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Author: Carter

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Anti-M5: 1995 BMW 540i M-Sport

Published February 23, 2014 by Carter

If you wanted a fast, executive super saloon in 1995, your options were dwindling. 1995 was the last year of the Audi S6, and one year after both the V8 Quattro and 500E were taken away. 1995 would also be the last year of the iconic M5, and hints were that it might be a long time before we’d see another. Why? Well, the reality was that with the 6 speed 540i the performance gap between the “super” M5 and the “normal” V8 engined 540 was so close it just didn’t make a lot of sense to have the premium model anymore. The S38 was by now a quite old motor and was getting harder to pass increasingly strict emissions standards; indeed, shrinking sales and high price had resulted in the M5 being pulled from the U.S. in 1993. As a result, BMW offered a hint at what it could do with the V8 in the form of the M540i in Canada and the 540i M-Sport in the U.S. market. The Canadian model was quite close in spec to the European M5, except that in place of the venerable S38 it ran the M60 V8 out of the normal 540i. If that sounds like a letdown, it wasn’t – mated to the Getrag 6-speed transmission it was a great driver, and with the M5 suspension, brakes and cosmetic details it was 95% plus of the M5 for most drivers. The 540i M-Sport that the U.S. got differed a bit in not having the trick floating rotors of the M540i, but with nearly everything else out of the M5 bag of tricks these are cool cars, great drivers, and even more rare than the M5:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 BMW 540i M-Sport on eBay

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Ur-Ur-Ur-Quattro: 1958 Auto-Union/DKW Munga

Published February 22, 2014 by Carter

Nearly 4 years ago, Paul wrote up a 1957 Auto Union Munga, rare to see at all in the U.S. and with some practical updates. In fact, it wasn’t really a Munga at all anymore; the body had been taken off and mounted onto a 1968 Beetle chassis complete with the 1600 flat-4. Now listed as a 1958 model and missing the centercaps, it appears this very same vehicle is back up for sale. What does the title of this feature mean? Well, for those in the know, the genesis of the Ur-Quattro started with a bunch of Audi models that were outpaced on a test drive through some snowy roads by a military-spec Volkswagen Iltis. So, the Iltis was really the Ur-Ur-Quattro – but in fact, the Iltis itself was heavily based upon the earlier Munga from the 1950s. That’s right rally faithful, your precious Quattro was an antique long before it was a trend-setter! Okay, so it’s an over simplification, but it is still neat to track the history of these cars and where the designs came from:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1958 Auto Union Munga on eBay

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Event Report: Audi Club Winter Driving School

Published February 21, 2014 by Carter

Winter. Not many of us look forward to it, even in the depths of a sweltering summer. It’s not usually the cold that gets everyone, or even the holidays – no, a fair amount of people seem to have a very healthy fear of driving in the elements. If I could have a dollar for every time I heard “my car just isn’t good in the snow”, I’d be a very rich man. The reality is that it’s generally not the car’s fault – unless, perhaps, you drive a Lamborghini Countach or Reliant Robin. Pretty much any car can be passable in snowy conditions – what you need is a good set of tires and some time testing them out to understand how your car reacts to snow and ice. What better way than to head to a Winter Driving School (WDS) put on by the Audi Club?

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1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro

Published February 20, 2014 by Carter

“It was bound to happen”. Over the past few months we’ve seen a spike in Audi 4000 Quattro prices, and with the spike the nice examples have started to come out of the woodwork. As a $2,500 car, you keep it until it dies. As a $5,000 car, you treat it well and it changes hands from time to time. Once prices crest $10,000 – prices that 4000s haven’t brought since the 1990 – people start flipping them. It makes sense; the 4000 Quattro is a great car but for $13,000 you can get many nicer, faster cars. Last week I wrote up a Tornado Red 1985 4000S Quattro that had reported fresh paint and seemed to be a good example, but failed to push a price as high as I expect the owner was looking for. Today’s example is arguably a bit nicer, but shown in the same shade – will you be seeing red?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro on eBay

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1992 Audi S4 6-Speed

Published February 20, 2014 by Carter

It was just a few days ago that we saw the last Audi C4 grace these pages, that time a Emerald Green S6. That car sure looked quite nice but was a little suspect given the lack of information regarding maintenance and was certainly well overpriced. Most of these sleeper super sedans fall in the $3,000 to $6,000 range, and while they’re not spring chickens they offer a tremendous amount of performance for that investment. Considering what that amount buys you in the Audi 4000 market these days, these S4 and S6 sedans are a downright bargain. If you’re willing to forgo looking for a low mileage example that is 100% pristine and instead focus on a solid driver that has been maintained, there are even more options that are affordable than just about any competition. Today’s first year 1992 S4 is no exception to this rule, with a strong history of recent maintenance and a desirable 01E S4 6-speed swapped in place of the original 5-speed:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Audi S4 6-speed on Quattroworld.com

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