With the fear of dwindling energy supplies and the race to make our vehicles cleaner, there are some things that are seemingly disappearing from the automotive landscape. There are still a few holdouts in the market, but the manual transmission has been disappearing even in exotic sports cars such as Lamborghini and Porsche as faster, more economical automated manuals and automatic gearboxes have emerged. Engines with more than eight cylinders seem to be a dying breed and small vehicles seem to be rather popular, even in a country like the US where bigger is often better. What then, to make of this Mercedes-Benz CL600 in an era of rightsizing? Even though it isn’t terribly vintage, this large coupe powered by six liters and twelve cylinders seems an anachronism in today’s motoring world.
German Cars For Sale Blog Posts
Okay, I got the memo. You didn’t like earlier’s Tuner S4. And while I think it’s pretty silly to discount the car completely because of some fairly easily changeable interior pieces, I also had issue with the car as honestly I’d prefer an Avant if I was going the S4 route. What’s a guy to do? Well, lucky for us there’s an equally awesome, equally Imola Avant in our Self Service Classifieds:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001.5 Audi S4 Avant on German Cars For Sale Blog Self-Service Classifieds
3 CommentsIf yesterday’s S54 swapped 328Ci just wasn’t enough M3 to satisfy your need, today might just help you satiate that need. The E46 M3 is a great car in just about every way – it lacks some of the space and usability of its S4 competitors but it certainly makes up for it in great looks and performance. A friend of mine several years ago sold his older E28 535is that he tracked and 84 911 cabriolet and bought an E46 M3 convertible with hardtop. Initially, I was a bit surprised, but his logic was sound – the E46 was a better convertible capable of carrying (in a pinch, anyway) 4 people, and it was quicker in every situation than his track-biased E28. Plus, complimenting the good looks of the E46 was the color my friend opted for – Laguna Seca Blue, certainly one of the most striking colors on an M car in recent memory. Today’s coupe doesn’t enjoy the same open-air fun of my friend’s car, but what it does have is very few miles:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 BMW M3 on eBay
3 CommentsWhen they were first released, I personally thought that the B5 S4 was a bit disappointing. After all, it was basically only producing a few more horsepower than the revered outgoing turbocharged inline-5 had produced, and indeed produced less power than the S6+ and S6 V8 models produced. Like the E36 M3, the styling was conservative and understated but handsome, but the performance was also on par with the M3 which had just gone out of production. It really seemed like Audi was behind a few steps. Since then, the appeal of the B5 to me has increased a bit; as a package capable of both driving all year and turning some incredible numbers on the dyno there are few that can match it. My view started to change when I got a ride in an Imola Yellow S4 Avant that was built to RS4 specs – on the front straight at Lime Rock Park, the car easily accelerated from 80 to 120mph before the start/finish line. The acceleration was brutal and instant; not what you’d expect from a heavy turbocharged car – and a reminder of how much the Audi engineers left in that motor. It’s further interesting to me that after abandoning turbocharging in favor of naturally aspirated V8s, Audi and other manufacturers have been forced to reevaluate and include forced induction in their performance models. Today, you can get a very nice example of a B5 S4 for under $10,000 – but if you want one that’s a turn-key bullet, you’ll have to shell out a bit more for one like today’s lower mile Imola Yellow S4 sedan:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2000 Audi S4 on eBay
5 CommentsWhile Paul Walker’s RS6 Avant surfacing online this week was pretty cool, and all I ever want is an longroof RS, the tragedy is still a little close for me to spend much time perusing that listing, let alone contemplate owning that car. For now, the more-accessible sedan will suffice just fine, as even in these insane days of horsepower wars threatening 700hp sedans on the horizon, these 450hp AWD executive saloons are still a force to be reckoned with 10 years on. This example comes in the absolutely-perfect Avus Silver Pearl, which makes all silver and grey cars wonder why they don’t shimmer that way. With just over 50k miles it’s quite a fresh example, and the price shows it.




