Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Here’s a beautiful E30 M3 with a great color combo. The Lachssilber is a very nice, fresh repaint that really makes this look like the 80s streetfighter that it is. The cardinal red interior makes for a desirable combo. The nearly 10/10 exterior and a good interior hide the 148k miles, which seems like a lot for the asking price. All’s fair in love and E30 M3 selling though…
There’s a romantic vision I always seem to have; grabbing my wife and child, jumping in the exotic sports car and heading for the backroads for some spirited driving. That vision always seems to include some exotic; a Maserati Ghibli or perhaps even a Ferrari 400i. While Ferrari 400i prices have remained at a level attainable for mere mortals, the Ghibli has rocket well out of reach. But the Ferrari has problems, too – well, it’s a Ferrari. Last time I checked, maintaining those lovely stallions isn’t exactly cheap. But there is a much more practical supercar also born in the 1970s with futuristic styling and it’s a perennial favorite of ours; I’m speaking, of course, of the Porsche 928. Sure, compare the 928 to a Volkswagen Scirocco and it’s a very complicated, expensive car to run. But compare it to some of the exotics it ran against, and the 928 almost seems like a bargain to maintain. Great build quality, styling which has weathered the test of time and legendary GT performance make for a quite desirable package which is still very affordable in today’s world:
Ah, the E30 M3. Already the stuff of legends before the recent price surge, the original small M that was a revolution on the race track has similarly revolutionized values of mid-1980s German cars. Not only has the E30 M3 increased monumentally in value, but in fact it has pulled up nearly the entire BMW lineup along with it. It’s not alone, though – other rare performance German cars have been ascending alongside it. From the Quattro to the 500E, once cheaply attainable and fun cars are suddenly the stuff of speculation. Is the trend sustainable? The early 911 would seem to indicate it is; after all, there are only so many E30 M3s left today and there are many more people that want them than good examples. Just the other day, I finally stopped with my wife at an example I had eyed for many years – 7, to be exact. In that entire time, it had never moved – it’s just sitting under some pine trees off the beaten path in the woods of Rhode Island. Why did I finally stop? Well, there’s a part of me that would love to have an E30 M3 – but there’s more of me that hoped I could flip it and get enough money to buy some cars that I could drive and enjoy off the proceeds. Needless to say, I didn’t walk away with it; as with many, the owner “knows what it’s worth” and is hoping to restore it to former glory once again.
When he does, there’s a fair chance it may hit the market just like this 1988 Europameister example. Originally a limited-production model of 148 examples built from October to December 1988 to celebrate the European Touring Car Championship of Roberto Ravaglia. Ironically, despite being named to commemorate a racing car, the Europameisters were mostly fully loaded luxury variants of the E30. Being one of the lowest production variants of the E30 M3 in great condition and with ridiculously low miles, you can bet it won’t be cheap – and it’s not.
I always wonder about the Targa. I have a sense of why it was never as successful as its Coupe and Cabriolet counterparts, yet I still consider it an interesting design and strictly on appearance I find it quite a bit more appealing than the Cabriolet. The full open-top motoring experience of the Cabriolet obviously provides something the Targa cannot. At the same time it does provide a compromise experience between the other two models. Perhaps there simply are not enough buyers interested in that compromise, though Porsche’s reintroduction of the model, after a few failed attempts at modifying the concept beginning with the 993, suggest some demand remains. For me though, the best looking of the Targa models came as the 3.2 Carrera. All of the proportions seem correct and in certain shades, like this Stone Grey Metallic 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa, the lines are, dare I say, striking.
Wagon Week is back here at GCFSB. We’ve decided to start off not with one of the high-horsepower hyper wagons the Germans are known for, but rather, a workhorse of sorts. With the end of W123 production in the mid 1980s, the W124, now named the E-class, would take over the middle of the lineup for Mercedes-Benz. The W123 estate was the first such mass produced vehicle for Mercedes-Benz, and the W124 range would include a successor for the 300TD. The W124 estate has now itself become a bit of an icon, representing the durability and magnificent engineering that Mercedes built their reputation on. This particular W124 estate was one that was not sold here, the 230TE. With a 2.3 liter four-cylinder engine, it won’t win any acceleration contests, but with the 5-speed manual gearbox, you’ll be able to make the most of the power it has.