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Tag: Henna Red

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1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D

1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D

Published October 10, 2021 by Andrew

I recently said goodbye to one of the cars in my fleet, a 1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D, that I maintained and cared for since 2016. It was a charming and very satisfyingly car that I’m glad I got to experience, but a prime example it was not. While it was finished in the lovely shade of Labrador Blue with a navy MB-Tex interior, it did have nearly 300,000 miles on the odometer. That meant various dings on every panel, rust scabs in all the wrong places, some suspiciously different-colored body panels, and a non-working air conditioning system. If all that was working, it would be a car to keep nearly forever and enjoy, but it just required too much effort considering the list. If I could buy a perfect example, sure, but at what cost? It still only had 68 horsepower when new and was right on the limit of being dangerously slow while trying to merge on the highways and climb long hills. Well, today we do have a nearly perfect example. But it comes at a very steep cost, as you might have guessed.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Mercedes-Benz 240D at Mercedes Motoring

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Double Take: 1982 BMW 320i

Double Take: 1982 BMW 320i

Published September 1, 2018 by Carter

Perhaps 2019 will be the year of the E21? Along with the early 7-series E23, these relatively unloved BMWs remain solid values in the classic car world. Why? Well, it’s pretty simple. The E21 didn’t have the spunk of its E10 predecessor, nor the looks, power or handling of its E30 replacement. Even without those bookmarks, if you’re looking at late 70s to early 80s BMWs, the star power still is firmly planted in the E24 while the E12 and early E28s are more classic and practical. That leaves the E21 in a strange limbo of value, making it hard to justify restoration or keep miles off a clean chassis.

So herein lies this comparison; both Henna Red 1982 BMW 320is, I found a pretty clean light restoration candidate and a reasonably clean high mileage “S” package. Traditionally, the Sport package has always been the star in this Washington Generals lineup, so will that hold true today?

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Going up? Double Take: 1990 and 1988 BMW M3s

Going up? Double Take: 1990 and 1988 BMW M3s

Published March 30, 2016 by Carter

That the E30 M3 has been on a stratospheric price rise is old news. So are the stories of “I could have bought one for $400 20 years ago”. You know what? I could have bought a really nice piece of land near the coast in Rhode Island for 10% its current value 30 years ago, but I didn’t. Old, too, are the stories of what floor some ex-M3 owners got off at; for unlucky examples, it was $10,000 a decade ago, but smarter sellers have cashed in on E30 mania in the past year. Thanks to some big number sales late in 2015, the E30 M3 market is stronger than ever which raises the question of how high it will go. At what point will people say “You know what? This is a 4-cylinder near-luxury economy car that I’m paying $100,000 plus for”? It would seem that every time someone raises the flag of THE END IS NEAR another shockingly priced example clears what appeared previously to be an insurmountable hurdle and Mr. Toad’s wild ride continues. While there’s been a slight cooling in the acceleration curve, it’s still pointed directly towards the Moon today. Hagerty’s Condition 1 price valuation for a 1990 M3 is now $115,000, and the average value of those insured is $55,800. But the market has realized that many of the examples coming to market weren’t condition 1, or frankly even condition 2. Lesser than top-tier example’s value has gone almost completely flat, and now it’s the really exceptional models that are rising to the top rather than the entire crop. So let’s take a look at two of the best out there today and muse over whether this trend will continue to new heights:

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Tuner Tuesday: 1982 BMW 320/6 Baur TC1

Tuner Tuesday: 1982 BMW 320/6 Baur TC1

Published March 8, 2016 by Carter

Calling Baur a tuner isn’t really very fair, but since we don’t have a separate category for semi-aftermarket carriage works, it will fit in. Baur worked in conjunction with a few manufacturers – most notably BMW, though a few Audi fans will remember that they were responsible for construction of the Sport Quattros too and they assisted in the assembly of the Porsche 959 as well. Much like Porsche originally started as, they were linked to the factory efforts due to their high level of unique production capability. That manifested itself in limited run models that required special construction – such as the Sport Quattro and 959 – but what most enthusiasts will remember are the multiple 3-series Cabriolet models produced through Baur. These were offered through dealers as an expensive option and to this day remain a very unique expression of Munich motoring:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1982 BMW 320/6 Baur TC1 on eBay

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1983 BMW 635CSi Euro-spec

Published February 19, 2015 by Carter

Perspective is an interesting thing. This came to mind when considering this E24 for several reasons. First off is how some people like certain perspectives of cars more than others. For me, the best angle of the E24 is the 3/4 rear shot, which accentuates the flowing roofline, the subtle drop in the trunk, and tucks the long hood in just slightly while not masking it. It makes the car look both elegant and aggressive. However, to this car’s seller, the best perspective is clearly the front as there are no less than seven pictures of the front of the car but effectively none of the side or rear that are at all meaningful. Now, perhaps that wouldn’t matter much to a perspective buyer of this European specification 1983 635CSi if the price were quite aggressively low. Instead, though, it is quite aggressively high, which brings me to my second point about perspective. That is, how much a car is worth is really a perspective of both the seller and the buyer. It would seem that amongst more rare models, the initial attempt at pricing generally seems like a Hail Mary – a hope that someone, somewhere will say “That’s the car that I want, regardless of price” and ante up. Obviously, what a car is worth to the seller in terms of either sweat equity or sentimental value does not necessarily equate to market value for a buyer except in rare occasions. So, let’s consider today’s 635CSi:

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