Tag: 1997

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Golf Match! Volkswagen GTI Mk.2 v. Mk.3 v. Mk.4 v. Mk.5

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Okay, $22,000 is a lot for an old hot hatch, even if it’s the ‘original’. When I was perusing some cars to consider, I noticed that there was a point where Mk.2, 3, 4 and 5 prices were all pretty equivalent. In fact, you can just about buy all four of these cars shown below for the same price as that Kamei X1 GTI. It raises an interesting question; what generation is the one to get at this price point? Certainly a lot depends on priorities – if, for example, you really want a fun daily driver or you’re looking for more of a weekend warrior show car. But let’s look at this group and see which has potential:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Volkswagen GTI 16V on eBay

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1997 Porsche Boxster with 8,900 miles

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A few weeks I took a look at one of the most jarring Porsche interiors I have run across with a 1999 911 up for sale in San Diego. It wasn’t so much that the Jade Green was all that ugly, but rather the Burl Wood that was plastered everywhere clashed so much with the Jade and the rest of the interior. Add in the fact that the car is automatic, has 166,000 miles and isn’t priced all that well, you can probably guess what it is still for sale. Most of you in the comments seemed to agree with my thoughts on that 996 as well judging by the reaction that it got. Although one commenter (Thanks JonnyA) passed along another late ’90s Porsche with a green interior that still has loads of green leather, but isn’t nearly as gaudy or off-putting. This 1997 Boxster up for sale outside of Dallas features Nephrite Green leather and even better, has just 8,900 miles. Is this a better option if you still want an inexpensive Porsche with a wild interior?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche Boxster at True Car

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Almost S: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo X50 Sonderwunsch/Exclusive

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As they had with the 964 Turbo, Porsche continued the ultra-exclusive Turbo S package on the actually new 993 Turbo. With 430 horsepower pumped through two turbos to all four wheels, these were not as outrageous as the GT2, but plenty fast and luxurious to make up for it. Big yellow Brembos, a revised aerokit and flank vents that were a nod to the prior generation all helped to distinguish these cars. And with only 345 produced originally, from the get-go these were big dollar collectables. Of course, Porsche made a splash recently when it made a special brand-new one-off 993 Turbo S, ultimately selling it for a touch over $3,100,000.

So I’ll introduce this post by saying that this car is not one of the original Turbo S models. However, if anything, it’s a bit more interesting and even more exclusive. This car started life as a normal 993 Turbo, but was sent through the Porsche Special Wishes/Exclusive department (production coincided with rebranding of the Special Wishes Department to Porsche Exclusive) and given the bulk of the Turbo S details with a few GT2 bits thrown in for good measure. Further, it was then draped in a Paint To Sample color, Ocean Blue Metallic. The main difference between this car and a S is the rear spoiler and badges, which remained standard 993 Turbo items. In many ways, this car is the spiritual successor to the 911 Turbo S 3.6 ‘Package’ I just looked at, and it’s equally exclusive at a claimed one of two produced:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo X50 on eBay

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1997 Mercedes-Benz SL60 AMG

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I know everyone might be getting just a little sick of all the silver R129 Mercedes-Benz models I’ve been covering as of late, but I promise this one is worth it. This is a 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL60 AMG up for sale just outside of London. The backstory on the SL60 AMG is a little murky but I’m going to try to explain it the best I can. These cars were officially sold through Mercedes as a SL60 from 1993 to 1998, meaning when you run the VIN it comes back as a SL60 and not just as SL500s that were converted after the fact like we see a lot of times. There wasn’t much fanfare or marketing for these; they made somewhere between 1000 and 1500 with all of them being sold anywhere but North America.

The modifications are what you might have guessed: the 5.0 liter M119 converted to a 6.0 liter that made a conservative 381 horsepower. The rest of the stuff depended on the year and what the AMG factory felt like putting in the car. I don’t have any explanation as to why some cars were sold with Xenon and some weren’t. The same went with the interior changes as some cars got AMG gauge clusters while some didn’t and some interiors were crazy colors but others were just standard R129 interiors from that year. I believe that all the cars, except the very early ones, received the two-piece AMG wheels in the staggered setup. Today’s car is one of the few right hand drive examples that were built and honestly priced pretty reasonable in the grand scheme of things.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Mercedes-Benz SL60 AMG on eBay

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1997 BMW M3

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Update 1/17/19: Blast from the past! After nearly four years, this Hamann-modified Technoviolet E36 M3 (originally Arctic Silver Metallic) is back on the market. It is listed as having only 400 more miles than in 2015, and the price is up from $20,000 to $24,595 today.

Out of the box, the BMW E36 M3 offered almost everything a serious motorist could want. A lusty inline-6, slick manual gearbox and beefed up body cladding to differentiate itself from the lesser models on which it was based. But there’s always customers out there who want just a bit more or prefer to tinker with their ride a bit to stand out from the crowd. This 1997 BMW M3 comes to us from our friends at Sun Valley Auto Club and is equipped with a Hamann body kit and Hamann PG3 wheels, along with Sparco seats and H&R springs. Added in to the mix is a hue of purple that will certainly grab your attention.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 BMW M3 on eBay

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1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S

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Here we have another 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S. The final climax of the air-cooled 911 and quite rare. This one is not a ridiculously low-mileage garage queen like the last Turbo S I featured. While it’s hard to call any twenty-year-old 911 reasonably priced at almost $300K that’s pretty much exactly what we have with this one. Of course, there are reasons for that reasonableness. In this case, a touch over 80K miles and an engine rebuild account for the discount. Even so, is it worth it? It’s still around $100K more expensive than a low-mileage non-S 993TT and you likely could buy 2 of those if you allowed for comparable mileage and condition. Such is the cost of rarity.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S on eBay

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1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S

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Oh my lord this is everything. Here we have an Arctic Silver Metallic 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S, located in New York, with Boxster Red interior and a mere 2,544 miles on it. Do I wish the exterior were something other than silver? Maybe, yes. However, Arctic Silver is a pretty nice variant of the color and the contrast it presents with the Boxster Red interior works so incredibly well that I almost don’t mind it’s a silver car. On the 993 Turbo S the color works quite well anyway.

There were only 345 examples of the Turbo S built in total and they provide the best combination Porsche could offer at the time in terms of performance and luxury. 430 hp was propelled to all four wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission. Larger disc brakes with the now well known yellow calipers provided restraint for those extra horses and the revised Aerokit helped keep the wheels planted. They are exquisite looking cars and, of course, the last of the air-cooled 911 Turbos. Naturally, that makes them quite highly sought after.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S on eBay

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1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6

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Update 11/11/18: This Jetta is listed as sold at $1,486.

Update 11/8/18: After being listed as sold for $1,977, this Jetta GLX VR6 is back on the market again for no reserve.

There’s something really special about the used Volkswagen market that you just don’t get with other cars. There are stories – stories of plans hashed over a few too many PBRs, stories of hard luck and bad decisions. A fair chunk of the time the cars appear with hurt feelings – or just “hurt” and “feelers” in Volkswese. Listings leap into “I was planning…” and proceed to outline a SEMA build-off from someone who clearly is neither Chip Foose, nor has the budget to be. Even when they’re not, hilarity can still ensue.

In short, you just don’t get the type of entertainment from a Porsche listing that you do from a VW. Today’s listing is a 1997 Jetta – but the seller assures us that this is “not your typical Jetta”. That must mean that everything works, it’s not rusting, and it has some residual value? I kid, I kid. What drew me to this listing, though, were two things. First off, Jetta GLX VR6s are getting harder to find, and this one both looked reasonably clean at first glance and was being offered at no reserve with a semi-useful description and set of photos.

But those photos are the key here. Not only did this seller manage to line up the Volkswagen to take pictures with signs indicating it’s pointing the wrong direction on a one-way, further investigation reveals that they’re not on a road at all – they’ve parked straight in the middle of a bike path. In front of a Meineke, which I’ll fully admit I was amazed to see was still a thing. But the coup de grâce must be the giant hanging “CHECK ENGINE” sign. Is there a more appropriate way to depict a dark green Jetta from the 90s?

Still, it is a VR6…

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 on eBay

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1997 Porsche 911 Turbo

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I think this 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo comes under the heading of “never judge a book by its cover” because while it’s a very lovely car from the outside it is really all about the interior. That’s the part of this one that will have appeal relative to all of the other 993TTs on the market. It’s quite clearly special order. I’ll also be quite upfront and state that I don’t like the way it has all come together. However, I’m very happy that it exists. It shows us the type of things that Porsche has made possible over the years for its more intrepid customers so even if it isn’t what I would do it might give you some ideas. I also think it’s only a couple minor tweaks from looking quite good. Let’s take a look:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo on eBay

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Roll the dice: 1997 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG

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The W202 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG has gone from being a neat little footnote in Mercedes-Benz and AMG history as being the first post-acquisition AMG car to a car that collectors are now seeking out to add them to their stable. They aren’t at the level of the 190E 2.3-16v, nor do I think they will ever be, but the demand has definitely picked up over the past year or two. Because of these cars being unloved and overlooked for as many years as they were, lots of them fell into the hands of people who used and abused them then moved on to the next cheap car. At the end of the day, this is still a W202, so its tenancy to rust is always a major issue as well as some other things that plague the chassis such as the tendency for head gasket in the M104 engine to leak oil from the back of the head. Sadly, this 1997 C36 up for sale in Canada, seems to suffer from both of these mentioned things. Although if you do the math on the purchase price plus potential repair costs, maybe you could come out ahead and have yourself a really cool car that the value is slowly rising on.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG on eBay

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