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Author: Carter

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1986 Audi Coupe GT

1986 Audi Coupe GT

Published December 19, 2015 by Carter

I know what you’re going to say the moment you see this post. “Alright Carter, enough with the Audi Coupe GTs already!” you’re furiously typing, “We want more quattros!” The Porsche 924 of the Audi lineup, the reality is that more low mileage, pristine Coupe GTs come to market than just about any other 1980s Audi. But in my mind, they’re far from the least desirable in the line up, as they offered a stylish package with a high fun-to-drive quotient coupled with some serious longevity. And they’ve really begun to appreciate over the past few years; prime examples are now at least asking close to $10,000, a seemingly staggering amount considering you could get a very nice one a few years ago for no more than $3,000. But as with all of the mid-range and cheapish 1980s cars, the pool of excellent candidates is quite small and few come to the market quite as good as this 1986 example, primed for Christmas in a Tornado Red suit:

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The Grass is Always Greener: 2001 Audi S8 Double Take

The Grass is Always Greener: 2001 Audi S8 Double Take

Published December 17, 2015 by Carter

I recently pushed my finger on the right mouse button on some horrible click bait that came across my Facebook feed. The headline promised “The Top 10 Film Car Chases” or something that at least peaked my interest, if nothing else than to balk at the poorly researched and ill-chosen assemblage. And I was right; fighting through the pop-up ads and barely identifiable as English descriptions, I trudged through the list – baffled as I got closer to 10 that there was such a gap in the line up. Sure, you expect – and I agree with – movies like Vanishing Point, The French Connection, and Bullitt making the list. They’re iconic. But when The Fast and The Furious appears and a movie like Ronin doesn’t, I come within an inch of throwing my computer across the room. Silly, really, considering that none of this actually means anything, but besides being a huge fan of the movie, I’m even a more huge fan of the star of the movie. No, not Bobby. I’m of course talking about the Audi S8 – fast enough and shove-worth for the nitrous-induced chase across France. But the S8 really needs no introduction here. Today, to resurrect the honor of the dark green S8 from Ronin, I’m going to look at two examples of rare shades that never made it to the U.S.. Early in the run, U.S. customers did have the option of two different greens – Racing Green Pearl Effect in 2001 and nearly identical Irish Green Pearl Effect in 2002. Both were dark green but with a bunch of character. But what if you wanted something a bit lighter and lived in Europe?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S8 on Gumtree

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1979 BMW 528i

1979 BMW 528i

Published December 16, 2015 by Carter

In yesterday’s Alpina Roadster post, I mentioned cars that you just don’t see much of any more. Is there a better example than the BMW E12? I’m sure there is, but in many ways the E12 embodies exactly what I was speaking of. Early examples suffered from the notorious thermal reactor problems – something that would likely put them on a CIA watchlist for extremist activity today. But it wasn’t just engine problems that struck the E12. There was one that a friend of mine owned and then sold to my cousin. It was a fun car for sure with tremendous personality, but it also had tremendous rust – the downfall of many 1970s BMWs. From the floorboards to the (leaking) fuel tank, it seemed to rust from everywhere. Not many of these sedans survive today, but they really established the benchmark for BMW’s mid-range sedans that carried over through today – they were, at the time, the best driving sedans money could buy:

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Tuner Tuesday: Alpina Roadster V8 Roundup

Tuner Tuesday: Alpina Roadster V8 Roundup

Published December 15, 2015 by Carter

Part of the appeal of cheap(ish) cars to me is that when they get older they’re so infrequently seen. It’s not that exotics are daily drivers around me, but once a generation of car’s usefulness has been eclipsed they all but disappear from the roadways, replaced by the newest model. Do you really want a clean Audi 5000CS quattro Avant, for example, or an impeccable BMW 630CS? They can be found, but few and far between best describes the frequency with which they come to market. But as the price goes up, so rises the number of examples that are available at any given time. They may still be classified as “rare”, but they’re rare not because they’re hard to find – just hard to afford. There is nothing particularly rare, for example, about most of the Porsche 911 model range from any generation – they were all effectively mass produced sports cars. But because they were highly priced and treasured, the number of good examples that are on the market today exceeds the actually rare 924 Turbo and late 944 Turbo, for example. Looking in another direction, I marveled that on eBay this week there was not one, not two, not even three – but no less than six Z8s tuned by Alpina. That represents just over one out of every 100 that was produced, all for sale at the same time, all in perfect shape, all with low miles and high prices. In fact, this pool gives us a chance to check out exactly how much mileage changes perceived value – or at least, asking price:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 Alpina Z8 on eBay

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Motorsports Monday: 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S

Motorsports Monday: 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S

Published December 14, 2015 by Carter

For those that haven’t had the pleasure of driving a 944 Turbo S, allow me to describe the sensation. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be the stone in a sling shot, it’s a pretty good analogy. My first drive in a S saw me pull up to a merge onto a secondary highway. The slightest gap opened in traffic, and since I was in a Porsche I naturally thought that half a car length with the closing traffic at 65 m.p.h. seemed doable. Clutch out, foot on the floor, and….nothing. I thought I stalled the car. I had just enough time to look down in disbelief, feel the blood draining from my head and look into the mirror, uttering “Oh…shi” when BAM – the car came on boost. Like the intro to Star Trek – The Next Generation, the front of the car stretched towards the sky and elongated as I rocketed forwards. How that manifests itself on track leads towards a very odd driving style. At my favorite track, Lime Rock Park, for example, in the Turbo S you need to be on throttle when you should be off throttle. Otherwise, if you wait for the car to be where you would normally hit the throttle, you’re halfway down the straight. The best example of where this odd throttle usage comes into play is in “Big Bend”. A decreasing radius corner, if you nail the throttle after the first apex, normally you’d spear straight off the road. The last thing you want to do when those front tires need to bite in a car with 250 horsepower is lift the nose up. But when you nail the throttle in the 944 Turbo, it doesn’t have 250 horsepower. It has 10. Maybe 12. So, you plant the throttle, turn in and as you’re about to hit the apex BAM, the boost comes on, helping to rotate the rear end and you can throttle out of the corner. Perhaps it was Porsche’s way of imparting 911 “don’t lift” DNA into the front engine turbocharged wonder! Regardless of how you drive it, though, these 944 Turbos make great friends for track adventures:

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