Good morning GCFSB fans! Some astute readers may have noticed a change to the page yesterday. We introduced a new “SOLD” category with a link…
4 CommentsMonth: September 2018
The W140 Mercedes-Benz S500 Grand Edition is a one of those cars that you probably forgot about if you knew they existed in the first place. I looked at a really nice one about a year ago and they don’t pop up for sale all that often. I’m sure that has a lot to do with just 600 of these cars ever made, but a lot of times when I do see them for sale they are in a pretty sad state. Chalk that up to the W140 not really being a collectible yet and the market still really soft on them, but I think this car has some serious potential to be a in demand model when it comes to Mercedes enthusiasts. If you want the best of what the W140 has to offer and don’t want to fully dive in with a S600, then the S500 Grand Edition is probably going to be your answer. This example up for sale in California is probably the nicest one I’ve seen come up for sale in a long time and I’m even more surprised at it’s condition given its four owners and over 100,000 miles. The question is, are you willing to pony up a heavy premium for such a nice example?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 Mercedes-Benz S500 Grand Edition on eBay
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When I saw this 1988 Porsche 928 S4 my first thought upon seeing the price was that the interior better be pretty special because, while nice, the exterior seemed fairly standard. Good condition, but a standard color. Well I won’t say the interior blew me away, but given that it too is in fairly standard colors I do think it looks really good and the overall combination of everything looks really nice. There’s a simple elegance about all of it. There’s no flash, but it’s a place I’d definitely enjoy spending time behind the wheel. I guess it’s a little odd because I can’t say it is quite what I was hoping, but I found myself quite happy with it nonetheless. It helps that everything looks very well cared for. I’m not sure it’ll all be enough to get someone to pull the trigger at this price, but we’re at least looking at a nice example of the breed and one that departs somewhat from some of the more usual contrasts.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Porsche 928 S4 on eBay
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The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II is one of those cars that you know exists, but thanks to its rarity of just 502 examples made, don’t pop up all that often in any kind of setting. The majority of these cars are now securely tucked away in private collections thanks to their crazy price tags (more on that later) and very rarely come up for public sale. Today, car number 208 painted in Blauschwarz, is up for sale for anyone who has enough money to sink into a car that you probably can’t justify it costs as much as it does. The best part about this car? It’s for sale in sunny San Diego, California.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II on eBay
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In yesterday’s Corrado SLC post, I referenced both how Volkswagen’s coupe was another attempt to create the “poor man’s Porsche”. Of course, at the same time that VW was perfecting its craft with arguably the best of their front-drive creations in the Corrado with the VR6 in the nose, Porsche wasn’t exactly napping at the wheel. They, too, had perfected their own pauper Porsche. The problem was, of course, that not many paupers could afford it.
The 968 stormed out of the gates and straight into the early 1990s recession wielding 236 horsepower from its VarioCam-equipped development of the 3.0 inline-4 from the 944S2. Evolutionary bodywork linked the model more closely with both the 928S4/GT and the 911 range. But with more power on tap than the standard 944 Turbo had in the mid-eighties, the base price was pretty much out of reach for most mortals. In 1992, the MSRP was $39,950 for a stripper Coupe. If you wanted the Cabriolet, you’d pay more than $10,000 additional. And if you opted for a Tiptronic transmission you’d be at $55,000. In 1992, mind you! That’s over $100,000 in today’s buying power and nearly double what a base 718 Boxster stickers for today. Even the basic Coupe in 1992 was double the sticker price of the 968 hardtop.
That made the Corrado a lot more compelling to consider in period, even with the 968’s stellar poise and road manners. It’s no surprise, then, that Porsche only managed to sell 2,234 968 Coupes here – compared to over 14,000 944 Turbos imported. A bulk of the Coupes, 1811, were 6-speed manuals, thankfully. But as we discovered yesterday, just because they were really expensive when new doesn’t mean that holds true today: