Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
We’ve certainly seen our fair share of fake Alpinas come across these pages, but this one makes no claim to be authentic. Instead, it’s inspired by Alpina but takes its own route and character. I originally looked at this car back in 2014 and it’s been on and off the market since. Now showing “8,800” kilometers, the side Alpina decals gone and with a $10,000 increase in asking price since the last time we saw it, will the market appreciate this custom-built E28 this time around?
“This is not the greatest E28 in the world, no –
This is just a tribute.”
Yet again, the “Manofied Racing” Alpina tribute – a well thought-out and thorough interpretation – is back on eBay. It popped up twice a couple of years ago, a few months apart, but obviously had no bites at $32,500. Two years on it has received a respray but lost its Alpina stripes on everything but the front and rear flight decks. Despite the impressive boom in the ’80s BMW market, this one apparently didn’t get to set whatever price the seller deemed more than generous. It’s down to $25k now, but I’m guessing a low-$20ks offer might get a serious discussion started.
-NR
We’ve had the pleasure of looking at some pretty cool European and Japanese market Alpinas lately, and another two popped up that were worth considering. One is a B9 3.5; we’ve seen a few of these from the same seller, and this one looks as exceptional as the seller’s previous offerings. Interestingly, where the seller previously had listed the cars on reserve, this time they give us an entry price. The second example is a bit more of a mystery; an Alpina liveried E12, it looks more like an assemblage of parts than an actual original Alpina car. Let’s start there:
A few weeks back I looked at a Japanese market 1987 M535i automatic. It was a really neat car in many ways; all original, lower miles, great condition and a good color combination – plus, it was a rare to see model. Well, today the same import company is back and upped the ante with matching 1982 and 1983 Alpina B9 3.5s. These are much more desirable than the M535i; both are manuals and these were about as close as you could get to a M5 without actually buying a M5. They’re ultra-limited production models – only around 570 B9 and later B10 models were produced. They were very close to U.S. spec M5 power numbers, with nearly 250 horsepower on tap from the Alpina-modified 3.5 engine. Coupled with upgraded suspension, brakes and bespoke interiors and exterior spoilers – and those all-important Alpina contrasting stripes – they made one heck of a package:
About a month ago, I wrote up a 2002 M20 Turbo built by a company called Manofied. Well, the Manofied folks have been at it again, this time with a 535i. They’ve fully built the car in the style of the Alpina B9, replete with plenty of Alpina parts, some Euro bits, and what appears to be a fantastic individual throttle body engine. The downside? As with the 2002, the price for this build is quite high for a non-original car. But before you jump to conclusions, take a look:
