We don’t really do revisits of previous posts all that often anymore. It’s easier simply to update links as auctions or sales come back around. However, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions. Certain cars deserve a second look. In some cases they have actually been off the market for a little while. With this car, both situations apply. This is a 1 of 1 Arancio Borealis 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. I featured it a couple years ago when it was first offered for sale. The price – $1.99M – was spectacularly high, but this is a spectacular car in as eye-catching a color as you are likely to find. It never sold and now the owner figures he’ll try again.
Month: May 2018
While not the fastest or the prettiest car Volkswagen ever made, the GTI represents the ethos of VW’s 1980s philosophy of cheap, fun-to-drive, and eminently practical cars for consumers. As they did when new, the first generation GTI also represented a car which gave much faster cars a run for their money. True, the 90 horsepower under the hood won’t scare a supercar. But what this car lacks in straight-line performance it more than makes up for in value.
You see, over the past few years we’ve watched the fan-favorites and driver’s cars from the 1980s increasingly price themselves out of the range of most enthusiasts. The esoterics are also forged in unobtanium today, and while there was a period where you could snap up cheap 80s products in Europe and import them, they’re going away, too. Sure, the M3 and 911 led the charge, but today a clean 190E 2.3-16 or Quattro will set you back some serious bucks. And then when you do get one, you need to worry about collector insurance, expensive and hard-to-source parts and whether you bought in a bubble.
The solution is still the giant-killer GTI. Find a clean one, and you’ll have a car that can be driven at 10/10ths still today and generate plenty of smiles, yet is relatively cheap to buy and very cheap to run. You’ll get thumbs up just like the 911 driver will. Maybe even more, honestly, because when was the last time you saw an A1 cruising around?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Volkswagen GTI on eBay
12 CommentsThis is a first. I’ve never seen a 911 like this. The colors, I mean. The typical pairing for a yellow exterior is a black interior. The contrast works well as the two colors accent each other. The combination here is one that most probably would not consider. Here we have a Summer Yellow 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet with Mahogany leather interior and 59,003 miles on it.
I have not heard of Summer Yellow. After some searching my guess is that this is Limonengelb (code: M1A), which only was available in ’87 and ’88 for the 911 and 924. Limonen translates to Lime. Generally when we think of limes we think of green, not yellow. Perhaps that’s why it’s called Summer Yellow. Either way it’s a very happy looking color! It might be better suited on a Beetle than a 911, but it’s a bright happy yellow 911 nonetheless. Do I like the pairing with Mahogany? That I’m not sure about. It certainly seems quite earthy and I’d be interested to see it in person. That this is a Cabriolet, i.e. the top also is Mahogany, really is playing up the contrast between these two colors. Ultimately, I think I’d prefer this combination on a Coupe, where the yellow canvases the entire exterior, rather than a Cabriolet. It should be a very rare combination though.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet on eBay
2 CommentsIt has been a little while since I’ve looked at a Mercedes-Benz Pagoda, so now is a good a time as any to jump back in and check one of these out. Normally, I feature the top of the range 280SL because those are usually in the nicest condition, are optioned the fullest and are painted in the coolest colors. Today, I actually want to look at the one of the early Pagodas in the 230SL. This 1966 up for sale in Los Angeles is an extremely low mileage example with just a little over 19,000 and from the looks of it, has been maintained rather well.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1966 Mercedes-Benz 230SL on eBay
1 CommentIt’s generally safe to say that we all like RUF. Their full builds can be spectacular both in appearance and performance, but almost any RUF to wear the badge, or simply share the name, possesses upgrades that make them very desirable. We very rarely see any related to the 964 so when we do come across one it’s always worthwhile to pause and take a closer look.
This is a 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet that was sent off to RUF for a “full” CR4 conversion perhaps around the year 2000. Like many conversions what exactly is meant by “full” might be a matter of debate, but in this case the engine does appear to have been blueprinted by RUF with horsepower now at 330. That engine likely represents what buyers will care most about. From the documentation it looks like the owners of this car purchased it from RUF in May 2000, but it’s not clear when that means the conversion itself actually occurred. Maybe there is other documentation to support that. It then was imported into the U.S. where it has resided ever since.