Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
We are no strangers to the W201 around here. We feature them frequently, and for good reason. The 190 offered up everything ranging from a frugal diesel to a six-figure DTM super car with a myriad of other engine choices in between. Â Today’s featured car for sale in the Pacific Northwest falls right in the middle of the range in terms of price and practicality. A Japanese import 2.5-16, it’s a little out of the norm compared to a 2.3-16 that North Americans are used to seeing.
Just last week I was baffled by a C5 chassis swap. The seller took a 2.7T twin-turbo motor, a 6-speed transmission, and an Audi A6 Avant to create a unique package. However, in some ways its mission was lost to me; why not just buy an Allroad manual for half the price, or get the nicer S6 Avant with more and better go-faster bits? To answer my question, our reader Andre posted a response with the link to this car. Again, we have a C5 Avant with a 2.7T 6-speed swap. The price is pretty similar. But the base vehicle this time is the S6, with lightweight aluminum panels, flared fenders and bladed doors, great interior and a host of RS6 bits. Does this one accomplish being desirable and justifying the swap better?
This one will be a little bit of a quick hitter. I’ve featured a good number of classic 911s lately. In part that’s because I like them and there have been a good number of nice looking and interesting examples come on the market. But it’s also in part because their values have gotten a bit more reasonable over the past year and I’ve been interested in where they are selling. That’s my predominant interest here as we have one that looks in good shape, has reasonable mileage, and is up for a no reserve auction. So let’s get to it: here we have a White Gold Metallic 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa, located in Oregon, with Tan interior and 56,153 miles on it. The ’86MY usually makes for a nice value since it’s the last year before Porsche debuted the G50 5-speed manual. Let’s see if this one follows suit.
Back in September I featured the ultra rare and ultra expensive CLK-DTM that was for sale in Florida. To my surprise, another CLK-DTM popped up on eBay and of course it is my duty to report this information to everyone. Seeing as there is a handful of these cars in the United States I figured this had to be the same car. The problem was is that the original ad literally had one sentence of information. The only thing I could go on was the mileage and location. So as I compared the numbers, 2,936 miles on the car back in September while today’s car has 2,948 miles and both are in Florida. Bingo. I mentioned this to the eBay seller and to his surprise had no idea this car was listed on Hemmings back in September. His digging found that a broker was using his cars to make their own listings in order to sell this car. He also found out that the Hemmings seller also used a SLS AMG Black Series and Carrera GT of his without his knowledge either. Needless to say he wasn’t pleased and will be making some phone calls to said broker.
Now back to this car, it’s still for sale in Miami with an asking price of $425,000. I predicted that this was would be listed at over $400,000 and hit it pretty square. I don’t know if collectors are licking their lips for a 11 year-old CLK at almost a half a million dollars but then again I don’t run in the same circles of people that spend four bedroom home prices on cars either. Do I think prices will ever fall on these cars? Probably not. Is this a blue chip stock that you can sell for a million dollars in 10 years? Probably not as well. If you are looking for an ”investment car” there are plenty of Ferraris and Porsches out there will perform better, but if you are a Mercedes nut like I am, this one would be at the top of my list if I had the money to blow on it.
While the regular 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth had originally been intended to be a rally car, by the time the company got to producing the “Evolution” models they were fully embroiled in the DTM war of the late 1980s. Massive wings mounted trunklids, fenders flared, and engines roared to new heights of power. While most probably associate the E30 M3 as being the pinnacle of this period, the wildest road-going warrior was the 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II. Mercedes-Benz made 502 of these cars, replete with AMG-tuned motors and enough wings and flares to make an M3 jealous. It should be no surprise that these cars hold a special place in enthusiast’s hearts and they’ve led the market in value because of their very limited nature:
