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Month: October 2019

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1995 Porsche 911

A few weeks ago I took a look at a 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S that had one of the more severe cases of “sticker shock” I’ve ever seen. Nearly $600,000 is what you needed to pony up to drive home with that car and as crazy as that price sounds, and it is crazy, that is still without a doubt a car that is worth hundreds of thousands. Just probably not $600,000. That got me thinking, what could you get for a faction of the price but not the fraction of the experience? Well, I think you know where I’m going with this.

This is a 1995 Carrera 2 is also finished in white, although Pearl White, not Glacier White. It has the Turbo Twist wheels that everyone loves and just 52,000 miles. Is it a Turbo S? Of course not. Could you still have a ton of fun in it and save $526,000? I think I could manage that.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Porsche 911 on eBay

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2005 Volkswagen Phaeton W12

Let me start by saying this: Are you really going to drop $15,000 on an about-to-be 15 year old needlessly complicated Volkswagen? Then you must be looking at a R32, because they’re simply no way you’re contemplating this car.

Volkswagen piggybacked on the success of its B5, C5 and D2 platforms with a decidedly upscale move in the late 1990s. The headlines seem preposterous, but then so was the result; Volkswagen Siamesed two 2.8 liter VR6s together on a common crank, then stuck them in the middle of an all-wheel drive supercar. Still utilizing the Syncro moniker, all four wheels were driven by the 414 horsepower W12 and with a body from Giugiaro’s ItalDesign, it looked poised to take on just about anything. Volkswagen wasn’t done, as they punched out the motor to 6.0 liters and raised the specific output to a shocking 591 horsepower. It was renamed the W12 Nardo, and it then went to its eponymous track and produced staggering results. It’s easy to overlook the achievement now, but in 2002 VW managed to lap a W12 Nardo at 200.6 mph…for 24 hours. That’s right, in 24 hours a Volkswagen became the fastest car in history over that distance, covering an amazing 4,815 miles. That’s one fifth of the world’s circumference, if you’re counting.

What VW did next was perhaps even more shocking. The world was used to upscale market brands of popular marques; after all, what were Lexus, Infinity, Acura…heck, you could even lump Audi into that group. But Piëch gambled that you’d pass over all those brands and…BMW…and Mercedes-Benz…to plunk down over $100,000 on a W12 Phaeton. Few did. Specifically, only 482 did, and it seems like more than half of those are black. Here’s one that’s not, for a change. And, it’s no reserve!

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2005 Volkswagen Phaeton on eBay

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2001 Audi S4

The B5 S4. On paper, it’s a car that I should like a lot. Coming from the modest 4000 quattro, Audi produced what should have been a monster on paper; a 2.7 liter twin-turbocharged V6 rated at over twice the power of the old inline-5s mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. 6-spoke “Avus” wheels carried on the late 90s design in 17″ form, with deeper but still subdued body additions and more grills hinting at the better performance of this A4-based creation. Twin polished exhaust tips, Xenon headlights, deeply bolstered sport seats and plenty of technology also came along from the ride, too.

But for me the B5 S4 sedan was never super exciting. Perhaps that was because it was instantly popular. What I remember annoying me more, though, was that it really seemed like Audi could have produced stronger performance. After all, it generated only a few more horsepower than the last favorite – at launch, the already out-of-production E36 M3 was the match for the performance of the S4 due to its lighter weight. And that was in turned-down U.S. spec! More sharply notable was the launch at the same time of the S8, and the S4 was some 90 horsepower down on that model. Yet get behind the wheel of one, and suddenly it wasn’t a lack of grunt you were noticing. It was how well the package pulled together. It rode well, it had a glut of usable torque thanks to the small twin turbos’ ability to spin up so quickly, and the fit and finish inside was leagues better than the E36 was. And while you could stick snow snows on an E36 and make it through winter just fine, as a year-round commuter car the S4 made a lot more sense while simultaneously being a much better sleeper. It was a ‘Q-Ship’; admittedly, not the biggest or fastest one out there, but certainly an undercover speed agent. These cars developed a cult following, so it’s still possible to find nice examples, such as this Casablanca White over Onyx 6-speed:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S4 on eBay

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1999 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

Not to be the guy who says “I told you so”, but I’ve been singing the praises of the W210 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG for years now. Biased? Of course. I bought two of these cars, one gifted to my father, and one for me, and both remain today. Mine stays tucked under the cover in the garage and maybe sees the light of day once a month while my father, although a retiree, daily drives his and just crossed 205,000 miles on it. Both of them were purchased when they were probably at their lowest point in worth, and as luck would have it, prime examples are starting to pull really strong money. I know that is a little bit of an outlier, but the rising tide lifts all boats unless you are talking about an example that is ready for the junkyard. Are there deals still out there for these cars? Yes, I think so. Higher mileage examples and ones that need a little love can still be had under $10,000, but I think as the years go on, those examples will be put out to pasture and only the strongest will survive. This 1999 up for sale in California sure is a strong example with just 54,000 miles, but are you willing to pay the price now hoping the prices will continue to creep upwards?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG on eBay

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2014 Porsche 911 GT3

Do you want want a Porsche 911 R but can’t swing the $300,000 price tag? Well, I may have a solution for you. Back when the 911 R fever was at an all-time high and people were playing truly insane prices for them, someone had the idea to option a standard 991.1 GT3 exactly how a 911 R looks. Notice I said looks, because the 911 R had a lot of very special pieces like a magnesium roof, carbon-fiber decklids front and rear, and carbon-fiber front fenders. While that doesn’t seem like a big deal, the lack of the 4.0-liter and six-speed manual is a much bigger deal given that wasn’t available yet on the GT3. Imagine the day the person who owns this car was having when Porsche announced the GT3 Touring.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 on eBay

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