Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I’m not a conventional person by any stretch of the means. This is probably why I’m turned on whenever I see a large luxury sedan equipped with a manual gearbox. Like this BMW 730i for sale in Potsdam, Germany equipped with a 5-speed manual gearbox. This was the first year for the E38 7 series, and while we saw this engine and gearbox in the E34 530i, this 730i model was one that never made it here.
Without question, this car is high up on my list. The E91 BMW 3 series Touring with a 6-speed manual gearbox. A old childhood friend of mine just scooped up a 6-speed manual E91 Touring and loves it. His wife wanted an SUV, but luckily he won that round. We featured another 328i Touring, but this 328i x-Drive Touring, brought to our attention by our friends at BlythBros. is the stuff that dreams are made of for estate fans. Black over Oyster leather, M-Sport package, 6-speed manual. Does it get any better than this, folks?
BMW has done much to advance the notion of a sport sedan throughout history, but few embody the concept better than the E36 M3 Sedan. Available for just two short years here in the US, a four-door M3 wouldn’t reappear for another decade until the V8 engined E90 M3 arrived on the scene. A lot of these M3 sedans are equipped with the automatic gearbox, but this Alpine White example for sale at Enthusiast Auto Group has the desirable 5-speed manual gearbox and has covered less than 100,000 miles.
Rob is our resident Porsche nut here at GCFSB, but I had to save one 911 for myself this week. Growing up, my father had a picture of a green 911 set in a very pastoral setting hung on his office wall. I’d always admire that picture when I’d visit his work, his workspace peppered with various other petrolhead paraphernalia that made his colleagues offices look a bit bland. When I set eyes on this 1972 911T for sale in Minnesota, I instantly thought of that picture that hung in his office, which now happens to be his iPhone wallpaper. Some things never change, then. The 1972 911 is a curious year, as the oil tank was moved within the car’s wheelbase in an effort to improve handling. Thus, a 1972 911 can be easily distinguished by it’s oil filler door directly aft of the passenger door. This would last for one year, as it was reported many service stations were putting petrol in the oil tank.
For 1987, there were some changes in store for the Porsche 944. On the Turbo front, this model would become the first production vehicle to be equipped with driver and passenger side airbags as standard equipment. Lower down the range, there was the introduction of the 944S. This model had a 2.5 liter, twin cam, 16 valve four cylinder under the hood. With improved engine management and higher compression, this powerplant was good for 189 horsepower and a run to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. Even in today’s environment, these are stellar performers, with great power to weight ratio and impressive handling prowess. This 1987 944S for sale in Connecticut is in great shape and looks to have lived a very easy 80,000 miles.