Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Earlier this year I looked at a 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG and pondered how cheap it would need to be for me or you to take the risk on. Ultimately, at the $17,495 the seller was asking still wasn’t cheap enough for me to even think about buying the car. 603 hp and 738 lb·ft of torque be damned, $17,495 is still $17,495 to me. Today, we have the brother of the CL65 for sale in New Jersey, the S65, and guess what? It’s cheaper than $17,495. How cheap?
Normally a Paint-to-Sample 930 would get my heart all aflutter, but this one, while indeed PTS, doesn’t quite stir my emotions quite as much. The reason should be obvious: that rare paint-to-sample color is black metallic, not exactly the most unusual choice along the spectrum. There aren’t a lot of black metallic 930s out there relative to its non-metallic black counterparts so even if the color doesn’t seem particularly rare it’s not very common either. But still, I was surprised to find out this was Paint-to-Sample.
With that bit of confusion out-of-the-way this is still a pretty nice looking 930. As those familiar will realize immediately, this is a RoW model since the 930 was not available in the US in 1983. The mileage is pretty low at 48,410 and it appears to be in excellent condition.
In my time looking at cars owned by the famous, I’ve run across a wide variety of people. From earlier this week of the ‘King of Basketball’ to the ‘King of Rock & Roll, I’ve even looked at actual kings. Sometimes the cars have a cool story but most of the time it is merely a name on an old piece of paper or if I’m really lucky, a photo or two of that person in the car. But today’s car, the gorgeous BMW Z8, was owned by a guy who changed technology and how we use it forever — and I could really care less.
The 928 still manages to amaze me. Let’s not be confused, this 1982 Porsche 928 is an old car. But it doesn’t really look old. Or at least not in the way most cars from the ’80s look old. The design clearly was ahead of its time – a point driven home by how similar the design remained over the 928’s 17 years of production – and even today the older versions still look good. It is in the interior where things most quickly begin to date themselves, but on the outside the 928’s curves still look fresh. We certainly won’t confuse it for a current production model, but as I said when we compare it to the various cars of its day it just doesn’t quite show its age to the same degree.
Update 7/10/18: Now with a lower $9,000 no reserve opening bid, much better photos and a black leather interior, the neat Jasmin Yellow Corrado 24V VR6 has been relisted relisted here
Update 3/11/18: The seller of this unique Corrado has relisted it again on a no reserve auction, but now with a higher $12,500 starting price.
Update 11/1/17: I was taken to task for my critique of the pricing on this example. The builder and many of his avid fans chimed in to offer more history and background of the build and its thoroughness. Additionally, the seller was able to point toward the $10,000 recent sale of a similar 24V modified Corrado to justify his pricing. It’s a comp that I hadn’t seen and certainly backs up his starting price argument. Thanks for the input to all our readership who know the seller and the build better than I did! -CJ
1992 was an interesting year of change at Volkswagen. At least for the next decade, it signaled the end of the hot water-cooled EA827-derived 4-cylinder models that had made it popular once again as a modern, efficient economy car that was capable of plenty of sport, too. 1992 was significant in this regard, because although the engine labored on for a bit, alongside the twin-cam, high-revving 16V GTI and GLI or the gutsy G60-supercharged Corrado came the new VR6 power unit. Displacing 2.8 liters, the new engine went without exotic forced-induction or peaky twin cams. Instead you just got low-end grunt and great noise, and 170-odd stampeding horses running across the front of your Volkswagen. In short order, the Passat, Jetta, GTI and even the EuroVan all moved to six cylinders.
1992 was even more notable because for the U.S. market it was the sole year where both the G60 and SLC VR6 were available together in the Corrado lineup. It was also unique because of the tones available; Corrados had been available previously in Nugget Yellow LK1B, but in 1992 it moved to Jasmin Yellow LK1D. It then promptly disappeared from the color catalog after few were ordered, making it one of the most infrequently seen tones on an already seldom seen car:
