Tag: 1996

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1996 BMW 850Ci

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The E31 was BMW’s first real attempt at integrating lots of computer designs and controls into one of their road cars. The clean-sheet design resulted in a 2-door grand tourer that shared some visual similarities with the great M1, but stood apart as a more practical cruiser. Unlike the E24, the windows could fully drop, revealing a graceful pillarless design to match the sweeping greenhouse. The sharp nose amazingly hid an even larger motor than its predecessor; in fact, it was basically two conjoined M20s. That configuration certainly has some drawbacks, but there was no denying that the 850i had serious presence and credentials with the M70 V12 kicking out 300 horsepower.

However, BMW softened the character of what potentially could have been a screamer. Many were outfit with 16″ wheels for a better ride and tied to an automatic transmission. This was truly a GT car, and not the supercar slayer that BMW teased with its M8 Concept. That vision ultimately became the manual-only 850CSi, but upgrades later in the run saw the introduction of the V8 840Ci and the revised M73 5.4 liter V12 in the 850Ci. This one is a bit special, having run through the hands of BMW’s Individual department before being sent to Mexico:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 BMW 850Ci on eBay

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Ex-Michael Jordan 1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe

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Earlier this spring, ESPN released a six-part documentary about the life and legacy of basketball player Michael Jordan that showcased him like we’ve never seen before. Even as someone who is only mildly interested in NBA, it was a fascinating watch. I wasn’t alone in this, as the ratings were off the charts for all six episodes. As a result, anything Michael Jordan related was now on fire in terms of value and people were eating it up. Even the most mundane things were suddenly as hot as can be and everyone was back on Jordan mania. Well, wouldn’t you have it, that includes cars. Even ones h̶e̶ his wife owned over 20 years ago and now are all beat up with a ton of miles on.

I actually looked at another one of his cars a few years ago in the ultra-rare SLR McLaren 722 Edition, which as the time wasn’t a big deal at all. This isn’t an SLR today, this is just an C140 S600 Coupe with some Lorinser bits bolted on and a bunch of miles. The current bid? Well, this is why eBay doesn’t work for cars like these.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: Ex-Michael Jordan 1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe on eBay

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1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe

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Last month I looked at a Mercedes-Benz W140 Coupe in a 1999 CL500 that not only looked great, but had a really reasonable asking price as well. Needless to say, it didn’t last all that long as someone else must of saw the value in it. Today, I wanted to go even further up market and check out a very low-mile 1996 S600 Coupe up for sale in New Jersey. Just as a refresher, Mercedes produced just over 8,500 of the V12-powered 600SEC/S600 Coupe/CL600 models for worldwide sale over an eight-year production period so they are relatively rare compared to the 36,000 examples of the V12 sedan. To find one with just 36,000 miles as this one has isn’t an easy task. However, that certainly means you are going to pay a premium. A big one.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe on eBay

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1996 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Tiptronic

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A little over a month ago I checked out a 964 Porsche 911 C2 in a great spec until you noticed it was equipped with the Tiptronic transmission. Nothing really wrong with that, but I felt like it shouldn’t be priced on the same level as the 5-speed cars given the what recent 964s are selling for. Would I kick it out of my garage? Of course not. Would it be my choice all dollars being equal? Of course not.

Building on that, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the next generation 911 with the old slushbox, the 993. The transmission was exactly the same, a ZF box with four forward gears, as opposed to the standard 6-speed you get with the manual cars. Even worse, the Tiptronic was 55 pounds heavier. Even worse than that, it sucked up the power big time. A 0-60 time in a C2 with the 6-speed was around 5.3 seconds while the same car with the Tiptronic box was 6.2 seconds. Yes, not great. However, this 1996 C2 painted in the lovely Guards Red could be cheap enough for you to consider it, right?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Tiptronic on eBay

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1996 Volkswagen Passat GLS TDi Variant

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So here’s part one in a trio of strange, yet desirable in their own right, Volkswagens. There are plenty of popular Volkswagens that demand premiums, sometimes inexplicably. These special models have a draw and demand money that makes people laugh. Sure, in the car world, it’s become accepted that vehicles like the 21 window Samba are now $100,000 plus fully restored; however, tell that to my father-in-law, who grew up driving them, and you’ll get nothing but boisterous laughs. Other Volkswagens exhibit charm or were class leaders; the GTi, the Vanagon Westy, the Corrado – stylish in their own ways, with charm to match. Then there’s the Passat. Despite the serious popularity of the B5 and B5.5 chassis, I still feel like I need to explain to people that they’re really quite nice cars. Do you know why?

Mostly it’s because of the reputation of the B3 and B4 Passats. The B4 Passat will certainly not go down in history as the best made, fastest or even prettiest mid-sized Volkswagen. Poor build quality coupled with an unerring tendency of early 90s Volkswagens to rust heavily meant they’re an odd choice for the Volkswagen fan. And when I consider the B4 Passat, all I can think is that it’s arguably the most vanilla Volkswagen ever produced. I praised Volkswagen when they launched the B3; smooth, aerodynamic with a distinctive wedge shape, it looked very different than any other sedan on sale at the time. Most of that distinction came down to the grill-less front end, but regardless it was cool. It was so cool, in fact, that no one got it. Of course, it didn’t help that it was pretty expensive and not particularly reliable in the best trend of early 90s VWs. So it probably came as no surprise when the revised B4 Passat in 1995 went more mainstream. New wheels, mostly new body panels and some minor interior changes signaled its introduction, but that’s not what people sought. No, the big news was under the hood; Volkswagen moved the 1Z 1.9 TDi into the Passat – and behind the headlines of the Vans, Corrados and GTIs, it’s probably the most sought 1990s Volkswagen – especially in 5-speed Variant form:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Volkswagen Passat GLS TDi Variant on eBay

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1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 with 243,059 miles

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Last week I checked out a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S550 with a little under 112,000 miles and while that number isn’t super high, when broken down by year, it is well above average.  The price of the car reflected the above average mileage, as it should, but it probably wasn’t a great enough deal to be really temping since it still was almost $33,000. Today, I have another S-Class with a bunch of miles and a really attractive price that will probably make anyone consider it just to see what happens. This 1996 S600 with the M120 V12, checks in with a little over 243,000 miles and honestly doesn’t look all that bad considering its age and use. Again, it is all about price when it comes to rolling the dice on this car, but honestly, how can you go wrong?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 on Hemmings

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1996 Mercedes-Benz CL420

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The Mercedes-Benz W140 Coupe, or C140, is one of those cars that you might have forgotten about until you see one in the wild or stumble across one for sale. There is good reason for that seeing that Mercedes made a little over 400,000 W140 sedans while only producing 26,000 coupes. You can see that is quite a difference in production numbers and now that the youngest W140 is almost 20 years-old, they are only are getting more rare. Today, I wanted to check out the rarest W140 ever produced, the CL420. Just 2,500 CL420/S420 Coupes were produced from 1994 to 1998 and exactly zero ever made it to America. These Coupes used the 4.2 liter M119 V8 borrowed from the sedan and was the smallest engine choice available in the C140. This 1996 up for sale in Spain is probably one of the most well-preserved CL420s out there despite its 112,000 miles. I just wish I could bring it to America.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Mercedes-Benz CL420 at Classic Driver

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1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe

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This is a Turquoise Green Metallic 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in Florida, with Cashmere Beige interior and 50,324 miles on it. It also has the factory Aerokit. The paint code is 25D, which I mention because there are a few colors that went with some version of Turquoise during the ’90s and in some cases they can be dramatically different colors while in others very similar. Turquoise Blue (code 3AR/3AS) is a phenomenal non-metallic blue and one of my favorites from the period. It has some of the brightness of Riviera Blue, though in a darker hue. It’s great. I believe there also was an earlier version of Turquoise that was non-metallic and much closer to the blue of Turquoise Blue than the color we see here. Similar to this 993 is Turquoise Metallic (code 25C), which is a slight variation of this Turquoise Green. The German helps differentiate the two: Tuerkis Metallic vs Tuerkis Perlcolor. Add in the even more green Wimbledon Green Metallic and then we have nearly the whole spectrum for this one type of greenish blue exterior. Porsche certainly knows how to provide options. All you have to do is figure out which one you like best.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe on eBay

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1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe

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People are usually pretty hot or cold on the Mercedes-Benz W140 Coupe. They followed up the massively successful and popular W126 Coupe and it’s not that these are bad cars at all, but it’s tough to follow-up something that was so great. I think lots of times people even forget about these cars because you don’t see them all that often. Mercedes made just over 8,500 of the V12-powered 600SEC/S600 Coupe/CL600 for worldwide sale over an eight-year production period so they are relatively rare compared to the V12 sedan that was produced to the tune of 36,000. Today’s car, a 1996 up for sale outside of Detroit, is one of the finest S600 Coupes I’ve seen come up for sale. The price? Well worth the asking in my eyes.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Mercedes-Benz S600 Coupe on Detroit Craigslist

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1996 Audi A4 2.8 quattro

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Back in March I took a look at two Audi A4s, comparing an early FronTrak example to a late loaded Avant. Though it looked to be in good shape, the running condition of the ’96 was in question. More problematic, it was a front driver, and hooked to the Tiptronic 5-speed automatic. As a result, despite the low entry price point, it was really hard to get excited about it.

Today’s A4 remedies many of the ailments afflicting that particular A4. It’s still in an Audi signature color combination from the 90s; in this case, Emerald Green Mica over Ecru leatherette. But the highlight here is the drivetrain, with the much more desirable 5-speed manual driving all four wheels through the combination of a Torsen center differential and an electronic rear differential “lock”. Best of all? It’s in great condition and the auction is no reserve!

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Audi A4 2.8 quattro on eBay

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