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Category: Tuner Tuesday

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Tuner Tuesday: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo – RUF Turbo R Conversion

Tuner Tuesday: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo – RUF Turbo R Conversion

Published January 2, 2018 by Rob

Yesterday I featured a regular 993. It was very pretty. Today we’re going to take that design and turn everything up. The performance, the look,…, the price. But I have to say this one isn’t any less pretty than the other one. It’s a heck a lot more aggressive looking though.

The 993 Turbo already does great things with the 993’s lines. With a couple of small tweaks by RUF it looks even better. We all know RUF GmbH. In the tuner world they may be the most well known name around. For Porsches they are certainly the most highly regarded. Unlike some Porsche tuners that followed more in the footsteps of Porsche’s racing designs, RUF stuck mostly with subtle modifications to its road cars. The uninitiated might not have even known the car had been modified. While few Porsches could ever qualify as sleepers, a RUF almost could, assuming that others mistook it for a “regular” Porsche.

For the 993 RUF gave us the Turbo R: 490 twin-turbocharged horses directed to all four wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission. That’s 82 more hp than a standard 993TT and still 66 hp more than the Turbo S. Heck it’s even well up on power compared to the GT2 all while retaining a healthy does of civility. And here’s one such beast for sale!

This 911 began life as an Arctic Silver 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo before undergoing a conversion to the RUF Turbo R. At 37,500 the mileage is quite low, the condition looks great, and it’s said to come with its paperwork.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo – RUF Turbo R Conversion on eBay

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Tuner Tuesday E30 Showdown: 1986 Alpina C2 2.5 v. 1987 Hartge H26

Tuner Tuesday E30 Showdown: 1986 Alpina C2 2.5 v. 1987 Hartge H26

Published December 26, 2017 by Carter

We last got to look at a modified E30 through the disappointing realization that finally after years of trying to sell with different dealers, the car listed as an Alpina C2 2.5 was just a very convincing replica. But as noted, the car was clean and wore a lot of really expensive Alpina bits – so while the price tag of $22,800 seemed high for a replica, it was in some ways amazingly justified.

So what happens when the car in question is a real Alpina? We find out when we look at an actual Alpina C2. The asking price in that case was nearly double at $39,500. And when you factor in that the C2 is one of the less desirable E30 Alpinas out there, that’s drawn into sharper contrast.

So here we are again with another Alpina to consider, but it’s not alone. One of our readers spotted a Hartge H26 – an even more rare to see variant of modified 1980s E30. And to kick the rarity up a few notches, both are 4-doors instead of the usual 2-door sedans. So how do they compare in terms of pricing, and are these cars all that they seem?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 Alpina C2 2.5 on eBay

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Mystery Solved?: 1987 Alpina C2 2.5

Mystery Solved?: 1987 Alpina C2 2.5

Published December 10, 2017 by Carter

Back in February, I took a look at very hot item in the marketplace – a clean, European-spec BMW E30 modified by Alpina.

Or, at least that was what was claimed.

Further research pointed out some problems. I found it to be a car I looked at two years ago in 2015, then listed as a 1986 C2 2.5. The VIN was transposed incorrectly, but the stranger item was that the year was wrong. Stranger still was that a tremendous amount of the car didn’t seem to work. Yet it was a lot of Alpina for the money even as an automatic, as it was relatively clean and priced well below other similar E30 Alpina asks.

Well, here we are some ten months later and it’s popped up in a new listing with a new seller. We’ve seen that before, so no big surprise there. As I started to look through the listing, though, I was struck by just how lazy it was. Okay, there were new photos, but none of them were detailed. The VIN is filled in with “1”s. Then I got to the text, which is a near-carbon copy of the last listing. I say near for two reasons – one, the current listing cut and paste the prior listing….twice. So, halfway through the details, you start all over again!

But perhaps that was done to distract you from the one detail which was added to this listing. Cleverly stuck in after the copying of the prior listing, just before all the fees you’ll need to pay, was a second change and the line which finally answers the questions about this car:

Note this is an Alpina clone with correct Alpina numbered engine.

That’s a pretty frustrating statement to bury in the end of the listing. The ad listing has, for the last several years, maintained how rare this car is and they’re just now getting around to admitting it’s not a real example? That’d be understandable if the owner just figured this out, yet they’ve continued to list the car as a legitimate example outside of that one line stuck in there. Despite this it still looks like a nice example and appears to wear a lot of expensive Alpina items, but this is certainly a case of caveat emptor.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Alpina C2 2.5 Replica on eBay

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Outrageous E21: 1979 BMW 320i Dinan 4.6

Outrageous E21: 1979 BMW 320i Dinan 4.6

Published December 9, 2017 by Carter

Edit 12/9/2017: With new photos, a new description and apparently a few things fixed, the current owner of this ‘346i’ that we looked almost exactly one year ago has it back up for sale in a reserve auction format. Last time it didn’t meet reserve at only $10,000. Will it clear the reserve this time around?

The E21. By far, it is the 3-series we feature least frequently (barring new models). In U.S. trim, it is also by far the least sporting 3-series. But don’t throw the baby BMW out with the bath water, because it’s still a classic BMW, it looks nice and it’s quite affordable relative to some other hyperbolic models.

For one, I really like the E21. I’ve even enjoyed driving a few. Of course, never once did I think when driving one “You know what this needs? A M60 V8.” And certainly, even in the very unlikely scenario that idea sprang into my head, there’s no way I would have said “Right, now, off to Dinan to bump it out to 4.6 liters!”

But, if nothing else, this Golf Yellow example of an extreme E21 dispels the myth that they’re all underpowered?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1979 BMW 320i Dinan 4.6 on eBay

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How Low Will It Go?: 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 2S Andial 3.8

How Low Will It Go?: 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 2S Andial 3.8

Published November 17, 2017 by Carter

Edit 11/17/2017: After three years with a over $230,000 asking price with the same seller, ask on this neat Andial-modified Carrera S has finally dropped to $149,993. Of note is that in over three years, the picture, description and mileage have never changed. A neat car, but buyers should do some heavy investigation before the deposit. Is this car a sign that the air-cooling market has also struck the 993, or is this just an aberration?

The 993 is, without a doubt, one of the more desirable 911s in the range of cars that span several generations. Enthusiasts agree, having quickly pushed prices up on these models over prior generations like the Carrera 3.2 and 964. In fact, it doesn’t ever seem like prices on these cars came down much – as soon as the 996 arrived, faithful flocked towards the older models, snapping them up. Especially sought are the Carrera 4S and Turbo models – but there are some really rare gems hidden that pop up from time to time. Obviously, the ultra-rare Turbo S, Carrera RS and GT2 models are a great example – quite rare indeed. I’ve also previously written up an even more rare Andial Twin-Plug Twin-Turbo, one of the reported 19 assembled by the noted factory approved race tuner. Today’s car, like that car, mixes some of the styles of the rare cars that we didn’t get or didn’t see many of. The base is the already semi-rare Carrera 2S; like the 4S, the body shell was shared with the Turbo, but unlike the all-wheel drive variant, the Turbo’s upgraded brakes didn’t carry over. To solve that, the owner of this car turned to Andial – with a host of exterior upgrades to make it look like a Turbo S and a host of RS-spec 3.8 upgrades to make it go well, this is one tidy package – and exceedingly rare:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 2S Andial 3.8 on eBay

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