Time for another round of what caught my eye this past week! Although the M1 had an inline-six like other Bavarian creations of the time, little outside of the block shared any architecture with a series production model. The basic M30 block was modified into a racing unit with dual overhead cams and became the legendary M88/1 by fledgling skunkworks BMW Motorsport. But while Giugiaro’s design was the perfect eye-catching home for the motor, he wasn’t prepared to produce the M1 in series, nor was BMW, so the company commissioned Lamborghini to produce the fiberglass bodies and assemble the cars.
The late 1970s saw Lamborghini nearly close its doors and BMW was forced to coordinate body production from Italdesign, a tubular chassis from Marchesi and Company in Modena, and partial production at the Baur Karosserie and BMW Motorsport.
By the time the delay-fraught production was completed, the race series the M1 was intended for was gone, leaving BMW to envision their own one-off Procar Championship series. Despite missing the mark with its racing heritage it was, at the time, the Ultimate Driving Machine.
I had to chuckle at the oil change mat. I suppose it’s no surprise this un-original example is still floating around; I looked at it back in 2017 and they wanted above market at that time with a $660,000 asking price. Today? They’re asking $900k on eBay. It is pretty, though!
How about a new “supercar”. Audi’s RS e-Tron GT Project 513/2 certainly has a super-sounding name. What does it get you? Just 75 of these prototype-camo-styled cars were produced, each with 637 horsepower on tap. While that doesn’t sound impressive compared to some supercars, this is Audi’s quickest-accelerating production car – ever. 513/2 was the internal name of the project. For the honor of leaving the wrap on, you paid an extra $36,000 on top of the e-Tron’s already expensive $145k base price. Yikes!
The good news is that this very fast Audir Jordan sneaker can now be yours for a $60k discount while being nearly new!
Still hating on the 996? Time to move on, sir. The design has aged well and is already considered a current – and future – classic. The smart choice? Find a not-silver-or-black one (good luck) that was ordered with cool options, such as the factory Aerokit. For good measure, the Speed Yellow exterior was ordered to continue inside…
…on the hard-backed sport seats and center console. With just 46k miles and a host of other upgrades, including some great-looking BBS wheels, this one is not cheap at $58k – but it’s also an assured collector. Given the entry price on the GT3, this gets you most of the look and performance at a steep discount.
Need to carry more people and still want the Porsche association? Look no further than the 500E/E500. These cars are still trading in the realm of mostly-mere-mortals – this one is under $40k.
While that still seems steep, the condition appears to be good and this one is in classic under-the-radar colors.
The M4 GTS was the stripped-down, hardened up version of the M4. BMW utilized a water injection system to raise horsepower to 493, while heavy (pun intended) use of carbon fiber helped keep the curb weight down to 3,550. All M4 GTSs made use of the 7-speed DCT dual-clutch transmission. They were limited to four colors; Sapphire Black metallic, Mineral Gray Metallic, Alpine White and Frozen Dark Gray Metallic. Only 300 were sent to the U.S., ensuring this was not only a track weapon, but a future collectable as well – and prices skyrocketed as soon as you couldn’t buy a new one. Today? Well, this sub-8k-mile example can be yours for $75k.
Again, compared to the GT3, these are downright cheap.
On a more modest budget? How about a stately and unassuming Audi 100? The “new-for-’89” 100 was really just a dressed-up 5000. Like all the Type 44s, it received a revised interior with the nomenclature swap in late 1988. Dynamically, though, there were basically no changes from 1987. In fact, the ’87 5000 front-drive shared more in common with the Turbo than the later model, which shared many components with the small-chassis cars.
The front-drive 100 soundly outsold its more expensive 100 quattro and 200 brethren. Finding a clean one today can be tough though. This one looks great, but I’m not sure I’d pay $10k for one.
What’s your favorite?
-Carter
I’m getting old. Not that many new offerings interest me. Would take a classic preferably with a stick. Watched a review on the E500 that was not that great but the reviewer did like the E60 version.