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Rightly so, I’ve been accused of comparing everything to BMWs – so for today’s 10K Friday, I thought why not compare BMWs to BMWs? Part of the reason I compare various cars I write up to the alternative BMW products is because for some time they have been considered the benchmark, and their popularity from new to the used classic market means that they set the pricing trends against which others can be judged. That’s especially true of the 3 series; for some time, the go-to performance product from Germany, increasingly many earlier generations of the 3 are being viewed as not only collectable, but indeed as investments. So, what does your $10,000 budget buy these days? I’ve rounded up five examples from the first five generations, covering nearly every configuration the small executive platform has been available in. Which is the winner?
I have a bit of a funny relationship with the C6 style Audi A6. On the one hand it is a good looking car that bestowed upon us the option of having a motor with Lambo DNA in a luxury sedan. On the other, it added heft to the most beautiful Audi design of all time, and it didn’t come to our shores in S6 Avant form. For a number of years I have simply found the latter unforgivable, especially since Audi did offer us the C5 S6 Avant. However, Audi crushing my dreams is nothing new, they’ve been doing so with reckless abandon for a number of years now, and frankly their more recent choices have turned me off to the idea of ever getting a new one so long as I’m living in these United States. No manual S4, no manual R8, no hatchback A3/S3?! I understand why these decisions make good business sense, but they’re a blatant FU to the core Audi audience that helped the brand achieve the success that they’re currently enjoying. While I find some of the new cars pretty, and their performance impressive, I can’t help but think that they’ve lost some of the inherent traits that made them special in the past. An RS7 will blow the doors off pretty much anything, and look damn good while doing it, but you’ll need to shell out $120k to have the opportunity to do so. The lower level Audis have just become uninspired, bland, devoid of emotion. That’s why instead of getting a new S4 like every other 30 something that just got a promotion, you should consider picking up an S6 with a 10 cylinders under the hood that only live to please.
The S4 Avant has always seemed like the best of all worlds to me. While our household quiver of automobiles all serve fairly unique purposes – a truck for hauling and beating on, a van for camping and road trips, and the M5 for raucous fun. The longroof S4 can accomplish most of those things pretty well without taking up three parking spots. I’ve been in one that was beat up and used a construction company car, while a roofbox could make the rear sleepable and lord knows the 4.2L V8 can dispense some justice. This B7 model looks great in black and has just over 50k miles, meaning you’ll hopefully have some worry-free miles before you start wondering if you’re on the precipice of a maintenance nightmare.
Yesterday, our editor Paul sent me a quick message with a link enclosed – “Enjoy a late birthday present!” he said. The link was to the movie Le Mans, the 1971 classic staring Steve McQueen piloting the equally iconic Gulf-liveried John Wyer run Porsche 917Ks. But while that combination would be emblazoned in history as the defacto color for the Porsche 917, to me the more memorable combination was the car that actually won the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours. That was the magnesium-framed number 22; a pale white car that debuted an equally iconic combination for me as it was sponsored by Martini Racing. Later in the 1970s, the livery would become more famous as the multiple winners with both 935 and 936 chassis, but few remember that the connection went back into the era of the light-blue Gulf cars. The Martini livery is still popular today, carried on by a proud tradition into Formula 1 as well as being recreated by amateur enthusiasts in the Porsche Interseries, a Cayman-only race program that notably offered drivers to run famous Porsche colors. Very few can afford the opportunity to even see 917s in action – never mind own one. But a Cayman S racer? While not cheap, they’re considerably more affordable than you’d expect:
Something interesting is occurring in the BMW world. As the E36/8 M Coupe skyrockets in value and collectability – especially the very limited S54 versions – for some reason, it’s successor isn’t. Now, both generations of M Coupes and Roadsters are love it or hate it designs, but the early cars – even though stylistically they have some typical 90s weak spots. Those fender vents, for example, have become a cliche stick-on applique to all the best ‘hood Accords and Maximas. To me, the replacement for the Z3 was edgier but more handsome. It still looks modern and honestly I think it could reasonably still fit into the design language of the current BMWs. The M Coupe managed to escape the period which many enthusiasts characterized as the worst styling period for BMW as the Belle of the Ball. And the layout and drivetrain wasn’t updated, instead running the end of the run naturally aspirated screamer S54 through a manual gearbox and driving only the rear wheels. Only some 1,800 of them were imported to the U.S., too – guaranteeing their exclusivity, they seemed to be a natural collector status BMW right out of the box. But for many more, the E86 M Coupe was more classic GT sports car than the bread delivery van styling of E36/8. Throw in a similarly love it or hate it rare color like Laguna Seca Blue, and you’ve got either a travesty against automobiledom or a car with serious collector potential:
