Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Last week I checked out a 1978 350SE that was chock-full of little goodies but didn’t really past muster as a good buy. Today we have another W116 that seems to check all the boxes of of what a proper 1970’s S-Class should bring to the table as a nice driver and possible collector car. Located in Switzerland, the black paint is only the tip of the iceberg as to what this 450SEL offers. So let’s check out this blood-red big Benz.
I don’t normally revisit a car this quickly, but since I’ve pretty much decided I love this 911 I’m going to break with protocol. The Aubergine 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe is still for sale and the seller has now made his ask clear rather than wait out a reserve auction. Given that bidding in the previous auction only reached $58,783, asking $100K is a substantial leap. Perhaps the seller simply needs the right buyer to come along. It’s certainly a lot for a 911T, but showcasing one of the best colors from its era certainly helps it.
I have a strange fascination with the Sportomatic and find myself drawn to them as I keep coming across them in interesting colors and options. Not that I don’t see the same with the much more standard manual-transmission equipped 911s of the day, but the Sportomatic almost strikes me as a rare option that I should give attention to and I find myself featuring them. I suppose what confounds me is that I’d likely never consider purchasing one unless I was in a position of having a thorough collection and wanted one for its engineering and place in Porsche’s history. The transmission itself seems like the answer to a question no one was asking at the time, yet was quite prescient in its desirability. It was just way before its time. They are rare. They are also interesting. But are they desirable? Well, they’re definitely less expensive than comparable manual 911s and that probably shouldn’t surprise us. The one we see here, a Gold Metallic 1973 Porsche 911E Targa located in Atlanta, makes for an interesting case as it presents with quite a few cosmetic flaws, but comes in a unique period-correct color and has that aforementioned marvel the Sportomatic.
I was going to open this post with an argument in favor of the color purple. Not the book or movie, but the color as a choice on a car. But I think it’s easier just to allow this 911 to do the work for me. Because I think it’s a wonderful color. Of the various rare colors for an early 911 Aubergine (or eggplant) is an underrated favorite. It isn’t as bright and vibrant as many other choices, but still stands out, especially in the sun when that color comes through all the more. We almost never see purple cars of any sort, but the great thing about Aubergine is that it doesn’t hide the color the way some very dark metallic purples do – colors that look black in almost every lighting – but it’s also not the sort of purple that the Joker might paint his cars. It walks a line between those two extremes and manages to look sophisticated and aggressive at the same time. I love it. Here we have it on what was an entry-level 911 in its day: an Aubergine 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe, located in Belgium, with around 70K miles on it.
I’ll just get this out of the way: properly speaking this 911 isn’t really a RSR build, meaning it hasn’t tried to replicate the mechanicals of those very special cars. What this build has done is take a 911T and completely alter its personality in a way that the RSR did during its time. The description provides a basic overview of the work, but the biggest item, and what I think differentiates this from a lot of the builds we see, is that this 911T now houses a 3.6 liter flat-six from the 964. This quickly distinguishes it from the 3.2 Carrera based builds that are much more common. The pictures aren’t the best for appreciating the metallic grey paint, but the appearance looks quite promising. That this car currently resides in Japan will make things difficult for a lot of buyers, but for those willing to put in the effort this 911 could be a pretty great.
