Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
It’s been a little while since we did a wheels post, but I wanted to get back into the swing of things. Here are a few compelling sets I found this week – they all look like pretty good deals if you’re looking for some wheels either set your ride apart or return it to a factory appearance:
The Porsche 944 and BMW E30 are two of the most popular chassis to use in drivers events and club racing. Cheap, plentiful and effective, they’re usually turned up with race suspension, cages, and once you’ve run out of gusto, it’s not uncommon to see them get greater motivation. Generally for the 944, this means looking towards the turbocharged variant of the 2.5 liter inline-4 that was available from Porsche themselves; similarly, E30s receive a great swath of later Munich-based motors including the S50, S52 and even S54 if you’re really racey. But today there are two lesser-used mills powering this pair of perennial favorites. Which is the one for your sporting needs? Let’s start with the 944:
Another great alternative to the E30 market remains the stellar Porsche 944S2. With nearly identical performance numbers to the E30 M3, for the most part these hidden gems remain considerably more affordable. They look great, have great boxflared fenders, are generally considered extremely well built, make you feel very special and are even reasonably practical as a daily driver. They’re also fairly rare – production numbers are below what the E30 M3 numbers are, with around a reported 3,600 imported to the U.S.. Also like the E30 M3, many fell by the wayside or were turned into track cars – but despite the similar trajectory of their history, the S2 remains a solid performance bargain. Check out this Cobalt Blue example with color matched interior:
Dismayed by recent price increases in the E30 market? I’ll admit I am; I’ve had a dream since I was 12 of owning an E30 M3 – back when they were new – but recent prices mean that ship has sailed. But there are still plenty of options for affordable German motoring – even a race-bred, flared 4-cylinder kind. If you missed out on the trio of 944 Turbo racers I wrote up earlier this week, today I’ve got two affordable and good looking options for driver-quality 944 Turbos. As these are the early cars, they’re down on power out of the box compared to the later S, but these are easily tunable cars that accept a myriad of upgrades and still have a very active and enthusiastic community supporting them. Faster, better handling and braking, great looking and even more fuel economy than the E30 is what you can expect from the 944 Turbo. But the one thing you won’t see is ridiculous prices, for now:
Long before the E36 even debuted, the Porsche 944 was deeply entrenched in the track scene. From weekend warrior autocrosses to full out Le Mans endurance racing, the 944 touched all aspects of motorsports, and in many cases won. While the roots were in a economy sports car, the 944 Turbo took well to supercar slaying – massive flares hiding brakes borrowed from its brethren and boosted performance from the all-Porsche turbocharged 2.5 inline-4. With near perfect weight distribution, these Turbos were relatively easy to drive and accepted high levels of modifications well. Into the 1990s, the continued to be favorites at track events – and today, even nearly 30 years later, they’re still potent packages capable of winning club races. Today I have three different takes on the 944 Turbo; modified but still streetable track event car, stripped and turned up club racer, and a collectable bit of Porsche racing history with a Turbo Cup car in original configuration. Which is your flavor?