Tag: 1973

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1973 BMW 2002tii

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If you’ve not been paying attention, pundents have been claiming that the classic car market is cooling ever so slightly. Bring a Trailer and the BMW 2002tii didn’t get the message, apparently. Just the other day, a European-specification 1972 tii traded for $102,002 before fees. See what they did there?

Anyway, I’ve previously lamented that I had opportunities to get into the Quattro market before the second wave of Group B insanity. Well, I also missed out on the classic E10 market. My first car was very nearly a ’73 2002tii, and while it’s extremely unlikely it would have ever ended up as nice as today’s Turkis example, it’s a nice thought, anyway.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 BMW 2002tii on eBay

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1973 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5

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I love a good ownership story as much as the next person. The majority of the time, they have some kind of celebrity tie simply because the nature of the cars we deal with. We’ve done Lennon, Elvis (twice), actual kings, the Great One, Sweetness, Air Jordan, and both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. For every giant name, there are not so giant names that still have a great story behind them. Today’s car, a 1973 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 up for sale in Colorado, is one of those stories.

This W108 was purchased new by the seller’s mother in July 1973 to park beside her 450SL where she proudly posed for photos looking very stylish in proper 1970s clothing. It has remained with her ever since and she still takes occasional rides in it at the ripe old age of 102. It isn’t a pristine example or even a very nice one, but I really don’t have much of a problem with that. To keep a car over 45 years and continue driving it over that time is no easy feat, even for something as solid as a W108. Sadly, the time has come for this car to find a new loving home for the next 45 years. I just wish I was closer.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 on Hemmings

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1973 Porsche 911E Targa

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Slate Grey, the preferred color of the famous Steve McQueen. This isn’t one of McQueen’s cars, but those who restored it seem to have had McQueen in mind when choosing how to proceed with their work. This is a 1973 Porsche 911E Targa painted in that wonderful Slate Grey, located in New York, with Tan interior showing a nice set of sport seats and a reported 54,100 miles on it. It has been fully restored and as it sits now looks quite good!

As the seller has noted, the 911E was positioned in between the entry-level 911T and the sportier 911S. It utilized a similar mechanically fuel-injected engine as the 911S, though with fewer horses (160 hp). Hydro-pneumatic struts replaced the torsion bars up front providing a smoother ride than the standard suspension available on the T. The E thus served as the luxury version relative to the more sporty 911S. Values, of course, tend to follow suit with the E slotting in between the other two models. However, the gap from the E to the S is far more significant than between the T and E.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Porsche 911E Targa on eBay

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Motorsports Monday: 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Lightweight

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This is no backdated 3.2 Carrera. It’s not an RS tribute or any other of the many modified 911s we see that attempt to replicate this car. It isn’t even an RS Touring. This is the real deal. The Holy Grail for many Porsche enthusiasts: a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Lightweight.

We aren’t told much about it and a few of the interior pieces are not original, but it is otherwise a very nice example in the color combination of Tangerine over Black. The mileage too appears to be very low showing only 18,158 kilometers. Anyone interested will need to do a lot of homework to fill in all of the details, but what a car these are.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Lightweight on eBay

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Ravenna Green 1973 Porsche 914-4 2.0

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We all know I love coming across brightly colored Porsches. I love it even more when it’s a color we almost never see. Such is the case with this Ravenna Green 1973 Porsche 914-4 located in Arizona. Ravenna Green was a one-year-only color for the ’73 914. It exists within the realm of Lime Green as we’ve seen on the 911, though Ravenna is a little brighter and perhaps a bit more yellow. It fits right into the world of jelly bean colors that Porsche offered in the ’70s and it looks great on the 914, a car that I think always deserves a bright color. This particular 914 is fitted with the 2.0 liter flat-4 engine and while they don’t pack a ton of power they’re still capable of scooting along these light-weight mid-engined Porsches.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: Ravenna Green 1973 Porsche 914-4 2.0 on Rennlist

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1973 Porsche 911T Coupe

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Here is a 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe, located in California, with just 22,598 miles on it. It comes from the latter part of 911 production in 1973 meaning it has the new Bosch CIS injection system rather than the mechanical fuel injection that had been used on all previous models. It is said to have recently been completely restored.

The very pretty exterior color is Dalmatian Blue, which I believe more commonly is known as Oxford Blue (Seeblau in German). It shows quite brightly here, perhaps a little brighter than other Oxford Blue 911s I’ve seen though I suspect that is down to the lighting of the pictures. Still, it’s a nice shade of blue. Here it’s contrasted with a Beige interior and I think the whole thing looks quite good. It’s priced quite high for a 911T, but with such low mileage I guess we have to expect sellers to be seeking a premium.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe on eBay

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1973 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5

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The glorious run of the Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 wrapped up production in 1972 to make way for the W116 that launched the S-Class name. Except for us lucky North Americans who got another model year of the W108 and W109 in 1973. I think the fine people at Mercedes probably just wanted to dump the last of the remaining stock across the ocean because what are buyers really going to do about it? Get on the internet in 1973 to complain about it? That leads me to today’s car. This 1973 280SE 4.5 up for sale in New Jersey isn’t perfect and has a few flaws, but that is the beauty of this one.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 4.5 on eBay

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Chartreuse 1973 Porsche 911T Targa

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There are very few cars that will pop off the page like this 1973 Porsche 911T Targa. Chartreuse will do that. The color even sounds bright and vibrant. The Birch Green GT3 RS I posted a couple of weeks back gives it competition. I’ve seen Acid Green show up of late and it’s another. If you desire a very bright green with yellow hues from almost any era of the 911’s life then Porsche has you covered.

There is something about it on an early 911 though that makes the color pop even more. The chrome accents help highlight the color, the Targa roll hoop accentuates that feel even more, the Fuchs, the fat tires showing that extra bit of black, and perhaps even the less rounded design. All of these come together to make a bright color seem even brighter.

It goes without saying that this color is rare and while I don’t know how popular it was in the early ’70s there seems to have been a recent revival of Porsche greens. A lot of them are showing up as PTS options on modern 911s. Relative to the proliferation of the standard blacks, silvers, and whites you’re still not likely to see one often, but perhaps their overall desirability is on the uptick. Either way, this one looks phenomenal and I’m sure it’ll grab all of the attention on any cruise.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: Chartreuse 1973 Porsche 911T Targa at Makello’s Classics

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1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL

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I get really excited when I come across a nice W116 Mercedes-Benz. Full disclosure, it is probably because I own one and enjoy it a lot. When I caught a glimpse of this 1973 450SEL up for sale in Chicago, my ears really perked up. Being a 1973, the first year for the W116 in North America, it meant that this car had its proper slim bumpers and not the diving boards they put on these cars from 1974 to 1980. Not only that, but I saw some red leather peeking out from inside the car. Now I was really interested! Come to find out, this 450SEL had just 54,000 miles on and looks to be in exceptional shape. Of course the gears in my head started turning and I started to guess how much this prime example was going to command. When I found out, I wasn’t too surprised, but I also knew that this car wasn’t going to be a quick sale just because of what the W116 is.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Mercedes-Benz 450SEL on eBay

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Kelly Green 1973 Porsche 911T Targa with 3,369 Miles

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Let’s return to the auctions coming up this weekend. When perusing the lots available, it is not uncommon to see a few Porsche 911T peppered in among the many rare and multi-million-dollar cars on offer. Even as the lowest rung on the Porsche ladder, these entry-level examples still show significant appeal. So I wasn’t surprised to see this one. It’s bright exterior attracted my attention immediately. Then I saw the estimate: $220,000-$260,000. For a 911T? What sort of insanity is this?!

It turns out there are a lot of reasons for the very high estimate and while we can never be sure whether such heights actually will be reached I am confident that this will be one of the nicest and most original examples of the 911T that we’ll come across.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: Kelly Green 1973 Porsche 911T Targa at Gooding & Co.

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