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If you were a gentleman racer over the best part of the past decade and a half, there was only one natural choice for your steed; the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car was, and still is, the most popular choice for factory supported full race cars to buy brand new. But we can thank the success of the Cup formula for an entirely new lineup of racers, from the Lamborghini Super Trofeo to the track-oriented Laguna Seca Mustangs. In the FIA mandated GT3 field, the advent of the Pro/Am designations have similarly diversified the field from the standard Porsches to new entrants, from the seemingly outrageous Bentley Continental GT3 to the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. But while those names may seem like newcomers on the international circuits, the reality is that both the heritage of Bentley and Aston Martin lay exactly with those gentleman racers. No, the real newcomer to the block is the Audi R8; a name steeped in Le Mans history but a chassis built for the street, the GT3 effort resulted in the popular and sonorous R8 LMS Ultra, as Audi shifted its focus from showcasing quattro all-wheel drive in racing to the lightweight technology incorporated into the new mid-engined racer:
If you want a recession-proof 1980s investment automobile, you want an E30 M3 or any original 911, right? Well, while that might be a smart idea, there’s consistently been one car that’s been worth even more than those market stars; make that the 3-pointed star. When I was a young man in 1987, Road & Track ran a top speed competition between some poster pinups. At that time, I was a super fan of the Porsche 959 in particular, and I was pretty confident before opening the magazine that the technological wonder from Stuttgart would thoroughly outperform the competition, which included a Lamborghini Countach, a Ferrari Testarossa and twin-turbo GTO, a few modified 911s and…a Mercedes-Benz sedan? Yes, it was that test in that magazine that cemented two names into my brain; one was the stunning and surprise winner of the competition, the illustrious “Yellowbird” Ruf CTR which bested Porsche’s own supercar by an amazing 13 miles an hour, and the boxy E-class from Affalterbach – faster than the pinup Lamborghini Countach and million-dollar GTO and just bested by the Miami-Vice superstar Testarossa. Though I don’t know for sure, I’d wager that single test did more for the reputations of Ruf and AMG than any other single article or event. Since that time, the AMG products from Affalterbach have enjoyed a near-legendary status amongst German car fans, but even amongst them there are special models – the 6.0 “Hammers” and the W124 and W126 Widebody models:
Yesterday, our editor Paul sent me a quick message with a link enclosed – “Enjoy a late birthday present!” he said. The link was to the movie Le Mans, the 1971 classic staring Steve McQueen piloting the equally iconic Gulf-liveried John Wyer run Porsche 917Ks. But while that combination would be emblazoned in history as the defacto color for the Porsche 917, to me the more memorable combination was the car that actually won the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hours. That was the magnesium-framed number 22; a pale white car that debuted an equally iconic combination for me as it was sponsored by Martini Racing. Later in the 1970s, the livery would become more famous as the multiple winners with both 935 and 936 chassis, but few remember that the connection went back into the era of the light-blue Gulf cars. The Martini livery is still popular today, carried on by a proud tradition into Formula 1 as well as being recreated by amateur enthusiasts in the Porsche Interseries, a Cayman-only race program that notably offered drivers to run famous Porsche colors. Very few can afford the opportunity to even see 917s in action – never mind own one. But a Cayman S racer? While not cheap, they’re considerably more affordable than you’d expect:
If C4 S4s and S6s in good shape, such as yesterday’s feature listing 1993, are hard to come by, the limited run 1995 Avant version is especially so. Not many of these wagons were brought to the U.S.; depending on your source, a reported 300 made it here. Compare that to the “rare” E30 M3 (of which 5,000 were imported) or even Audi’s own super-rare Quattro – a staggering 663 of those made it here, though you wouldn’t know it. Plus, the nature of the S6 Avant meant they were snapped up by enthusiasts who used them, and often used them hard. Exact numbers still alive today are hard to come by, but figure it’s reasonably lower than the 300 original units. Back out the number with under 200,000 miles and the number gets much smaller. And to find two in a week in good condition with nice modifications? Time to play the lottery:
It’s another Wednesday and time for another rare wheel roundup! Today I have some more of my favorites lined up, starting with ones close to my heart – Ronal R8 option wheels. These are the lower offset wheels that have the spokes curve in to create a nice lip; were they 4x108mm, rest assured I wouldn’t have posted them and they’d be in the mail to me. They’re rare to find in either bolt configuration but would suit an early GT/4000, Volkswagen or (gasp!) E21 or E30 well. There are two sets of OZ Racing Vega wheels – one for Porsche, the other for Mercedes-Benz. They’re a neat BBS alternative and rare to see. The Audi A3 S-Line wheels may be one you haven’t seen before as most of the S-Line cars came with either larger 17″ wheels or the more BBS-esque wheels. Boy, they’re cheap – a great rare winter setup, perhaps? The Gotti wheels are so over the top they’re almost cool again! And the same goes for the polished Zenders – a rare find with plenty of character to set you apart. What’s your favorite?
