Tag: 2012

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2012 Volkswagen Golf R

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I suppose I’m not a very fair consumer, if I’m honest. For years, I decried Volkswagen for depriving Americans of the very best offerings it had. Golf Rallye and Country? Nope, and not the Limited either. Passat G60 Syncro? Nope, we didn’t get that either. There’s a string of great TDis that didn’t come here (and still don’t), along with one of the ones that really bugged me – the 4-door GTi. It just never made sense to me how you could argue the GTi was a super practical car when they made a more practical version that just wasn’t brought here. Of course, that ended with the Mk.V, so then my annoyance turned back to the Golf Limited. Sure, we had the R32 – by all rights, a great car, that was not available in 4-door version in the first generation and then not available in either a 4-door or manual in the second generation. To me, in an effort to be gimmicky Volkswagen had really lost the bit. Apparently I wasn’t alone in that thought, because Volkswagen finally made my GTi wishes come true in 2012 with the U.S. introduction of the spiritual successor to the Golf Limited – the Mk. 6 Golf R. Gone was the VR6, replaced by the more potent and tunable 2.0T which could now be specified with a manual and all-wheel drive, and importantly in 4-door guise. Did I buy one? Nope, because this German wonder priced in at a shocking $36,000 with options. For a Golf, mind you.

Today, though, the first generation of Golf Rs has become in some cases cheaper than the car it replaced, the Mk.5 R32 , which as I just explained only came in two-door DSG. This Golf R, though, has four doors and 1.5 manual gears per a door:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Volkswagen Golf R on eBay

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2012 Mercedes-Benz S550

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As I get older, the less and less I want to deal with cars that aren’t comfortable. I adore my 1983 240D with nearly 300,000 miles on it, but when its 22 degrees out and I’m de-icing locks, barely getting any heat out of the vents, and woefully accelerating, I’m not all that happy. Every time I’m in this situation, I yearn for a car I get in, turn on, and drive away in total comfort. Not necessarily a soulless appliance, but a car that satisfies my inner needs for a machine that is “special.” What car could do that job exceptionally well? The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, of course. But not just any S-Class. An S-Class with a designo interior just to be extra “special.”

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Mercedes-Benz S550 on eBay

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2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

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After that last Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, I thought I’d get back on the right track with another SLS that is much more special. This 2012 up for sale in Germany starts out tame enough in Obsidian Black Metallic, but when you open those doors you get hit with a color combo that I’ve never seen before and didn’t even think was possible. It is worth the click.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG at Collector’s Lounge

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2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

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Don’t sleep on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Not saying you are, but they don’t seem to get a lot of love compared to all the other wild and crazy cars out there. Maybe it was just a strange time to launch an exotic super car, or maybe it looks too much like an SL, but I think this car is very much something that will go down in history as a car to have. I’ve pleaded the case many times before for the SLS, so I figured I’d do a yearly reminder that these are probably at the bottom of the price curve right now as they are nearing 10 years-old. It has Gullwing doors for goodness sake!

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG on eBay

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2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S Edition 918 Spyder

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One of the crazier things I’ve ever seen in the car industry is the Porsche 911 Turbo S 918 Spyder Edition. If you don’t know the back story, lets settle in for a very quick story.

When Porsche was selecting their very best clients to purchase the upcoming 918 Spyder for $845,000, they decided to offer a 911 Turbo S called the “Edition 918 Spyder” to those same buyers. It was a 997.2 Turbo S finished in either black or silver with acid green accents to match those of the 918. Each one was “numbers-matching” to their 918 and rumor has it every 918 owner took up Porsche’s offer on these, although that is disputed in some circles. The price? $160,700 for the coupe or $172,100 for the convertible. Nothing like a good old fashion upsell to the tune of six-figures. Over the years, these cars have parted ways with the matching 918 given they made 918 of them in total. Naturally, these pop up for sale every once in a while and oh boy, they are not cheap.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo S 918 Spyder Edition on eBay

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2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S

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You know why we are here. If there is a Porsche in a rare or interesting color, I’m taking a peek. Even better if color on the inside is just as cool as the outside. You can probably see where I’m going with today’s car, a 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S up for sale in Ohio. This example is finished in Radium Green, a color first debuted way back on the 356. As cool as this color is, not exactly something that would appear on the option sheet for a new car. Understanding that, I figured this has to be a paint-to-sample car given it is a historical color. Surprisingly, this is the much more expensive option than having Porsche spray the car for $7,500.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S on eBay

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2012 Porsche 911 Turbo

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Last week Porsche announced the new 992 Turbo S and of course, the stats were bonkers. All you really need to know is that it does 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds and will top out a little north of 200 mph. Much to no one’s surprise, it will be an 8-speed PDK gearbox with almost zero chance of a 6 or 7-speed manual gearbox given that the entire 991 Turbo generation did not offer a true manual gearbox. I totally get why, and you can’t blame Porsche for not offering it. First, the majority of 911 Turbo buyers don’t want a three pedal car, and if they did, as soon as they smashed the throttle in first gear, they’d be banging it off the redline. As much as we like to think we are all amazing drivers, your dentist Gary is not. That means if you do want a 911 Turbo with a 6-speed manual gearbox, you have to venture all the way back to the 997 generation.

This 2012 911 Turbo up for sale in New York is just 1 of 163 examples produced for the North American market with the 6-speed compared to the significantly more PDK cars. That means finding one is very a tough task to say the least. Finding one in Carrera White with a Carrera Red interior and just 6,000 miles? Bring your checkbook.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo at Ryan Friedman Motorcars

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2012 Porsche 911

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For a much love as I give all the Porsche GT and Turbo cars, very rarely do I look at the standard 911 Carrera. Rightfully so as those headline-capturing GT and Turbo cars can basically go toe-to-toe with any car in the world and hold their own, but that certainly doesn’t make the base 911 any less good. This is especially true on the 991 chassis. The lowly base 911 is hardly that. It came in at a respectable 350 horsepower and a choice between the 7-speed PDK gearbox or a 7-speed traditional manual transaxle that was a world-first at the time. A 0-60 run needed just 4.4 seconds and this all could be done in a package tame enough to drive 365 days a year with no fuss. The price wasn’t cheap however as the base 991 started at $83,000. I wish I could put “started” in size 84 font as stuff you think would be standard can easily tack on another $10,000 without even realizing it. Got to have those 14-way sport seats, after all.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 Porsche 911 on eBay

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2012 BMW M3 CRT Sedan

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Continuing on the theme of lightweight, Europe-only specials of a fan-favorite chassis, here’s one I’m willing to bet a fair amount of you aren’t aware of. BMW launched several special variants of the E9x chassis, and we saw some of them – the Lime Rock Park Edition being the most notable – but in total BMW produced a hard-to-fathom 28 special variations of the E9x Ms. As a result, you’re forgiven if you didn’t remember all of them!

CRT stands for “Carbon Racing Technology”, but perhaps ironically it was BMW’s carbon-intensive road cars that led to the model. Spare cuttings from the carbon passenger cells of the i3 and i8 models were recycled and molded into body pieces for this special M3 sedan, while motivation came from the M3 GTS’s upgraded S65B44 V8. Stroked to 4.4 liters and with a lightweight titanium exhaust, the enlarged V8 was rated at over 440 horsepower (20+ over a standard S65B40), while torque was up 30 to 325 lb.ft at a lower 3,750 rpms. BMW produced a total of 68 cars, of which 67 were sold to the public, all in identical Frozen Silver Metallic with Sahkir Orange accented interiors:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 BMW M3 CRT Sedan at Speedart Motorsports

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2012 BMW 135i M-Sport

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Update 1/17/19: This 135i is listed as sold at $18,000.

A few months ago I took a look at one of the best affordable driving packages from BMW in recent times – the E82 135i. The model I looked at was rare for a few reasons; clean, original 135is with a 6-speed manual are fairly hard to find, and on top of that the particular example was outfit in Alpine White and with the M-Sport package, plus it had the even more infrequently seen beige Boston leather interior. It was also fairly loaded and had lower mileage – all in all, a hard package to replicate.

2013 BMW 135i M-Sport

Well, I’ve come pretty close today. In some ways, this car may actually be a bit more desirable. Let me explain why:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2012 BMW 135i M-Sport on eBay

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