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Tag: 3.4

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Motorsports Monday: 2009 Porsche Cayman S Interseries

Porsche history has always been intrinsically linked with racing since before they were even a company. From Mercedes-Benz to Auto Union and later Cisitalia, Porsche offered world-beating designs prior to establishment of its own independent racing heritage. Since the 1950s, they’ve never looked back, and every successive generation has their own legends that were born. For my father, it was the 908 and 917, while I grew up with the turbocharged whistle of the 956 and 962 dominating race tracks. To capitalize on this nostalgia, coupled with more gentleman drivers heading to the track every weekend than there ever have been, Porsche’s lineup has increasingly focused on track-biased cars. But that hasn’t stopped some from going a few steps further, and Napelton Porsche launched an interesting idea just before the turn of the decade.

Why not create a race series of equal cars, slap historic liveries on them, and hit the track? The Interseries was just that, with door to door action pitting the iconic color combinations of Porsche history at the hands of mere mortals. From the Salzburg 917 that first took Porsche to the Le Mans title to the unmistakable Rothmans colors, each of these cars wore a bit of what made the marque a legend for so many people. Everyone has their favorite design, so this series offered Porschephiles a veritable cornucopia of visual pleasure. Today, one of these cars has come up for sale:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2009 Porsche Cayman S Interseries on eBay

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1991 Mercedes-Benz 300E 3.4 AMG

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Back in the 80s and early 90s, when AMG was an independent tuner not yet folded into the Mercedes-Benz family, those looking to soup up their Benzes could have their cars delivered to an AMG-authorized dealer for the installation of a range of body, suspension and engine upgrades. As a result, there are a number of “mix and match” cars from the period with bespoke configurations, making the authentication of pre-merger cars today quite difficult. The most famous car from this period is probably the “Hammer,” the AMG-tuned, V8-powered, wide-body kitted version of the W124 platform E-class (there’s a neat little video of Chris Harris driving one here). While the Hammer continues to be highly sought after, and priced accordingly, less well known is that AMG also produced a tamer version of the W124, the 300E AMG. This offered the brutish exterior styling of the Hammer while retaining the M104 six cylinder engine, bored out to 3.4 liters.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300E AMG on eBay

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Tuner Tuesday: 1987 Porsche 930 Coupe

Modified cars from the 1980s enjoy are and interesting exercise in dichotomy. Take AMG, for example – add the flares, wide wheels, hunkered down suspension and turned up engine to a W126 and the asking price increases from a standard model by a factor of ten. What is strange about the AMG model, though, is that enthusiasts of the Affalterbach company accept licensed installers as proper original builds. Such is not the case when it comes to tuners like Alpina, Hartge and Ruf; generally speaking, in those cases the only “true” original examples came from the manufacturer’s facilities in Germany. In these cases, examples that are properly sorted and original can be worth double, triple or even quadruple what an identically modified car from a licensed installer in the U.S. would be worth. On top of that, AMG continues to be a bit of an aberration in the tuner realm since most other period modified examples of Porsches, BMWs, and Audis are worth less than a pristine stock example. It’s a bit of a head scratcher, since generally speaking, companies such as Alpina and Ruf put out equally good looking products when compared to AMG, and properly modified were just as luxurious and just as fast. Nevertheless, a tastefully modified example like this period Ruf-modified 1987 Porsche 930 just doesn’t seem to draw the same attention as a AMG 560SEC Widebody 6.0 would, for example. Let’s take a look at what a reported $75,000 in mods got you in the late 1980s:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Porsche 930 on eBay

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Tuner Tuesday: 1989 Ruf BTR 3.4 Cabriolet – REVISIT

Back in October I took a look at a Ruf Cabriolet. Originally listed as a BTR3, the listing has been corrected to refer to the car as a BTR 3.4. Last time around one of our knowledgeable readers commented that there were injection differences between the two. There’s also been a pretty substantial price drop of $40,000 to a still nose bleed-worthy $200,000. Is it likely to find a home this time around?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Ruf BTR 3.4 Cabriolet on eBay

The below post originally appeared on our site October 13, 2015:

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Tuner Tuesday: 1989 Ruf BTR3 Cabriolet

I have to admit, I really don’t get fast convertibles. You could argue that the top down lets you hear the roar of the exhaust, I suppose. Or you could suggest that the faster the acceleration and higher the top speed, the more alive you feel as the wind rushes through your hair. It’s not that I don’t think certain fast convertibles aren’t attractive, mind you, or appealing in their own way. And some modern convertibles are downright amazing in their ability to channel the blowing atmosphere away from you. But in all honesty, once you’re above highway speeds, the expensive radio and million plus horsepower are lost upon me, obscured in a veil of churning oxygen, nitrogen, and other trace elements. Perhaps I’m in the minority and it could have to do with the not-always awesome New England weather, but I’d prefer a sunroof coupe in most applications – with some notable vintage exceptions like pre-War cars and Pagoda SLs. Of course, I suppose if you argued that you weren’t going to break the speed limit (okay, but not by much…) or head to the track, then the convertible arrangement offers you plenty of speed in for your driving pleasure and the thrill of the open-air experience. Want to know what it felt like to be the Red Baron, for example? This Ruf BTR3 Cabriolet could sure help:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Ruf BTR3 Cabriolet on Hemmings

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