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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:
E39 M5s have quickly ascended to Holy Motor status among enthusiasts, especially those longing for a little less complication and bloat – two major weaknesses on recent BMWs. Their continually increasing desirability is lifting prices, and while bargain examples can be found, they are usually a bit rougher than one would want when buying such a nice car – especially one that is not immune to complication and prone to steep repair costs. Today’s M5 looks like it should be parked behind a wine and cheese table, providing a perfect backdrop with a burgundy exterior and caramel interior. In this guise, the car reminds me of a well-heeled guy in khakis and an oxford, but with a few buttons open in the Napa breeze. This car will party all you want, but can button it up and close the business deal whenever you need. With just 29k miles, there should be a lot less stress about the maintenance, but you’ll have to pony up some serious capital initially to snatch it from the rest of the drooling Bimmer enthusiasts.
When it comes to the best of the bunch of very memorable M cars, unfortunately the M Coupe doesn’t seem to rank in the top 5. Granted, with the S54 motor fitted to later examples it should, but enthusiasts rightly lump the first series of M cars as likely the best, and for number 5 you’ve got so many great choices; the stellar and understated E34 M5, the brutal but effective E39 M5, the rev-happy E46 M3. Then there are more recent wonders, such as the 1M and V8 M cars, both in turbo and non-turbocharged forms. But in the middle of these cars lay the cool and unique M Coupe. It wasn’t the fastest, most practical or best looking M car made – but it’s a combination of many factors that make it so desirable as a package – plus, it’s still affordable and a reasonable daily driver. Is there a better package for the money right now?
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?
The E36 BMW M3 Cabriolet has always been a bit of a riddle for me. Who would want to buy a serious sports coupe and compromise all of the engineering work by chopping the roof off? An even greater travesty in my mind is saddling said drop top with an automatic gearbox. But then, if you are going to take the performance equation half-heartedly, perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing? This Estoril Blue M3 Cabriolet for sale in New Hampshire, however, is one of the rare ones with the 5-speed manual gearbox.
