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Author: Carter

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Motorsports Monday: 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera

Motorsports Monday: 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera

Published March 9, 2015 by Carter

In my opinion, there is no better livery ever than the various iterations of Martini Racing colors. It was hugely exciting when the colors were reintroduced on the 2014 Williams F1 cars; one of the most storied and celebrated color combinations, the Martini colors have graced everything from Formula 1 to Rally Cars and everything in between. Yet wherever they turn up, they always seem to fit just right. Even the Martini edition 924, which was really nothing more than an appearance package, somehow looks so much better than the standard 924 because of the white background with red stripes. My favorite rendering of the Martini colors is probably the Elford/Larrousse 917LH from 1971 Le Mans. With a silver background and the Martini colors cascading elegantly over the sinuous curves of the long tail 917. However, number 21 wasn’t the winner of the 1971 Le Mans; instead, it was the sister 917K driven by Helmet Marko of recent Red Bull fame and Gijs van Lennep (the name rolls of the tongue) in the magnesium framed short tail that won. That car was Martini sponsored too, but a white background with the red and blue stripes falling over the fenders – mimicked by today’s 911 Carrera:

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1977 BMW 530i

1977 BMW 530i

Published March 8, 2015 by Carter

Being an Audi fan, I’m aware of what a bad reputation can do to cars. In the 1970s, Audi gained a reputation for unreliability and poor electronics; perhaps justified, considering the many stories that people have about early Audi 100 ownership. However, it’s a haunting reputation that amazingly nearly 40 years on they’re still trying to shake. It looked as if by the early 2000s they had done so, but now a generation on, the cars from that generation have their own problems and have bred more discontent generally from enthusiasts on the outside looking in. The result is that it’s damn near impossible to find a nice condition Audi from the 1970s, and in just a few years we’ll see the same thing with 1990s Audis, too.

Where am I going with this, considering this is a listing for a BMW? Well, the early E12s had their own problems, but notably that was an issue in the U.S.. That’s because to meet U.S. market regulations, the E12 was made slower and more ugly. Large 5 m.p.h. bumpers were fitted, and compression on the M30 was dropped to meet lower fuel standards. Additionally, to burn off hydrocarbons to meet emissions regulations, the 530i was fitted with thermal reactor manifolds. They did as their name suggested, though the reaction unfortunately many times was with the internals of the engine – warping heads and frying valves. It was a debacle which spelled the death of the 530i, reborn as the 528i in 1979. Coupled with rust issues that this generation BMW had, it’s now quite hard to find an original U.S. spec 530i:

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Double Take: 2002 Audi S6 Avant

Double Take: 2002 Audi S6 Avant

Published March 8, 2015 by Carter

Amongst unappreciated Audis, the C5 S6 seems to be pretty high on the snub list for enthusiasts. Complaints that they were overly complicated and underwhelming were understandable in some regards as the C5 S6 only came in Avant and automatic form to the U.S.. Indeed, at the same time as the S6 was offered, you could get a twin-turbocharged Allroad 6-speed for a bit less money than the S6. Since it was effectively the same car with a manual and height-adjustable suspension, one would wonder why Audi would offer the S6 at all. However, compared to some other Audis of the same vintage, the S6 holds some advantages. To lighten the porky C5 up slightly, the S6 featured some aluminum body bits up front. Unlike the previous turbocharged inline-5, power came from a capable V8 – rated at 340 horsepower, it was effectively the same motor shared with the S8 and nearly 100 horsepower more than the V6. The S6 also got a special and unique version of the Ronal-made Avus wheel at 17″x8″, instead of the 17″x7.5″ on the B5 S4. Inside the S6 was much the same as the rest of the C5 lineup, though sport seats were standard as with the S8. However, for second or third-hand owners, the big advantages to the S6 are the steel suspension in place of the air-controlled suspension the Allroad featured – a complicated system that has proven failure prone. Additionally, the belt-driven V8 doesn’t have the same guide issues of the chain-driven later V8s in the S4 V8. True, you are still subjected to the transmission woes of this generation Audis – but properly cared for, even the weak-spot transmissions can go for some time. Today I have two examples of the S6 Avant; which is the one to buy?

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1986 Porsche 944 Turbo

1986 Porsche 944 Turbo

Published March 7, 2015 by Carter

Why hasn’t the enthusiast community for classic German cars jumped all over the Porsche 944 Turbo? While this question doesn’t keep me awake at night, I still find it baffling. Take the E36 M3, for example – not only was the U.S. press ablaze when it was launched with a staggering 240 horsepower back in the day, but the enthusiastic base that supports the M models still finds them an awesome deal in the teens. Yet the Porsche 944 Turbo offered all of the performance and handling of the M3 a generation prior, and with some simple tuning they can easily outpace the Munich missiles. Is there a comparable from Audi? Sure, if you could find one of the ’85 Quattros around – or the lone ’86 that was imported – they’re similar in many ways, but you can’t touch them for the price of the 944 Turbo and frankly in terms of performance they’re not a match. Even the unappreciated Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16V seems to have stronger support, and drive one back to back with a sorted 944 Turbo and you’ll wonder why people are willing to pay the same amount for them. Why, then, does most of the world pass them by? Because they’re not a 911? Seems silly to me:

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1973 Audi 100 Coupe S

1973 Audi 100 Coupe S

Published March 7, 2015 by Carter

One of the benefits to U.S. automobile enthusiasts of the recent global economic slowdown is the raise in value of the dollar relative to the Euro. For some time, the Euro was nearly a two to one ratio – it made contemplating importing vintage cars hard to stomach, because you needed to double the price and then deal with the headache and cost of importing the car. With it much closer to one to one as it is today, perusing the halls of German eBay suddenly becomes less of a pipe dream and more of a potential reality. Of course, if you’re going to be going through the difficulty of importing something, it better be worth it! For me, there are a plethora of rare Audis that I’d love to import. However, it does seem silly to import a S4 or S6, for example, since they were available here as well and you could get a pretty nice example. No, it seems to make more sense to look for something that you just don’t see on a regular basis – like this 1973 Audi 100 Coupe S, for example:

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