Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
It’s a rainy day here in New England, so I spent some time finding my favorite wheels on Ebay. Most of these are period option or aftermarket wheels, but all of them are pretty cool. I especially love the BMW Ronal wheels, the ATS AMG wheels in nearly new shape and the amazing BBS magnesium Bugatti EB110 wheels. Which are your favorite?
Update: thanks to reader KevinR for correctly spotting the Mercedes-Benz wheels were Centra Type 31s. Thanks!
Whether your intention is to try to return your car towards a stock form, find some period correct aftermarket wheels or even some optional OEM wheels, there are always some great options out there to check out. Today is no exception; from the rare to see Ronal R9 for classic BMWs to the wicked OZ 3-piece wheels for AMGs, here are a few of the rare wheel sets I found for sale this week. Which are your favorite?
The “Batmobile” is a legendary car that helped to both define BMW’s place in global motorsports and to solidy its presence in the sports sedan realm. Sure, they had competed successfully for years in touring car and sports car races, not to mention substantial involvement in motorcycle racing. But the bread and butter of BMW’s 1980s reputation was built on their sporting nature, and that legacy was born in the 1970s touring cars. The CSL was a message to the world, much like the Porsche 911RS was – BMW was a major player, and here to stay. They’ve since built upon that racing legend, but enthusiasts look back upon these models as the ones that spawned the dreams of countless children – the lucky ones of which would go on to buy new BMWs in the 1980s. It’s not often that you see a well presented CSL with racing pedigree come up for sale, but there’s a stunning example available today:
While we all want to have a classic, sporty German car in our lives, the reality of daily driver duty often falls onto less exotic cars. Several years ago I purchased a 1999 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T GLS to do just that; it replaced a 97 Golf as my daily driver, and I enjoyed over 100,000 miles behind the wheel. Unlike the reputation these cars have gained, I found my Passat to be very reliable – it never once left me stranded or failed to start, it could get 36 mpg if I didn’t get too deep into the throttle, and it was comfortable, quick and fun to drive. After a year of company car duty, the time had come for me to purchase another daily driver, and my immediate thought was that I wanted another Passat.
The search began, and it wasn’t very easy. There are two classes of Passats; devoted owners that keep their cars in great condition, and wrecks that will bankrupt you trying just to pass emissions. But in general the wagon versions were better kept than the sedans; likely a testament to their high sticker prices. It’s hard to fathom, but in 2002 my current car’s sticker price was over $26,000 – more than a brand new Passat will set you back today. As such, the Variants seem to be better kept than the sedans in general, and that was certainly the case when I finally found the car to buy. Priced higher in the market, it was a one-owner 100,000 mile Ink Blue model with grey leather. A GLS spec, it came with many nicer features and alloys, but wasn’t the wood-lined V6 luxury model. The single owner had been meticulous and had every record from new. It was the first time I had ever bought a car like this, and it was clearly worth the premium.
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To me, it’s pretty amazing that the Quattro hasn’t really received the attention of the E30 M3. The Quattro beat the M3 to the market by 6 years with its squared, chunky boxflare stance. It was all-wheel drive, turbocharged and cutting edge. It revolutionized the World Rally Championship and firmly cemented Audi in the halls of motorsports and enthusiasts minds. The offbeat 5-cylinder hanging in front of the wheels seemed an odd choice, but Audi has returned with an updated version of that power plant in some of its newer models, and the sound and performance is no less memorable than it was in the original. Indeed, in terms of what a single car did for a brand, the Quattro was much more influential for Audi than the E30 M3 was for BMW in my mind. Yet today, if you want to get a great condition E30 M3 with under 100,000 miles you’re looking at over $50,000 to play; if you want to get into the original Quattro, nice examples can be had for half that amount: