Back in April, I wrote up a quite low mileage 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo. While we write up quite a few cars on a weekly…
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If you were to believe the history of Motorsports as told by some E30 enthusiasts, nothing would have existed before the M3 and nothing can compare since. Sure, the M3 was an impressive car and had a long and illustrious career, and in terms of a single type of racing it won more than any other single model has. But was it more dominant than the Porsche 956/962, for example? 8 overall wins at Le Mans is certainly quite impressive in a life that spanned over a decade. Or how about the all-conquering Lancia Delta, which won the WRC Championship for 6 years straight? Or Ferrari’s successive and evolutionary F2002, F2003GA, and F2004 – one of the most dominant streaks in Formula 1 history – the F2004 won 15 out of 18 races and nearly all of the track records it set that year still stand over a decade later. While I’d agree that it doesn’t diminish from the achievement of the E30, I’d argue that it’s not the most impressive achievement in Motorsports history. Still, that winning heritage paid dividends for BMW in the sales and reputation department, and the E30 M3 has become a rocketship still heading towards its apogee. $90,000 for an E30 used to sound laughable, but suddenly it’s the market reality for the limited and low mileage examples. Even track-dog M3s are experiencing a resurgence in value; which raises the question – would you rather have the legend of the M3 or something of racing pedigree from the same generation but with a much higher performance envelope?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M3 on eBay
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The last few transaxles I’ve looked at have been a bit eclectic; the 944S was a well priced, good looking driver candidate, but the Turbo S and 924S were both high dollar, ultra-low mileage examples. Is there still a mid-ground? Absolutely, because if you’re willing to look just north of the asking price of many of the normally aspirated models from the 1980s, you can look at the lovely and high performance version of the breed, the 944 Turbo. Introduced in 1986 and upgraded virtually every year, each Turbo model has impressive driving dynamics, are capable of triple digit cruising and are capable and reasonable reliable exotics. Today’s example is presented in more rare to find Nougat Brown with brown Porsche Script interior:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo on eBay
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Well, from zero to two in a week, here’s the second non-S, non race car 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo I’ve written up. Like the last one, this one appears quite pristine and mostly stock. It’s in a pleasing color combination, and even has low miles. Really, really low miles. At a shown 9,223 miles covered, it’s also one of the lowest mileage 944 Turbo I’ve seen since new – but amazingly, not as low as the 5,000 Mile 1987 Paul wrote about in February. That car sold for $30,000; is this car the match for that example, and will it make it to that price?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo on eBay
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It may sound strange, but this is – I believe – the first non-S, non-Cup 1988 944 Turbo we’ve written up on this blog. While that may not sound outrageous, the 944 Turbo is a staple of these pages and considering the thousands of cars we’ve written up – virtually with every production year covered – it’s a bit strange to me. But as with 1987, 1988 was a year of change for the 944 Turbo; while the standard model carried over the ABS and airbag changes from the previous model, there were no major changes (the DME chip was changed from 24 to 28 pin; that’s about it). However, the big change was the half year introduction of the “S” model; standard M030 suspension and upgraded power were the highlights. While the power increase wasn’t huge at only 30, the limited run status, additional power, cool Silver Rose colors and upgraded suspension mean that it’s the model that we often concentrate on. Of course, that means we overlook the standard Turbo, and that’s a shame – because like the ’86 and ’87 cars, they were still great performance values and offered significant forced induction street credentials. It was, after all, a Porsche Turbo you were cruising in; select Guards Red from the color pallet and you’d have completed the Yuppie dream coupe recipe: