Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Ah, European specification. As Andrew recently mentioned in his bare-bones SL280, it’s not everyday that we see a European-specification model that arrives on these shores, but it is unusual when it’s a base model. Case in point; today’s Golf CL. Outside of a sunroof, it’s about as basic a Golf as you could get. Yet it’s this basic nature, coupled with its ultra-low mileage, great condition, and nice color combination that makes it appealing today:
We’ve covered just about every generation of 3-series wagon here, barring new ones. The E30 is most popular to import these days, and the E46 introduced the US market to the idea that BMW made smaller, fun wagons too; but in between, the rest of the world got to enjoy the neat looks of the E36 Touring.
So here we are; it’s 2020, and that means cars that were produced up through November 1995 are a lot easier to procure and import. And that’s exactly what someone did with this Calypso Red Metallic 320i Touring, produced for the UK market in April 1995. Now that it’s here, is it the one to get?
For some reason, I feel like I need a distraction today. Let’s look at some fun cars!
Following on the heels of the Carrera 2.7 MFI, Porsche introduced two hot 911s in 1975. Of course, the big arrival was the 930 Turbo Carrera. But Porsche took components from the 2.7 MFI and the Turbo Carrera, backed out the turbocharger, and produced the car you see here – the 200 horsepower Carrera 3.0, a healthy bump over US-spec cars. They are quite rare, having been built only between 1975 and 1977, and a total of just 3,687 are claimed to have been built. There were numerous changes between the 1976 and 1977 model years, with the ’76 being the more rare of the two. Of course, these were European-specification cars, and as a result were not imported to the US. So it was a bit of a treat to stumble across one of the roughly 1,100 ’76 Coupes (maybe…see below) for sale in Arizona:
For some time, there was a giant gulf in between European-spec cars and U.S. spec cars. Granted, part of that divide still exists today if the large assortment of cars that do not make it to these shores, but at least enthusiasts can rejoice that at last – for the most part – performance versions that are available in Germany are very close to the same that we receive here. One of the last notable cars to exhibit the large divide was the E36 M3; while Europeans enjoyed over 280 horsepower from the individual throttle body S50B30 in 1992, the later released U.S. spec M3 carried an entirely different motor with some 40 horsepower less. Though the S50B30US is certainly a great motor by itself, the knowledge that the “better†version existed across the pond somehow took a bit of legitimacy away from it for a lot of fans of the marque. Also differentiating the European versions were better floating rotor brakes, better glass headlights, better lower and stiffer suspension; you get the point. We could bang on all day about how the US-spec model was pretty much as quick as the Euro cars, is a lot cheaper to run, and is…well, you know, already here. But when a Euro car pops up for sale, I still take time to take notice, and it’s hard not to notice this Dakar Yellow ’93:
While the step up to the Mk.3 added a fair amount of size – and accompanying weight – to the Volkswagen Golf, the GTI emerged with the much more potent VR6 engine borrowed from the Passat and Corrado. While admittedly the power and the exhaust note was very appealing, and in hindsight the third generation Golf looks positively tiny compared to cars today, I have always lamented the loss of the what I consider the best GTI – the 1990-1992 16V model.
But, what if that model had continued? Well, it did – just not in the U.S.. What we have here is a 1994 GTI 16V from Europe. Replete with Recaro interior, blacked-out rub strips and fender flares, beefy wheels, and dual-chamber headlights with foglights. But the best part is under the hood, where the 9A lived on as the ABF. With Digifant engine management power was up to 148 at 6,000 RPMs, while torque remained at 133 lb.ft but again higher in the range. One of these gems has turned up for sale on Ebay:
