Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
While the GTi, and more recently “R” models, have enjoyed the Volkswagen performance limelight, in the background has been an equally fun and nearly as capable sedan. Since the A1 chassis, Volkswagen has offered the same underpinnings with slightly different style in the betrunken Jetta (clever, that), and just like the GTi there have been some special models along the way. For example, the Wolfsburg Limited Edition “Helios” GLi was one of my favorite 80s VWs, with the beautiful blue color matched on the BBS RA alloys and uniquely striped Recaro seats. While the Mk.3 model lost the GLi in favor of the upscale GLX VR6 models, the GLi made a triumphant return in the Mk.4. As with the Golf, it was available with either VR6 or 1.8T turbocharged powerplants, and in fact the Jetta got an undercover screamer in a 24V version of the VR6 not offered in the Golf. Today, though, we’re taking a look at the equivalent of the 20th Anniversary Edition GTi in the Jetta lineup:
The Speed Yellow 2004 Porsche 911 GT3 we featured in June remains for sale. The price has not changed, but I still think that price remains fairly reasonable all things considered. The GT3 is one of the best of the 996 and unlike some of the other 996 models should stand to hold (or even increase) its value fairly well. Now seems like the time to snatch one of these up.
The below post originally appeared on our site June 28, 2016:
The main problem for the Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion Variant is the plethora of other very capable all-wheel drive wagons that ran alongside it. Scratch that. The main problem for the Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion Variant is that it’s just too damn complicated for its own good. On paper, an 8-cylinder, 270 horsepower all-wheel drive Passat just sounds damn cool. You could even get it with a 6-speed manual, if you could find one. If optioned correctly, the W8 had some pretty trick BBS-made “Madras” 2-piece wheels too, just like the ones we see here. But VAG designs from the early 2000s had a tendency for complicated engineering for complicated engineering’s sake, and it doesn’t get a whole lot more complicated than the timing chain routes on the back of VAG motors. That’s right, the back. Because, of course, if you put a timing chain in, you don’t need to ever service it, right? In the quest for greater performance and numbers, we stumbled through a looking glass of complexity that has rendered an entire generation of cars so massively over-engineered relative to their specific output that it simply makes no sense to even briefly contemplate their ownership:
Earlier this week I featured a 2004 Unimog U500 that was the ultimate motorsports support vehicle. Today another 2004 U500 is on the auction block that can perhaps be the ultimate utilitarian workhorse. The OM906LA diesel motor inside this truck makes 811 ft/lbs of torque that, like I said earlier, is enough torque to pull a house off its foundation. But this U500 located in Colorado offers much more than just a bunch of torque and 395(!) series tires.
We speak a lot about the performance value to be found with the 996. That designation applies most to the 996 Turbo, surely one of the best performance values on the market, but also to the standard 996 Carrera. The GT3 and GT2 have typically been considered exceptions, but when I look around at other available options within the 911 line I’m beginning to wonder whether the 996 GT3 shouldn’t also be held in such company (the GT2 is still very expensive). Granted the price of a GT3 will come in well above most other examples of the 996, including a X50 equipped 996TT, but as a total package, and for fans of natural aspiration, the GT3 brings a lot to the table. The example here showcases some of that nice value potential: a Speed Yellow 2004 Porsche 911 GT3, located in Georgia, with 25,820 miles on it.
