I’ll admit it; I’m a bit of a sucker for off-colored cars. Perhaps it’s having something that most others don’t. Maybe it’s my anti-social id expressing itself through vibrant tones. Or, more likely, it’s just nice to see cars in a shade out of gray scale. In this case, this 2004 M3 is one of twelve imported in the BMW Individual shade of Brass (Messing) Metallic. Are the results of choosing such a different tone on the E46 successful? You bet your brass….
Author: Carter
When one thinks of classic air-cooled, rear engine German cars, BMW does not come to mind. The much more famous relatives from the Western side of Germany do, of course, and Volkswagen is obviously linked therein too. How about tail fins on a car from the Vaterland? Again, the most recognizable car to sport them is the Mercedes-Benz 220s – the so-called “Heckflosse”. And super-minis from the 1960s? Well, you might even be more inclined to think of DKW rather than the Roundel. But in the 1960s BMW nearly failed as a car company, and the automobile that helped to keep it afloat was the versatile 700 series. The answer for the company was not to launch expensive luxury cars into a depressed economy, but instead to look at alternative economical platforms. Based upon the company’s roots of motorcycles, the 700 incorporated new technology for the company which would later be seen across the board and help to point the company in a different styling direction that the Neue Klasse would continue and expand upon. To me the most attractive of the 700s by far is the Coupe. We’ve looked at a handful of these diminutive and distinctive two-doors over the years, but two clean examples popped up this week and it was definitely worth a look:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1963 BMW 700 on eBay
Comments closedAt the risk of appearing like we’re recycling a bit too much material lately, I’d really like to take a look at this superb and interestingly equipped W126 from last fall again. A relatively low spec European model never offered here, this 280SE features the M110 inline-6 instead of the normal V8s the American market experienced, but the smart Euro look, low miles and great color combination really caught my eye. It’s not the fastest S-Class you can buy, but it’ll still leave you feeling pretty rich. Last time around this car hammered at a seemingly unfathomably cheap $2,950, but for whatever reason it’s back up for sale from the same owner having covered only a few more miles since the fall. The reserve is still on the auction, but this should still remain a very affordable bit of classy classic Mercedes to pick up!
The below post originally appeared on our site September 7, 2015:
As with the W140 model I covered the other day, the W126 eagerly accepted by the automotive world as the new benchmark in design in the late 1970s. Mercedes-Benz pioneered new safety, aerodynamics and luxury through typical Mercedes-Benz over engineering. Replacing the outgoing W116, the W126 was thoroughly modern inside and out but at least initially carried the same motivation. Under the hood of the short wheel base 280SE was the inline-6 M110 motor, but there were small and large displacement V8 models too. Paul looked at a excellent condition W116 280SE recently, but a high asking price called into question the value of that particular example. Will this grey market import 280SE sing the same song?