Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
It’s been a great week for rare-toned E46 M3s, and the Estoril Blue special order model that I wrote up last October is back up for sale. With the addition of only 330 miles since we last saw it and now for $1,000 less, the only drawback I see here is the SMG transmission and that the seller still doesn’t know the proper name for the color. For $16,500 this car certainly looks like a great deal for the right buyer!
I’ve recently been undergoing a bit of an exetential crisis about the status of my track car for the last 16 years – my Audi Coupe GT. True, it’s an impressive car on track – especially considering it shouldn’t be an impressive car on track. But the reality is that it’s now a 28 year old car that I’ve had to extensively modify to make it reasonable as a track car. When I was at the track, I jumped into a friend’s S2000; with only minor modifications, out of the box the way the car went through turns was so pleasing and fun, it made me wonder why I’m continuing to do things the hard way. Now, honestly as fun as the S2000 was, it’s not really my cup of tea and I don’t think I’d buy one. But, I could definitely be convinced that a BMW 3 series – a perennial track favorite – and today’s example is a pretty compelling package:
The 1985 Volkswagen Scirocco from last fall with a 2.0 16 valve conversion and some nice touches like BBS wheels, Euro bumpers and Euro headlights is back up on Ebay with a 10% price drop to just below $5,000. I think its great looking in the rare to see shade of Titian Red Metallic on these Sciroccos and the upgrades are just what I’d want – for the money, it seems like a pretty hard to beat value performance package.
I know this probably comes as a surprise, but in general I try to stay away from posting E30s. There are several reasons for this; first, it seems like we have an E30 posted on this site nearly every day. In part that makes sense as it’s one of the best small sports sedans ever produced and there are many different versions, but we like variety here at GCFSB and I like to find the lesser appreciated examples of German motoring. Then there’s the second reason I stay away – the market on these cars is just nuts, especially when you’re talking about the M3. You could list all of the merits of the E30 M3, and there are many to choose from, but at least in my mind the bubble that these cars are experiencing just isn’t justified. Sure, they’re solidly worth $30,000 to maybe $40,000 for the best, show ready examples in my mind – but at double that amount, I find it hard to explain. After all, you can get so many equally (if not more) rare, equally (if not better) performing, and equally attractive cars both from within BMW and from other manufacturers too for less money. When cars like this go through bubbles, to me they just become unappealing. I remember going to the track when these cars were throw-aways; it’s not that I wished I had bought one when they were more affordable, it’s more that I wish the folks with money hadn’t soured the experience for me. Such is the market today that even non-original, less than pristine examples are commanding a serious premium over other desirable cars. The perfect illustration of this is today’s DTM-liveried 1988 M3:
Earlier in my Ruf-modified 930 post I asked if you needed an original version of the car. Well, I’m at it again, this time with a car modified to recreate an awesome version of the 993 Turbo – the homologated GT2 Turbo. With more power and lightened to only two-wheel drive with some of the best wheels ever fitted to a Porsche (in my opinion, anyway) the GT2 was an instant classic – so much so that Porsche has subsequently recreated it in 996 and 997 versions. But while the last few versions of the GT2 have been nutty ultimate-street versions of the Turbo, the original GT2 was really a race car toned down for the street; in that mold, today’s 1997 911 Turbo has been converted to capture some of that dual-purpose magic. The question is, does it achieve the magic of the original GT2?