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Category: Project Car

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1965 Mercedes-Benz 600

Project cars are a very slippery slope. I’d say for every 100 projects that someone buys, maybe only a handful actually see the end of the line as “completed.” People love to get in over their heads in terms of what it will cost or the amount of skill it requires, with most of the time being a solid combination of both. Most of the time it is cheaper, easier, and much less painful just to buy the example you want totally original or already finished, then leave the projects for the professionals and retired folks with unlimited money.

However, there is one car that will bring anyone to it’s knees if you aren’t totally flush with cash and have a very specific set of knowledge: the Mercedes-Benz 600. I don’t need to go over the reasons why, but rather what it would take to get this 1965 up for sale in California back to its glory days. Also, this one has another little surprise.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1965 Mercedes-Benz 600 on eBay

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Winter Project: 1988 BMW M3

The E30 M3 has, for all intents and purposes, been driven out of the reach of most mortals with an average job. We all know that the market is a bit crazy on them, but you’re realistically looking at at least $40,000 for one with needs, and $50,000 to over $100,000 for a nice example. This drove me a few years ago to knock on a door when I saw a ratty example that was sitting under a tree down the road from me; alas, the owner ‘knew what he had’ and wasn’t going to part with it anytime soon.

Well, another ‘project’ M3 has popped up on eBay and it’s no reserve, so it was worth a look. Is this the way to save a few bucks and get into a legend?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M3 on eBay

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Winter Project: 2009 Audi A4/S4 Avant 6-Speed

The B8 A4 Avant is a pretty good looking car; but here in the US we were only offered the chassis in one figuration; the 2.0T quattro hooked to an automatic. Even when the “Allroad” returned to the lineup, it was really only an appearance package on the standard A4 with taller springs and larger sidewall tires. Considering the plethora of options that had been available on prior Audi wagons, it was an understandable disappointment.

Inspired by this, enthusiasts have sought to remedy the problem by combining the Avant’s platform with its sibling powertrain; this feels like ‘throwback’ tuning at its best! So here we have an ’09 A4 Avant that’s running the gear from a S4. Sweet! The thing is, it’s not quite complete…

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2009 Audi A4/S4 Avant on eBay

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1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0

For some reason, I feel like I need a distraction today. Let’s look at some fun cars!

Following on the heels of the Carrera 2.7 MFI, Porsche introduced two hot 911s in 1975. Of course, the big arrival was the 930 Turbo Carrera. But Porsche took components from the 2.7 MFI and the Turbo Carrera, backed out the turbocharger, and produced the car you see here – the 200 horsepower Carrera 3.0, a healthy bump over US-spec cars. They are quite rare, having been built only between 1975 and 1977, and a total of just 3,687 are claimed to have been built. There were numerous changes between the 1976 and 1977 model years, with the ’76 being the more rare of the two. Of course, these were European-specification cars, and as a result were not imported to the US. So it was a bit of a treat to stumble across one of the roughly 1,100 ’76 Coupes (maybe…see below) for sale in Arizona:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 on eBay

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1983 Volkswagen Scirocco California Edition

It seems fitting to follow up the clean 82 Scirocco from the other day with another unique example. This one comes from the following model year, and was sold in the US as the California Edition. But it was part of a larger campaign that celebrated the 600,000th Scirocco produced in Osnabrück, Germany by Karmann.

Karmann started with a Wolfsburg Edition Scirocco, which added leather inside, blacked-out trim, and effectively all of the running gear from the contemporary GTI. That meant you got the 90 horsepower 1.8-liter motor, the close-ratio gearbox, and an upgraded suspension. Wolfsburg Editions were available in three colors – Black Metallic, Mars Red, or Zermatt Silver. The California Edition took the Wolfsburg package a step farther, though.

A claimed 505 were produced, all in Zermatt Silver over black leather. On top of the Wolfsburg standard equipment, they added the GTI’s 14″ Avus wheels and a Kamei X1 body kit. These are rare bits of kit, but one has popped up for sale in the original state they were sold exclusively in:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Volkswagen Scirocco California Edition on eBay

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