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Author: Carter

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1990 BMW M3 Convertible

1990 BMW M3 Convertible

Published December 31, 2015 by Carter

The automotive ‘Field of Dreams’, it seems these days that if you post it, they will come. Potential buyers (read: mostly tire kickers or keyboard warriors who pontificate about what they’d buy with when banks finally allow them to cash their internet checks) play the roll of Ray Kinsella, cutting through the field of vanilla cars, driven by a ceaseless desire to find their magical dream team. Playing the roll of ‘Topless’ Joe Jackson in today’s lineup is a 1990 BMW M3 – a car you could have gone to the driveup in to watch my topical movie. Now, truth told I’ve previously spoken about how fast convertibles don’t really make a tremendous amount of sense to me, and I have to point towards the E30 M3 Convertible as one particularly odd topless choice. What BMW did was infuse your normal 3 series with race-bred DNA, winding up the motor with the revtastic S14 and stiffening the suspension to handle all of your curb-hopping, door pounding action. And then, they chopped the roof off, adding 400 pounds to reinforce the chassis and utterly transforming the car from a potential podium to a potent pocketbook. Alright, that’s a huge exaggeration, but still, it just doesn’t make sense to me. It does, however, make sense to those who are happy to part with a fairly substantial chuck of change to jump into this pristine example:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 BMW M3 Convertible on eBay

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Feature Listing: 2009 Audi R8 4.2 Coupe

Feature Listing: 2009 Audi R8 4.2 Coupe

Published December 30, 2015 by Carter

Is there such a thing as a practical supercar? If there is, I’d have to suggest that the Audi R8 is perhaps the best representation of such a thing. First, let’s define if it’s a supercar. Even the base R8 has the sonorous and high-revving 4.2 FSi motor that has powered the B chassis RS products for the last few models. Rated at 420 horsepower and 317 ft.lb of torque, it’s enough to launch the somewhat heavy R8 from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds and a top speed just shy of 190 m.p.h.. As super sedans blur the lines between supercars and normal production cars, these numbers aren’t outrageous – but the R8 4.2 can run step in step in a Lamborghini Diablo, for example. Couple that with near perfect weight distribution and massive tires, and the R8 will easily out turn many marques of more mystique with its ability to generate the full gravity of the earth through turns – on street rubber. Yet this performance comes without the price that many used to have to pay for the luxury of speed; the R8 is happy to lounge around town at pedestrian speeds, bathing its occupants in comfort. And with all-wheel drive, it’s even usable year-round. Practical? Maybe it’s not the best choice for a family, but it’s certainly a driver’s car for those that love to drive in every condition. But perhaps best of all, it’s relatively affordable – only costing about the same as many Porsche 911 models:

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1987 BMW M535i

1987 BMW M535i

Published December 30, 2015 by Carter

There’s been a fair amount of talk on these pages about M branding, as BMW has moved towards slapping badges on seemingly every single model regardless of their sporting potential. Can you blame them? Perhaps, but obviously they’ve done their market research and just as Audi and Mercedes-Benz have similarly increased the breadth and scope of their limited run production, BMW has offered the public an ever increasing and diverse range of M badged products. It’s as if these three are cowboys on the range, fearful of each other’s steeds and stoking the fire to brandish their labels on the rear ends of their flock in a futile attempt to establish dominance and feign individuality. But, in all honesty this isn’t a new trend. As far back as the mid 1980s, BMW was offering badge engineering on some of its finest products, and the M535i is the best example of this. Essentially this was a 535i with a M Technic body kit and no real performance changes outside of an optional suspension package. Does that make it less desirable?

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Tuner Tuesday: 1984 Volkswagen GTi Callaway Turbo with 21,000 Miles

Tuner Tuesday: 1984 Volkswagen GTi Callaway Turbo with 21,000 Miles

Published December 29, 2015 by Carter

We’ve witnessed some pretty crazy market increases over the past few years. While generally it’s been the big names from Porsche and BMW stealing headlines, the reality is that the entire 1980s market is on the rise. Hagerty, for example, recently emailed me to tell me that the 1984 Pontiac Fiero has increased in value nearly 100% in the past year. As I had nightmares about that, I thought about the many other cars that used to be bought for chips that are now heading into unaffordable territory. Two years ago, we saw the Mk.1 GTi join that list when in a few weeks we witnessed back to back record sales. First to hit the market was the nearly $18,000 1983 Callaway Turbo example with 18,000 miles,followed closely by a 1984 with some period modifications and 20,000 miles for $16,000 in December, 2013. Those were enough to assume that the market was heading strongly up. Yet we also saw it flounder slightly, as very nice and original examples struggled to break – or even come close to – $10,000 again. Well, it would seem that things are back on track, because another low mile Callaway Turbo with period Zender kit has arrived on the scene, and it’s currently poised to blow the market apart once again:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Volkswagen GTi Callaway Turbo on eBay

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Motorsports Monday: 1978 Porsche 928

Motorsports Monday: 1978 Porsche 928

Published December 28, 2015 by Carter

There’s a strange part of me that loves the idea of turning up to the track in something no one is expecting to see turn fast laps. It’s part of what drove me to continuously develop my Audi GT into a track car, and most of what I love about racers like the Audi V8 quattro and 850 Estate Super Touring. But certainly, when it comes to Porsches everyone expects them to appear on the circuit, right? Well, in the case of the 928, it’s somewhat rare to see them hit the track. Big, heavy and complicated grand tourers, they’re more at home hitting top speed on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Autobahn then slithering through La Source. Yet some, including Porsche themselves, took the big GT racing – from Le Mans to Daytona, the 928 saw competitive action around the globe even if it never was quite as celebrated as its rear engine brethren. Today it’s just as rare to find a track prepared 928 for sale, but an early example has surfaced on eBay:

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