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After looking again recently at the replica E30 M3, I still can’t help but shake my head. While it was an exacting clone of a real M3 in many ways, at the end of the day it was just that – an assemblage of parts made to reproduce the look of a legend. Despite that, and a slightly shady listing, that ad elicited ridiculous bidding and an even more outrageous $50,000 asking price. It makes looking at today’s car all the more refreshing, and helps to put the market into some perspective.
What we have is a L97A Diamond Silver Metallic 1983 Audi Quattro. It’s not a perfectly original example, nor is it heavily modified like a lot that we see. But with some weak areas addressed, a clean bill of health and a very good presentation, this is one of the more desirable examples that we’ve seen recently:
I feel as if I have been neglectful. Truth be told I have not been overly enamored with a lot of the 911s I’ve been coming across lately. I think that is because I have been spending a lot more time looking at very nice (and very expensive) modern 911s, which has colored my view of many of the older examples that I typically hold so dear. When you spend day after day looking at pristine, never driven, garage kept, cars fewer than five years old it becomes easy to find flaws in older cars and dismiss them. But of course those older cars have more flaws! They’ve been driven and enjoyed and they are just older. Plain and simple.
These “flaws” shouldn’t dissuade me though and I’ll look a little closer. The one we see here, a Blue Metallic 1983 Porsche 911SC Coupe, I like quite a bit. I don’t know if I view it as pristine and “spectacular” as the seller, which isn’t too surprising, but it does look quite good and appears to be in very original condition. It isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be perfect and that’s just fine.
Update: This car is back up for sale from a new owner with a nice detail and a laundry list of maintenance completed. Almost no miles were added but the price has been raised to $11,500. Check it out here.Â
It is all about the details for me. I have seen enough of the same cars day after day that all look they pretty much look the same to me. Unless of course a car sticks out for one reason or two. It could be a unique color, it could be a rare-spec with interesting options or it could be the entire car is something I haven’t seen pop up for sale. Today’s car, a European-spec 1983 Mercedes-Benz 500SE for sale in California, has the entire package of coolness that I just have to take a close look at it. Judging by the photo above, you can tell this one is going to be good.
Here we have a 1983 Porsche 911SC Targa that comes in a kind of unusual color. Unusual in the sense that I’m not quite sure what it is. The seller simply lists it as Gold, but that’s not terribly helpful. It could be Gold Metallic, which had been available in earlier years though I don’t think it was available in 1983. Platinum Metallic could be another option, which I believe was available in 1983. But it doesn’t really look like either of those colors. Or perhaps Casablanca Beige, a rare color we have seen before. To me, the color it looks most like actually is Lime Gold Metallic, but unless I’m mistaken that’s a relatively recent color. It, of course, recently could have been repainted Lime Gold. The seller doesn’t mention this and, unfortunately, because most of the pictures show it parked in the shade we can’t get a very good sense of how it truly looks. The interior is brown leather, which was available in the early ’80s and works reasonably well with this exterior color. Overall I don’t know that I’ve seen a 911SC with this color combination. It may not be original, but that’s something that should impact its selling price more than whether we dismiss it entirely or not. I think it looks pretty good!
As ’80s-All-Things-M-Mania’ has continued, getting into a clean E28 M5 is increasingly difficult – and expensive. Decently clean original M5s now start around $30,000 and can head up from there, with really exceptional examples selling for $50,000 or more. Didn’t this used to be the “cheap” M? Those days have passed and don’t show signs of returning soon.
What’s an enthusiast to do? Well, you could build your own. It’s not cheap or easy, but hey – if you’re in it to win it, why not see if you can source all the parts yourself? Or (and this is a much better option…) you buy one that has already been converted to M-specs. To maximize your investment, look for one with a rare set of parts attached, and preferably in European guise. Luckily, today we don’t have to look too far:
