Carter, Author at German Cars For Sale Blog

Tuner Tuesday: 1979 Alpina B6 2.8

Tuner Tuesday: 1979 Alpina B6 2.8

Published September 15, 2015 by Carter

Edit 7/11/2017 – This car is back on the market from the same seller with a reserve auction

Vuarnet shirt, stone-washed high-wasted jeans, neon Wayfarers, legwarmers, Wham!‘s “Make It Big” album playing on your Walkman, a tennis lesson scheduled for later in the day with someone named Chad, Tad or Chaz, and a BMW 3-series; they’re immediately identifiable as a product of the 1980s, even if in this case they were made in the late 1970s. Take a moment to consider the seats in this Alpina; made by Recaro, they’d look as at home on Bill Cosby’s back as he lectured Theo as they would on the race track. But just as those trends from the 80s have been revisited by the “Hipsters” of today, there’s another class I’ve dubbed “Yupsters”, wishing to relive the glory of Wall Street and every club from the Breakfast to the Country. They’re interested in the BMW 3 series, and the major resurgence of the small executive sedan has become ironic in its own right, from the “Respect Your Elders” stickers plastered on cars not much older than the creatures driving them (who, even more ironically, typically don’t know much about history), to the hypocrisy of everyone being different by all owning E30s. The only things missing from the entirely predictable plotline are a Harold Faltermeyer soundtrack and a cameo at the local show by Steve Guttenberg. To me, the 3 series that comes out of all of this smelling like roses is the E21; relatively forgotten and overlooked due to less availability, sport and cliche, a turned up E21 is nonetheless a beautiful thing when properly done:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 Alpina B6 2.8 on eBay

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Motorsports Monday: 1993 Porsche 968

Motorsports Monday: 1993 Porsche 968

Published September 14, 2015 by Carter

On paper, the 968 should make a great race car. Out of the box, the transaxle configuration meant that as with all of the 924/944 lineup which preceded it, the 968 had nearly perfect weight distribution and balance. The boxy flares of the 944 had been smoothed slightly but were still quite capable of containing very large amounts of sticky rubber. The 968 was available with a 6-speed manual transmission; one more cog to exploit that power train than had previously been available. And while nearly all examples lacked the magical turbo script, the upgraded 944 S2 motor with VarioCam meant that the torque-laden and largest post-war 4-cylinder produced in normal production runs churned an impressive 17 horsepower more than the boosted variant had in 1986, with 237 horsepower on tap. But for whatever reason, track worthy 968s are much more rare to see than 944s; perhaps it’s the residual value they still enjoy in some regards, or perhaps its the flexibility of tuning the Turbos for more boost. Whatever the reason, it’s neat to see one pop up, such as this PCA/NASA example today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1993 Porsche 968 on eBay

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Audi’s Other Front Drivers: 1985 5000S Avant and 4000S

Audi’s Other Front Drivers: 1985 5000S Avant and 4000S

Published September 13, 2015 by Carter

You’d be forgiven for thinking, based solely on my 1980s Audi coverage, that there was only one front drive model available during those times – the Coupe GT. True enough, the 2-door is my favorite of the front drive Audis from that time, but in fact Audi produced many two wheel drive cars right up to the 2000s. Few remember, for example, that there was a front drive A8 available briefly with a smaller 3.7 motor. A few generations earlier, though, and it was a different large Audi that was initially available in front drive only – the 5000, before it was a quattro, was powered only by the leading wheels. Indeed, even its famous appearance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was, while a Turbo model, still front drive only. And while it’s been the quattro versions of both the Coupe and 4000 that were more popularly remembered, both the 5000S and 4000S enjoyed a popular base and were good cars in their own right. Today we have two of these forgotten and forlorn Audis to take a look at:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1985 Audi 5000S Avant on eBay

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1994 Audi RS2 Avant

1994 Audi RS2 Avant

Published September 12, 2015 by Carter

Why would anyone even contemplate paying $35,000 for a 21 year old, complicated and turbocharged Audi wagon that you can’t register in the U.S. for 4 more years? Because of the badge that adorns the front – the magical “Renn” added to the S2 badge, along with the legendary name Porsche scripted below. That meant that this relatively unassuming Audi 80 quattro Avant had been produced in Zuffenhausen rather than Ingolstadt and had added a healthy dose of even more “Sport” to the small chassis. Ostensibly, though the Sport Quattro was the first “RS” vehicle, the RS2 was the first to wear the badge which has become synonymous with Audi’s speed department. For many Audi aficionados, though the RS vehicles have become much faster and more luxurious, just like the 500E and the M3 Audi has never made a car better in its overall execution than the original. Not that it was slow by any means; Porsche’s massaging of the inline-5 resulted in 311 horsepower – even more than the Sport Quattro had from essentially a very similar motor – so despite being much heavier than the Sport had been, the RS2 wasn’t much slower; sub-5 seconds to 60 and a top speed north of 160 mph. Along the way, it was capable of bullying everything outside of a supercar; yet this car also established the move from Audi’s 2-door “halo” vehicle to a long line of fast five doors. Porsche also upgraded the brakes and wheels with Brembo units and 17″ “Cup 1” wheels creating a signature link. So, too, was the color signature; original called “RS Blue” rather than the color name it’s often mistaken for – the later Nogaro – the bright blue is still the go-to shade for Audi’s fastest. Even within its fast contemporaries, this car was legendary, and the upgrades to the motors and wheels spawned an entire generation of enthusiasts to turn up their inline-5s stateside. Of course, the RS2 wasn’t imported here – nor were any of the S2s for that matter, or even the 80 Avant. That makes seeing one in the U.S. exceptionally rare (and, currently illegal….):