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Author: Carter

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1978 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 Euro-Spec – REVISIT

Published November 21, 2014 by Carter

The stellar looking two tone 1978 European specification Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 with unique Ronal Racing 3 piece Turbos is back on eBay, this time with a “Buy It Now” of $30,000. That puts it about about a condition 2 price level by Hagerty’s valuation guide, which overall seems pretty appropriate. Appreciation of these big Benz models is growing and it’s expensive to repair one to properly sorted level. Period mods can go very wrong, but somehow I really love the look of this car – it may be the coolest 6.9 I’ve ever seen. What do you think?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1978 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 on eBay

The below post originally appeared on our site July 2, 2014:

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Dial “S” for Speed: 1995 Audi S6 Avant

Published November 20, 2014 by Carter

Yesterday’s C5 S6 Avant was a great reminder of what we’ve recently lost from Audi – the fast wagon. But try as they might, even Audi themselves don’t seem to have managed to capture the magic and legendary reliability coupled with tuning potential of the original C4 S4 and S6 Avants. While we didn’t get the S4 Avant or the hotter out of the box V8 6-speed versions in the U.S., we did get the the fantastic turbocharged inline-5 mated to the 1995 Audi S6 in Avant form. A handful of these cars were imported to the U.S. originally, and most have been heavily used or thoroughly modified; few remain in clean, original condition with lower miles. They do pop up time to time, but today isn’t one of them. That’s because today’s Avant has been thoroughly upgraded and turned up thanks to 2Bennett Audimotive in California:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 Avant on Audifans

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Crockett or Tubbs? 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SL Custom

Published November 20, 2014 by Carter

There’s an absolutely classic scene in the Adam Sandler movie The Wedding Singer in which the Miami Vice obsessed character Glenn Guglia pulls up in his DeLorean DMC12 with the theme song from the popular show blasting. The character was the perfect caricature of 1980s excess, and the show was the pulse of the nation at that time. The brightly colored polos with white suits, dark aviator sunglasses and devil-may-care attitude of the protagonists are as classically ’80s as the bad plot developments and cliche catchphrases. And then there were the cars; the twin replica Ferraris are both notorious and inseparable from the show; the white Testarossa was the car to have – impossibly cool and improbably ostentatious at the same time. The period spawned an entire industry of cars; perhaps an unfitting tribute, but today they’re always a bit of a treat to see. It’s not so much that I want them; they’re just like perfect time pieces that throw you back to another time. And as with #ThrowbackThursday posts that seem to riddle the web, this 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SL immediately reminded me of legwarmers, INXS and Vuarnet shirts:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Mercedes-Benz 500SL Custom on eBay

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1987 BMW M535i

Published November 19, 2014 by Carter

Enthusiasts as of late have complained that the “M” brand has been diluted; it’s now possible to get “M” styling bits on just about every variation of BMW, making them both much more common and a little less special to see than the “true” M cars from the 1980s. Well, the reality is that BMW has been doing this all along; one of the best early examples of this is the E28 M535i. Effectively a continuation of the thought behind the E12 M535i, the E28 version was effectively mechanically identical to the normal production 535i. It carried the same either catalyst or un-smogged M30 producing between 180 and 218 horsepower, depending on the version. The brakes, suspension and transmissions were all seen on other models, too. But outside, the M535i got the M-Technic body kit and special TRX wheels that helped to set it apart from the normal E28s. At the end of the day, though, the M535i was mostly an appearance package; a M5-light, if you desired. But, they’ve got “M” associated with them, they’re a 1980s BMW, and they were fairly limited production; in the case of today’s example, it’s one of roughly 1,000 “DC89” Japanese market models that were automatic only. It’s no surprise, then to see strong bidding on a car that isn’t even in the U.S. yet:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 BMW M535i on eBay

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2002 Audi S6 Avant

Published November 19, 2014 by Carter

Recently I’ve several times bemoaned the death of the fast Audi Avant on U.S. shores; one of the culprits that helped to hasten that demise was unfortunately this car. It’s not really that it’s consumer’s fault that this occurred; after all, Audi did offer a manual, twin turbocharged fast version of the Allroad alongside the S6 that made the lack of inclusion of a manual an odd choice. Plus, out of the box, the Allroad arguably had more bling with the air suspension and nifty color contrasting trim that was all the rage amongst wagon manufacturers in the late 90s/early 2000s. We’ll blame Volvo for starting that popular trend, though. Regardless, the Allroad was substantially more successful in regards to market share than the S6 Avant; no surprise, then, that it was killed off to the U.S. market after a shockingly short run with not many sold. A decade on, though, the S6 offers a rare opportunity to get into a fast Audi wagon on a budget. Many of the pitfalls of the Allroad and other period Audi wagons didn’t appear in the S6; the neat but fragile air suspension was replaced by steel springs, and unlike the Allroad and A6 4.2s, the engine in the S6 was a cambelt driven V8. Long term, they’ve proven to be more reliable than the rest of the 2000s Audi V8s that have chains instead. The S6 got some unique features too, such as the grill, 8″ wheels and door blades that gave it a slightly more stately and classic appearance than the rest of the A6 lineup. The result is that you can grab one of these fast and unappreciated Audis for a song today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2002 Audi S6 Avant on eBay

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