2-door Archives | German Cars For Sale Blog

High Mileage Hero: 1988 BMW 325iX

High Mileage Hero: 1988 BMW 325iX

Published November 22, 2019 by Carter

Continuing on my all-wheel ‘driveatribe’, I’d be remiss to not discuss BMW’s take on moving power around to all four wheels. While BMW wouldn’t launch the U.S.-spec iX until 1988, Europeans were introduced to the concept in 1986 – the same year as the Golf syncro. Unlike Audi’s quattro system which utilized a rearward driveshaft tacked on to a front-wheel drive transmission output shaft, BMW mated a transfer case and two viscous couplings, which effectively were front and rear limited-slips. This was very different from Audi’s contemporaneous system, which relied on the driver to lock the rear and center differentials that were otherwise open. The 325iX was able to be mated to an automatic transmission long before Audi would do so in the small chassis. BMW’s system was also more rearward biased, with 67% of the power being sent to the back wheels. While still more prone to understeer than a standard 325i, it was less so than the Audi.

Compared to other E30 models, the 325iX was a slow seller – BMW moved just 6,346 over the four production years between 1988 and 1991, putting these on just about equal footing with the M3 in terms of rarity. But two factors make finding clean ixs even harder; where they were used, and how they were used both result in rust being a big concern and it’s hard to find low-mileage examples. But while the odometer reading is stratospheric on today’s first-year ’88 2-door, it’s undergone a never-seen full restoration to return it to unbelievable condition. Also unbelievable? The price…

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW 325iX on eBay

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1980 Volkswagen Dasher 2-Door Hatchback

1980 Volkswagen Dasher 2-Door Hatchback

Published April 4, 2019 by Carter

In the early 1970s, a major change swept through Volkswagen. For some time, Volkswagen attempted to create unique ways to fit more people into a Beetle. The Type 3 abandoned the Beetle’s 2-door, fixed sloping roof profile for a (slightly) more conventional sedan, fastback and even variant wagon platform. That developed ultimately into the Type 4; the 411 and 412 again further moved VW “mainstream” with their Pininfarina bodies and more practical 4-door layouts.

Still, the writing was on the wall. Corporate partner Audi’s launch of the B1 chassis 80 model complete revolutionized both marque’s lineups over the next decade as rear-engine, air-cooled products were phased out and steadily replaced by new front-drive, water-cooled efficient and cheap to manufacture designs. The Audi 80’s design was refined by Giugiaro, so VW turned again to him to work his magic on the 412’s replacement.

What emerged after brief flirtation with the NSU-based K70 was the Passat. Unlike the traditional sedan that Audi got with the 80, the B1 Passat featured a dramatically sloping rear hatchback which picked up styling cues from both the Type 3 and Type 4, but of course was much more angular. Volkswagen offered three configurations for the first Passat; 3- and 5-door hatchbacks, and a 5-door variant wagon. These were introduced before the A1 Golf debuted in the U.S., and like the Golf, the Passat was given a North America specific name – the Dasher:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1980 Volkswagen Dasher Coupe on Orange County Craigslist

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Heap of the Week: 1976 Audi 100 2-door Sedan

Published April 10, 2014 by Carter

Let’s get this right out of the way – the first generation Audi 100 isn’t the most popular Audi ever built. It’s not even in the top ten most popular Audis. In fact, the Audi 100 is one of the cars that helped solidify the general automotive public’s belief that Audis were rusty, unreliable and unnecessarily complicated cars that you should stay away from at all costs. So what is a 1976 Audi doing on these pages, especially if it needs a restoration? Should it die the death everyone believe it should? We here at GCFSB say a resounding “No!” Why? Well, for the simple reason that too many of these 100s have already passed into the automotive underworld, leaving precious few in serviceable condition. And they’re not the worst cars ever made; sure, they’re not as iconic as the Quattro, but the 100 was a pleasant looking sedan that rode beautiful, was quite and composed. As effectively an entry into a new market for Audi, it was an impressive design. Last year, I looked at a restored 1972 100 LS that was asking well over top dollar; but this car is the more rare 2-door variant in need of a restoration: