Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The 1985 Volkswagen Scirocco from last fall with a 2.0 16 valve conversion and some nice touches like BBS wheels, Euro bumpers and Euro headlights is back up on Ebay with a 10% price drop to just below $5,000. I think its great looking in the rare to see shade of Titian Red Metallic on these Sciroccos and the upgrades are just what I’d want – for the money, it seems like a pretty hard to beat value performance package.
It seems these days the blueprint to own a classic car in good condition is to go to a big-headline auction and pay ever-increasing amounts to get the best and most unique example of a particularly popular run of car possible. Look at the 911 and E30 M3, though they’re not alone; the frenzy over prices has created its own “Hemi” moment as prices double on a year over year basis. Where does that leave enthusiasts? With plenty of options, thank you very much. If you want a classic Porsche like the 356 or early 911s but just can’t stomach the incredible bills associated with those cars, why not consider the early Karmann Ghia? Seriously, to someone who was uninitiated, if you took the badges off of each and swapped them around, it would be easy to believe that the 356 was a Volkswagen product and the Karmann Ghia was the Porsche – its sleek lines look, if anything, more sporty than the 356. Classicly styled, long and low and with that trademark flat-four soundtrack that drove several generations, the Karmann Ghia is one of the few classic German cars that is still quite affordable but will make you feel like a million dollars wherever you pull up – especially when presented in the condition of today’s 1956 example:
I wrote up a cool-but-quaint light blue Syncro Doka last week, and while they are very cool and unique cars, it wasn’t quite the look I’d go for in a Vanagon Truck. Today’s Doka wears the same Vanagon Carat Cafe wheels that I took issue with on the Baby Blue, but brings a badass orange-and-black paint scheme to liven things up. It also has the Bostig Ford Zetec shared with another Vanagon I wrote up recently, making it a tasty proposition indeed. The reserve is probably considerable, but bidding started pretty low, giving hope that this could be a great chance at a rare and awesome truck.
Sometimes the most unsuspecting vehicles in the lineup make for the most interesting tuning subjects. The introduction of the VR6 engine in the early 1990s got the enthusiasts’ minds racing, especially when it was dropped under the hood of the Mk3 GTI. Hot hatchbacks would never be the same again. Ever since, the VR6 has found its way into unsuspecting VWs, from Mk1 Golfs to drop top cruisers such as this Mk3 Cabrio for sale from our reader Daniel. Under the hood you’ll find a 2.8 liter VR6 with a shot in the arm by way of a Vortech supercharger and coupled to a limited slip differential.
Earlier in the day that I wrote this, I was out and about doing errands with my son in my 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T Variant. I was enjoying a sunny spring day that has finally arrived in New England, sunroof open with my son pointing out everything of interest to him; which is most things, as it turns out. But what struck me as I drove around is how nice and underrated the Passat is; an Audi in a Volkswagen dress, it’s a well built, quiet and comfortable cruiser. When you want to go a bit faster, it acts more like a big GTi than a small Audi. And in back, it can swallow a load of cargo that would leave most sport utility vehicles to shame. Yet the Passat is often overlooked as a choice, heaped into the Check-Engine-Light generation of Volkswagen Audi products to look out for. Well, speaking from now 6 years of Passat ownership, it’s never once left me stranded and for what should be a dull daily driver, it’s a good looking and fun to drive reminder of why we buy German cars. To top off my drive, I ended at my mechanics where I had to drop off some parts for the Coupe GT; one of the patrons walked out and up to the Passat and remarked “It looks like a new car!” While that may be a bit of a stretch on my 12 year old, 115,000 mile example, it’s not on this top of the line Passat today – a W8 4Motion Variant with a scant 33,474 miles covered since new: