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Month: November 2021

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2005 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet

By the back half of 2004, Porsche was full steam ahead with the launch of the 997 chassis for 2005, but they still had some unfinished business with the 996. Mainly this amounted to getting rid of all the leftover body shells and throwing all the parts bin stuff at the cars for high MSPRs to squeeze the last drop of juice out of the chassis. The 2005 model year for the 911 is hell for basically everyone having to deal with them as you could get a C2 cabriolet, Turbo, and GT3 in the 996 body as a 2005 model year, but the rest of the model range was now a 997. Even stranger was that if you wanted a 2005 911 Cabriolet, the base Carrera was a 996, but the Carrera S was a 997. Try having to pitch that as salesmen to potential buyers. Today’s car, a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet, was a full on “throw all the options on it to clear out the space we need in hopes someone buys it for a margin” kind of build. This car carried an MSRP of nearly $160,000 and was not shy about going a little over board equipment. Now? Not much of a discount, honestly.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2005 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet on eBay

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1979 Puma GT 1600

Puma Indústria de Veículos SA’s roots were actually in producing rebodied front-engine DKWs in Brazil, but they managed to make the kit work with some refinement first on the Karmann Ghia and later on the Brasilia. The result was the Puma GT and GTE (export) models – a pretty slick budget Ferrari Dino knockoff that somehow managed to work when so many VW-based customs didn’t. Puma added a convertible version called the GTS in the 1970s and then renamed that model the GTC for 1980, two years before the Brasilia shut down production. Sold as complete cars in South America and later South Africa, some kits were sent to North America – but this one is an original Brazilian build that was imported:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Puma GT 1600 on eBay

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1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL

This W140 sold for $13,600 on November 17, 2021.

I still think the W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is occupying that no man’s land area where it isn’t old enough to be a full on classic, but certainly not new enough where original owner’s still are using them. When you look up 1990s styling, this is very much it, and maybe this isn’t a good thing. On the other hand, if you wanted to daily drive one, you certainly could as long as your wiring harness hasn’t turned to dust on the pre-facelift models. We are seeing the really nice Grand Edition and V12 cars sell for serious money, but the rest of the model line up seems to lag behind significantly.

Today’s example, a 1992 500SEL up for sale in Chicago looks like your typical early build, but shows an impressively low 25,000 miles. Even better? It’s Malachite Green Metallic.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Mercedes-Benz 500SEL on eBay

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1993 BMW 740i

Back in February, I took a look at the E32 range-topping 750iL:

1990 BMW 750iL

Shortly after that model year, though, BMW introduced two new models with V8s under the hood. Following mostly traditional naming conventions, the M60 3.0 and 4.0 V8s slotted in to the new 730i and 740i models. Their all-aluminum construction mean that they were not any heavier than the outgoing venerable six, while being shorter and more compact. Power on the M60B30 was respectable and in line with the M30B35 inline-six; 215 horsepower and 214 lb-ft of torque, while the bigger brother had 282 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. That was only a few horsepower short of the V12, and with its much cheaper price and better fuel economy it was no surprise that it was a hit. The formula would be carried on for the next few generations of 7s, but it’s become more rare to see the early cars still floating around. Let’s take a look at this ’93:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1993 BMW 740i on eBay

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1990 Volkswagen Cabriolet Boutique

This A1 sold for the best offer under $8k on November 15, 2021.

Following the launch of the revised “Clipper” bodywork on the Cabriolet in 1988, Volkswagen divided the model into three different tiers. The base spec was just “Cabriolet”; move up a notch and you got you alloy wheels and sportier front seats with the “Best Seller” model. The top of the range was the “Boutique” model we see here; these incorporated many of the details of the Wolfsburg models that came before. You got 14″ Avus (Snowflake) alloys, which if you ordered white as a body color were keyed to match and leather upholstery.

While dynamically the cars were all the same, the combination of the best colors, the leather upholstery, and the nicest alloy wheels as standard mean that the Wolfsburg and Boutique models are “the” ones to get – unless you luck out and find an Etienne Aiger. Let’s take a look at this 1990 and see if this one’s a good deal:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Volkswagen Cabriolet Boutique on eBay

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