A couple of weeks ago I binge-watched Stranger Things. Sort of a mashup of The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, The Goonies and E.T., it’s a sci-fi/horror show about kids chasing monsters set in the early 1980s. It’s fantastic. The producers have clearly gone to great lengths to get the period details correct: the hair, the clothes and the music are all spot on. As are the cars; the show features an impressive lineup of cool 80s iron that had me wondering whose job it is to source cars for TV and film, and where they get them from. Do studios keep a stock of mint, vintage cars on hand? If so, I’d love to see that garage. Anyway, in the show one of the major characters (a teenager, rather improbably) drives an E23 733i. You don’t see many of them left on the roads these days, so it was a delight to see it on screen. A quick search online turned up only a few for sale, but this one in particular caught my eye.
Month: August 2016
This is just absurd. The mileage, the condition, the price. Though interestingly not much is absurd about the color or options. It is in those regards a fairly standard example of an early 930. Here we have a triple black 1979 Porsche 930, located in Cleveland, with a mere 34 miles on it. How it is that a Turbo like this ends up with such low mileage, I have no idea. With unique colors, options, or models I can understand a collector buying a car with the intention of keeping it in such pristine shape. But on a standard black 930 I’m less certain how we get here. Regardless, here we are and even if there’s nothing particularly eye-catching about the color it is still a nice treat to see such a time capsule. Seeing this 930 is hardly different from walking into the showroom when it was new.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Porsche 930 on eBay
3 Comments
While the E36 M3 coupe is known to be a relatively quick, dynamic and fun car to drive, it’s often hard to find a good one. That’s largely because so many of the coupes have ended up as thrashed track-rods with dubious modifications. On the other hand when they do turn up for sale, the relatively uncommon sedan versions are more likely to be found in stock, unmolested condition and as such have tended to keep their value. This is probably because they’re more likely to have been used for trips to the organic grocery store rather than to a track. (There’s an Arctic Silver one with Yakima roof racks that I often see where I live in DC, parked near a place colloquially known as Whole Paycheck, and yes, I eye it jealously every time I see it). The two extra doors do not fundamentally alter the M3 package, except to add a healthy dose of everyday practicality, while the M-tech bodykit that distinguishes the Ms from ordinary cars lends the already handsome sedan body shape just the right amount of sporting aggression. I think these cars are well on their way to becoming a bit of a cult classic. This M3 has those two extra doors plus the all important 5-speed manual gearbox, making it an “M3/4/5” in enthusiast-speak.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1998 BMW M3 Sedan on eBay
6 Comments
These days we’re so used to Porsche producing a plethora of different 911 models that if you can’t find one to suit your needs then you might just be too picky. Or never really wanted a 911 to begin with. A quick trip over to Porsche’s website shows sixteen different variants of the 911 from which buyers can choose and if rear-engine isn’t your thing there are also four different Cayman models. This sort of selection has not always been the case. The 964 began the expansion of model variety, but it was with the 993 that we really began to see the sort of diversity in the lineup we see now. One of those models first introduced for the 993 is the model we have here: the Carrera 4S. The Carrera 4 itself first came about with the debut of the 964, but the S models didn’t make an appearance until the 993 took the stage. Like the M491-equipped Carreras of the mid- to late-80s the Carrera 4S effectively served as the Turbo-look model of the 911 line, sharing the bodywork, suspension and braking of the Turbo, though lacking the Turbo’s whale tail and retaining the standard naturally aspirated engine of the rest of the 911 line. The one we see here is a very pretty Guards Red 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, located in New Jersey, with Savannah Beige leather interior and 52,894 miles on it.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S on eBay
Comments closed
Believe it or not, at the beginning of W126 Mercedes-Benz S-class production, you could still spec one of these luxury sedans with a carbureted engine. Built from the beginning of production up to the 1985 facelift, a little over 42,000 280S models with the M110 inline-6 were manufactured, none of which were sold new in the US market. This 280S for sale in Aachen, Germany has yet to break the 30,000 mile mark and comes equipped with features not commonly seen in US spec W126s, such as cloth interior, rear crank windows and a 4-speed manual gearbox. With prices trending upward on all W126 variants, an extremely well-preserved example is a tempting proposition, no matter how base level the spec might be.