I still miss my first car, a white 1981 VW Rabbit Pickup, and can easily recall the smell, the feel of the golf-ball shifter, and the way it liked to be tossed into corners. It doesn’t surprise me that they (along with what seems to be every funky, cool 80s German car) are slowly rising in value. There are pristine examples out there, both original and restored/modified, but the vast majority are survivors that have experienced some swaps and exploitation of the interchangeability of 1980s VW parts. Mine was certainly such a truck, and today’s 1983 example has been kept alive with a healthy appreciation for the OEM+ school of thought. It’s running a 1983 GTI engine, transmission, Snowflakes, and instrument cluster – nothing crazy, but if you like the GTI, you’ll have just as much fun (if not more) in this little hauler. Mk3 GTI seats are a nice upgrade, and overall the little Caddy looks decent and functional even with some like the bed showing age and use. It definitely makes me nostalgic, but does nostalgia make a piecemeal minitruck worth over five grand?
Author: Nate
I love seeing the spectrum of Mogdom, from the pure work trucks, basic restorations, all the way to the all-out earth conquerers. The common thread between most, however, is that they have been redone in some fashion in their lives. Today’s gorgeous, tan 416 looks exactly how it did when it was built in 1974 – and looked exactly this way ever year in between. Having covered just over 9k miles, everything – the undercarriage, the chrome, the wood on the hydraulic tipper-bed – is perfect. It’s amazingly collector quality, yet the price is below some of the workers we’ve seen.
Click for details: 1974 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416 on Ruyl Classics
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RHD cars seem most cool when they are Land Rovers or JDM classics – beyond that it just seems like an inconvenience. Frustration aside, the M535i is hard to come by in the US, so I guess we’ll take them as they come. Today’s is looking clean in Zinnobar Red and just over 100k miles, and while the availability of cloth seats on nice Bimmers in Europe intrigues me, it appears the bolsters are still prone to wear and tear. The biggest upset here is the automatic transmission, which comes with some sort of switching mechanism but still detracts from driving enjoyment. I guess the M535i is more about looks anyways, and small-bumper fetishists can get their rocks off here.
Click for details: 1987 BMW M535i on eBay
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I’ve dreamt about the Mercedes-Benz O309D as an RV before, and today’s underwent a full conversion from a postal van to camper van in the ’70s. It has some distinct pros and cons: On the plus side, it looks amazing in baby blue, is way cooler than a normal RV, and has the venerable Benz OM617 diesel found in the 300D, so parts are aplenty. On the other hand, it’s almost 50 years old with a 40 year-old RV conversion – meaning there’s plenty of work ahead – and the non-turbo diesel inline-5 has to use its ~80hp to haul a massive van up to its 50mph common-sense limit. My calculus adds it up to an overall positive because it runs, has a ton of potential, and putting in a fraction of what some people spend on RVs would make this a killer home away from home.
Click for details: 1967 Mercedes-Benz O309D on Craigslist Indianapolis
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Though they’ve spent the last decade or so sitting unused in the back of the enthusiast dream garage, BMW’s E31 8-series has seen a resurgence in interest and appreciation recently. As the most range-topping coupe BMW’s produced, it took the shark-nose look into the techno era and stands out as an impressively clean design in the face of today’s luxury rhinoceri. This example spent its first 22 years with a single owner in California and has just crossed the 100k mark. It’s no show-stopping 850CSi, but that very fact helps it become one of the cheapest ways to get behind a V12 in the world. Well cared for and showing normal signs of age, it’s sweet example of BMW’s megacoupe that is quickly becoming collectible.