Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve featured cars more modern than my predilection for ’80s German metal typically allows. Two were cars I’ve dreamt about owning since they were released, both in gorgeous deep-blue hues: the E39 M5 and MkIV R32. The Le Mans Blue M5 was an excellent, 75k-mile example with the sumptuous Caramel leather but came at a steep price – over $32k. The Deep Blue Pearl R32 had about 100k miles and asked $15k – a far cry from its MSRP and seemingly a good value for the performance. Today’s M5 throws the viability of either of those cars into question, bringing the many impressive strengths of the E39 M5 but at the same price as the R32. BMW maintenance may run more than VW, but it’s not like the MkIV is known for being bulletproof. With Tubi exhaust you’ll even be able to drown out the R32’s VR6 grumble while you enjoy luxury the VW could never match. It’s not the most attractive combo – silver on black/grey pales in comparison to the rich blue/caramel – but it’s a truckload of performance for the money.
German Cars For Sale Blog Posts
It’s been a while since I featured a RS America so I thought it might be a decent time to take a look at one once again. As a somewhat pared down and lightened version of the standard Carrera 2, Porsche intended the RS America to fill the void in our market due to our lack of the 964 Carrera RS. It was never intended to be the full RS, but with less weight, sport suspension, and few available options they still provided a nice alternative for the 911 buyer seeking a more no-frills performance coupe. Even better, the RS America was the cheapest 911 available at the time. That fact alone means they could have made a good deal of sense at the time of their release, but on the current market the RS America tends to be a much tougher sell due to the premium attached to them. At least, for anyone other than a collector. For collectors they can make good sense. But, with the exception of the very best examples, the market for them has more or less plateaued after seeing a sharp increase more than a year ago. As some of the more rare air cooled 911s have started to again appreciate we may see the RS America do the same. The example we see here is a Black 1993 Porsche 911 RS America, located in Florida, with 64,976 miles and which came ordered with all four available options.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1993 Porsche 911 RS America on eBay
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It’s hard to fathom, but it’s been a full 20 years since the launch of the TT Concept design in 1995. I remember thinking that, along with the Aluminum Space Frame concept car from the year prior, it was going to be fairly unlikely that we would ever receive a production version of the slinky coupe. Styling was inspired by pre-war Auto Union record setting race cars, and inside was a revolution that hinted at some of the stellar interiors that Audis would henceforth be equipped with. It was pretty shocking, then, in 1998 when Audi announced that you’d be able to buy nearly the identical car to the show version. Initially available pre-mass production through the Neiman Marcus catalog in Christmas of that year, the first 100 Audi TTs were all identical. They were 180 horsepower front drive 5-speeds all colored Nimbus Grey with Moccasin Red baseball leather interiors and chrome 6-spoke wheels. Mostly an appearance package with no performance changes, they were nonetheless immediately collectible and in hot demand as the first of a new generation of Audis that hinted at a paradigm shift in the company:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2000 Audi TT Neiman Marcus Edition on eBay
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Last week I featured a couple of very high-priced Carreras and today we’ll look at another, though this time one that should be pushing demand more significantly than the other two standard cars, we’ll have to see whether it actually does. Here we have a Guards Red 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in California, with about 20K miles on it. Of import to us here: it has the M491 option package on it, typically known as the Turbo look. While garnered the Turbo-look due to its use of the wider rear of the 930, along with the whale tail, the M491 package wasn’t just for looks. It also included the braking and suspension of the Turbo to go with that wider rear. These were a 930 with a naturally aspirated 3.2 liter flat-six. For some the package still seemed a bit of a fake intended for those who simply wanted to look the part. Others, however, viewed it as a performance improvement, even if power remained unchanged, but with the lower stress and lower running costs of the reliable 3.2 liter engine. Regardless of which camp you might find yourself, the M491-equipped Carreras remain popular; for some their desirability has even increased as the more reliable nature of the engine stands out even more now that we’re 30 years down the road. With popularity comes higher prices and if the prices of last week’s Carreras are any indication an M491 model should stretch pretty high. The difficulty will come when those prices being to eclipse those for a 930. In such cases you probably wouldn’t be dealing with a similar level of car, but it would still bring about plenty of questions over which car one might prefer.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe – M491 on eBay
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Looking at what the Volkswagen Golf has become today, it’s rather remarkable when you look back at the Giugiaro-penned two box design of which it originated from. This 1977 Rabbit represents the earlier years of the Mk1. It’s a very simple car, with few options or adornments. However, you can find beauty in its simplicity, from the pressed steel wheels to the slimmer Euro bumpers. For sale in Georgia, this original VW was purchased new in Pennsylvania and is up to date on its servicing. For the vintage VW collector, they rarely come nicer than this.
