Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
If I’m honest, while I really like the R8…were I going to spend $100k on an Audi, it would be something a bit older and that would stand out. Can anything stand out much more than this car?
That’s right, this is claimed to be a one-of-one Rubystone RS4 Avant, and for good measure it’s got only 25,000 miles. It also seems to be a bit upgraded with lowered suspension and AP Racing calipers. But while the RS4 Andrew looked at seemed to be a good deal, this one…well, it’ll cost you.
After a few of not-so-nice or fake R8s, I thought I’d take a look at one you might actually consider buying. Now, jumping into the R8 world is not particularly cheap, but relative to the 911 markets these are still fairly affordable for what is otherwise a borderline supercar. Take today’s 7-year-old example. It’s got stunning looks highlighted by the Somoa Orange Metallic paint – but it rings in under $100k. And though it looks a lot like the GT model I looked at in 2021, it’s also $40k cheaper but still has some neat options. So let’s take a peek:
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 “Cabrioletâ€; 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; 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.
This changed late in the run, as Volkswagen boiled the Cabriolet lineup down to two models; the Cabriolet and the Cabriolet Classic. In their final model year, both were also badged as “Collector’s Edition”, which can get confusing. The difference between the two models was that the Classic was slightly higher specification; you got air conditioning, heated front seats, forged “La Castellet” wheels, and leather upholstery – though you could opt in the air conditioning on the base Cabriolet. Today’s car appears to be a nice Classic model that’s undergone a full interior placement:
Sometimes things just don’t make sense. The Mercedes-Benz R-Class is one of those. When it launched, it was compared to a bad minivan with ugly styling and a crazy price tag. The R350 rang in north of $50,000, while a loaded up R500 4MATIC hit $70,000. That is a lot of money for something that doesn’t look the price, and the quality was average at best. The interior was just a lot of parts-bin stuff and was very much form-follows-function. One would think that would equal almost no demand for them in the used market given Mercedes expanded their SUV lineup massively and updated everything around them. However, the prices they are still bringing in the used market some 15 years later say that is not the case.
I love seeing creative solutions people come up with when factory options aren’t enough. Sometimes they are brilliant, sometimes they are half-baked, and sometimes they are a little bit of both. Today, we have that “little bit of both” recipe on this 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG. The story was the previous owner didn’t care for leather seats, and since leather was the only way to go on the R230, they did a custom cloth setup. Truth be told it doesn’t look all that bad, except this previous owner wanted one more special request: the largest headrests I’ve ever seen in my life.
