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Tag: 1997

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Audi S8 Roundup

Published December 18, 2014 by Carter

In last week’s 10K Practical Performance Edition, a question arose of what was the best ‘Bahn burner for under $15,000. My immediate answer was the Audi S8. It might not be as powerful as the E39 M5 or a slew of Mercs that are available for around the same amount, but the combination of the all-aluminum engine and space frame gives the large executive a smaller feel on the road – and with 360 horsepower, it’s no slouch. It’s also got a great all-wheel drive system; quattro purists don’t love the electronic differentials, but truth told on the fly they work reasonably well and you don’t have to muss and fuss. This isn’t a rally car, anyway. But it is a great looker – the interior and exterior are a beautiful combination of style and presence that few others match. There just aren’t any awkward angles on the D2 in my mind. So, today I’ve rounded up a few examples with the help of our reader, John. Ranging from a first run 6-speed through a last of the D2 2003 model, which would be your color?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S8 on quattroworld

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1997 Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe

Published December 17, 2014 by Rob

Most any wide-bodied Carrera is going to be immensely popular among Porsche enthusiasts and it only takes a few brief looks to see exactly why. Whether it is the full-blown RSR or simply an aesthetic difference like the car we see here, the enhanced shape of the stretched wider rear gets the heart racing. And of course it is the racing utility of that wider rear that makes these so desirable. For the last of the air-cooled 911s there were two naturally-aspirated Carreras, along with the 993 Turbo, to choose from for those who sought that wider rear body: the Carrera S and the Carrera 4S. The basic difference between the two models obviously lies in the number of drive wheels doing the work for each. For my money, the Carrera S is the one to have. Lighter and more faithful to the rear-drive design that lay at the heart of the 911 experience they are the ultimate expression of the air-cooled design. The example here is an Ocean Blue Metallic, 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe, located in Chicago, with 39,790 miles on it.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe on eBay

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Dwindling Supply: 1996 and 1997 Volkswagen Passat GLX VR6 Variants

Published December 11, 2014 by Carter

The Volkswagen Passat has always been a bit of the odd-man out in the Volkswagen lineup. Not as wildly popular as the Golf or as trendy as the Jetta, the Passat has alternated between the smart choice if you wanted quiet and capable German luxury to the odd choice if you just wanted to be a bit different than the norm. Volkswagen also can’t seem to make it’s mind up on which platform it wants to utilize with the Passat; the B1 and B2 generations, for example, shared their DNA with Audis. But with the B3 and B4 generation, Volkswagen moved to its own bag of tricks and developed a new Passat which mixed items from the Mk.2 and Mk.3 Golf chassis. For the B5 and B5.5, once again Volkswagen turned to the upscale Audi platform and the Passat was more popular than ever – effectively, it was a budget Audi A4, right down to the same powertrains and all-wheel drive systems. As effective as the B5/5.5 was for sales, when the B6 launched it was once again a return to the Golf chassis for the new Passat – and now we hang in limbo with a U.S. specific B7 Passat. But if the B5 and B5.5 were popular as a smart and upscale choice for budget Audi fans, the B3 and B4 seemed a bit odd. First there was the B3, with it’s grill-less design. I always thought it was pretty cool, personally, but apparently it offended actual buyers so much that Volkswagen redesigned the car and in 1993 the car received new body panels and a normal grill. That didn’t seem to bring with it massive sales, though – the Passat was still quite expensive and effectively the same size as the Jetta it was sold alongside. There was really only one trump card that the Passat had – denied the Golf Variant in the U.S., it was the only Volkswagen wagon you could buy here at the time:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Volkswagen Passat GLX VR6 Variant on eBay

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1997 BMW M3 Sedan with 37k miles

Published November 30, 2014 by Nate

$_57 (5)

I unabashedly love the E36 M3 sedan, as I’ve repeatedly stated here. Some of it’s sentimentality, while there’s a newer undercurrent of practicality as they are one of the better performance values out there. We’ve seen some crazy prices for E36s, but those usually come in the Lightweight guise. Even ultra-low mileage M3s are usually sub-$20k, but today’s seller is trying to jump on the ///Mppreciation train and perfect E39 M5 money for his E36. I’m all for giving these cars the respect they deserve, but M3s with this mileage used to sit just under $15k, and last time I checked they were not E30 M3s (and they never will be).

Click for details: 1997 BMW M3 Sedan on eBay

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Double Take: Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

Published November 25, 2014 by Rob

It is always interesting to take a look at the first version of a particular 911 model, whether to understand how a particular variant took shape or, for those on the investment side, to consider which might be the next model to take off on the market. Here we have the 993 Carrera 4S, the first version of the model produced for the 911 line and the only model produced with an air-cooled engine. It would be difficult for these models to show significant appreciation in the short term for the simple fact that they are already fairly expensive. Long term, however, this is the sort of variant that we could see do very well for buyers that are patient. There are a lot of similarities between the two cars featured here and both share one trait that I particularly like: each is fairly low mileage, but neither is ridiculously so. Meaning, each could still be driven and enjoyed to a reasonable degree each year without concern for killing the premium that comes with any low-mileage vehicle. We will start with a C4S from the first year of their production: a 1996 Speed Yellow C4S, located in Connecticut, with 33,800 miles on it.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S on eBay

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