. 1994 marked the end of the 964’s run as we began to see the much-heralded debut of the 993. As we’ve mentioned before when discussing the 964, they led a tumultuous existence, never really beloved by 911 fans and to my mind in a constant state of flux; there’s such a wide diversity of models that it almost seems as if Porsche was restless. Perhaps that was in response to the 964’s muted reception, perhaps there were engineering factors, as we know with the 964 Turbo. Regardless of what went on while the 964 was new, the model has seen somewhat of a resurgence in recent years and excellent examples have begun to garner a good deal more appeal. We witnessed this last week when Seinfeld’s Polar Silver ’94 Turbo S Flatnose sold for over $1M. Those are exceedingly rare and special machines, but such numbers do speak to the increasing popularity of the model and even the standard cars are seeing greater values. This one should stretch just how far the market is willing to go.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe on eBay
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With the exception of the short-lived Jetta TDi Cup Edition, Volkswagen has denied U.S. fans something that it’s offered in Europe for several generations – the sporty versions of its diesel products. They go as far back as the mid-1980s and made lots of sense in European countries were greater fuel economy trumped the need for speed. But that lack of importation hasn’t stopped some from creating their own anti-sleepers. What started life here as an early Jetta GLi 16V has gone through a unique swap to an equally if not more rare Ecodiesel-spec 1.6 turbo motor. You get the sporty look and interior from the GLi with all the clatter and fuel economy of the diesel:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Volkswagen Jetta GLi 16V Ecodiesel on eBay
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Last month we featured a rare Sven Hedin edition of a VW LT28 Westfalia. It had a lot of style and promise, but looking deeper past the Playmobil-esque lines showed a van that needed serious love and effort inside and out. Today’s 1980 model look to be cleaner throughout, though the single exterior shot leaves plenty of opportunity for hidden blemishes. The interior while still heavy on the 80s style, is notably better and doesn’t have the saggy-bags on the wall. Under the hood it has a recent turbodiesel heart transplant from a 96 Volvo. Despite originally living in the other Vol-car, these DT24T engines were actually built by Volkswagen from 1982-1992 and are as close to OEM+ as you can get for the LTs. With both the turbo and the intercooler, it pumps out over 120hp, a big improvement over the original 74hp. With highway capability, a dated but ready-to-use interior, and a simple, clean exterior, this is a great plus-sized alternative to the standard T3 Westy.