In 1999, if you wanted a small German performance car capable of carrying several adults, you had a few options. First, you could select the BMW M3 – the benchmark for performance in the category, the E36 was nearing the end of it’s life cycle and the sedan had been dropped for the last model year. There was no M3 Touring model available, so if you wanted a wagon you needed to move over to the folks from Ingolstadt; Audi’s second generation S4. While unlike the M3 you couldn’t opt for a convertible, importantly if you wanted to carry your 2.2 children and dog in style they had the Avant available. While BMW’s neutered U.S. spec M3 made it by with only 240 horsepower, Audi’s twin turbocharged V6 offered less displacement but waves of torque and 250 horsepower. Those were the days when a 10 horsepower jump over your competition was a pretty big deal. So, you can imagine the shock when Mercedes-Benz introduced it’s new take on the small executive performance market with the introduction of the V8-engined C43 AMG. While the C36’s inline-6 had a 26 horsepower advantage over its nearest rival, the C43 broke through the 300 horsepower mark with the M113, with 306 horsepower, but staggeringly also 302 lb.ft of torque. That’s a lot, even by today’s standard, and it was not only available in sedan form, but also in Touring form. Though the Tourings never made it to these shores, one has popped up on eBay and is for sale in the Great White North:
Author: Carter
In my recent posts Teens Well Spent, I’ve tried to compared some good value M3s to the high-dollar, low mile example we looked at a while back. That particular example was Dakar Yellow with only 26,000 miles, but an asking price to match each one of those miles. It wasn’t stock, and I was a bit dour in my evaluation of what you were getting for your money. Again, I’ve rounded up three coupes as an alternative to that example; two 1995s and one ’96, two with lower miles and one budget coupe. They’re flying the colors of the German flag appropriately, so you also have your choice of shade that you’d like. Which is the winner for your M budget?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 BMW M3 on eBay
4 CommentsThe E28 is a great chassis, no doubt, but often the normal 535i gets overlooked as a potential classic. We search out instead examples of the M5-look 535is or indeed the S38-motored legend itself, but today’s example will give those that dismiss the “normal” 535i a reason for pause. Upgraded with the full repertoire of Dinan bits and given a European specification makeover and repaint, this is one seriously good looking and well built 535i:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW 535i Dinan 3.9 on Craigslist
15 CommentsThe excellent line of C4 Audis I’ve had the pleasure of writing up continues today! If you recall my last post about the 1995.5 S6 Avant, you’ll remember that I spoke about these cars having a bespoke feel. Here’s a great example of what I meant; what we have is a very desirable 1995 S6 Avant. Unlike the 1995.5, the 1995 model got the updates of the S4 to S6 like the bumpers, but retained the early driver-actuated differential lock rather than the ABS-system reliant electronic differential lock. But some of the differences were more subtle than just that; there were changes to the headrests, for example, though the Avants early on kept the open center headrests rather than the solid units found in later sedans and Avants. You’ll note, if you look carefully, that the 1995.5 in our other featured listing had the solid headrests. That would place this as an early 1995 S6, but some of the early cars carried over the forged Fuchs wheels associated with the S4, this car has the later Speedline-made Avus wheels in place. You’ll also note, again if you look carefully, that the early 1995 S6s retained the infrared central locking system (denoted by a button on the B-pillar) – a system later replaced by the radio frequency system found on newer models. Sure, these are all small items, but they’re interesting tidbits that once again make nearly each Avant a unique car – few are identical. This particular car was also specified in the classic color combination of double black; a classic color combination which gives this lovely example a sinister and standout presence:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 Avant on eBay
Comments closedI’m going to segue for just a moment to a pop culture phenomena – Keeping Up With The Kardashians. You see, you can sit around all you’d like and say that it’s horrible television – or indeed, that television in and of itself is horrible. You can say it’s exploitation or reverse exploitation. You can say that Kris and Caitruce are atrocious parents. Yet, one thing is for certain; there is money associated with the name and the program, and people apparently really want to watch and partake in them. They want to smell and look like the Kardashians, they want to know about their love and sex lives, they want to see fat Rob going out in public. In short, people want to see the train wreck in progress, and the Kardashians are brilliantly cashing in all the way. Like it or not, Kim Kardashian has repeatedly been the highest paid reality star in the world and makes not just millions, but tens of millions of dollars for her exploits. Clearly, they’re doing something right – or so horribly wrong, people can’t help but bear witness.
Enter Strosek. Strosek has a reputation. That reputation is for creating…well, monstrosities out of seemingly innocent and well meaning Porsches. And yet, they’re not alone. There is Rinspeed, who similarly custom-destroy cars on a regular basis. Then there were other crazy tuners, such as Konig, who tried to turn everything into a Ferrari Testarossa…badly. But Strosek had a unique talent for really creating horribly ugly versions of desirable cars. Yet, they must be doing something right – first off, people actually went to Strosek and bought the cars. Yes, I know that’s amazing, but not only that – they paid Strosek a lot of money to build them. And here we are, talking about them over two decades on. They made an impact, and like a train derailing at high speed, we are helpless but to watch the carnage that ensues from the moment the paperwork is signed until something like this custom widebody Speedster emerges from their works: