Although the Type 44 chassis would live on in the D11 V8 quattro until 1994 (albeit heavily revised), for many the pinnacle of the chassis was the 1991 model year. It was then that finally the U.S. market received the power that Europeans had enjoyed in the chassis for so long. Audi used its Group B, Sport Quattro and IMSA experience to create a four valve head for their road cars. It was utilized in many chassis in slightly different configurations; the U.S. market 200 and early S models received the 3B, while the Quattro had a slightly upgraded RR motor. With mild revisions, this motor was again offered in AAN configuration for the 1992 model year, while Europeans had the ABY. The final development was the RS2’s ADU, but all of these motors shared the same inline-5, 20V turbo construction – and all are very highly sought. For U.S. customers, though, since the S2 and RS2 models were never offered along with the late 20V Quattros, it doesn’t get much better if you like the older cars than the 1991 200, and then again doesn’t get much better in 200s than a clean Avant:
Month: October 2016
I have a love-hate relationship with the G-Wagen, the 4×4 from Mercedes first introduced in 1972 as a military vehicle. I think that the contemporary, blinged-out AMG versions driven by celebrities and Hollywood moguls are an abomination, a crime against motoring humanity. But on the other hand, I’m quite partial to the older, more humble trucks on which they’re based. (I clearly have a thing for boxy old SUVs: I adore vintage Range Rovers, and used to own a Jeep Cherokee XJ, though the less said about that the better.) The original trucks are honest in a way the modern behemoths are not. The G-class was never supposed to be nice to drive, luxurious or a status symbol of wealth and conspicuous consumption. It was a spartan, utilitarian vehicle intended to transport soldiers across inhospitable terrain or, when sold to the public, farmers across boggy marshes.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1985 Mercedes-Benz 280GE on Hemmings
Comments closedI went to college in London in 2000, about the same time that the first generation TT started to appear on British roads. Because my dorms were in a posh part of town, there were always a few of these parked nearby. The car’s styling struck me as extraordinary. It captured something of the millennial zeitgeist: a minimalist, Bauhaus-esque design that artfully blended lines and curves on the outside, with a bespoke-feeling cockpit on the inside featuring splashes of brushed aluminum and baseball-glove stitching on the leather seats. Back then, I had ambitions to become a lawyer, and this was the perfect car, I thought, for a young single man about town. The perfect yuppie’s car.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi TT 225 quattro on Albany Craigslist
Comments closedUpdate 1/17/19: After not selling in 2016 for $199,000, this rare 230 Cabriolet B has been correctly relisted as a 1937 model for $189,000.
I don’t usually look at a lot of pre-war Mercedes for a number of reasons. A few of them are they are very rare (and expensive), it’s tough to find solid information on them that’s not in German and lastly I’m not expert on them. So naturally when I see them and start digging into the specifics, I get lost and confused which leads me back to a W126 or R129 where I’m much more comfortable. Today’s car is no different. A 1936 230 Cabriolet ”B” that has a bunch of things that I try to make sense of but just end up asking more questions. So let’s take a look at this blue cabriolet that’s on its way to California.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1936 Mercedes-Benz 230 Cabriolet “B†on eBay
Comments closedEarlier this week I mentioned that as the air-cooled 911 market has settled I’ve started to come across a lot more classic 911s that appear to be in good condition and also might be had for reasonable prices. For a while it seemed like that was impossible. But here we have another: a Black Metallic 1982 Porsche 911SC Coupe, located in New Jersey, with Tan interior and 85,756 miles on it. The condition isn’t perfect by any means, but as a driver-quality example it looks good and the Black Metallic paint provides a nice change of pace from the usual non-metallic Black with which we’re far more accustom.