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Tag: Rare

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1988 Audi 200 quattro Nardò 6000 Speed Record Car

1988 Audi 200 quattro Nardò 6000 Speed Record Car

Published January 24, 2022 by Carter

Back in 1986, Audi did something fairly unorthodox. It probably shouldn’t have been particularly surprising coming from a company that had established a trend of unorthodox designs, but as the Group B era closed the company turned its attention to sedans. They ran a 200 quattro in Group A in 1986 with Hannu Mikkola, and the Finnish driver actually achieved his last podium in the same car in 1987. But it was with another famous racer that Audi made an even bigger splash in 1986. The company took a 200 that they rebadged as a 5000 and stripped it out, installed a racing suspension, a roll cage, kevlar body panels, and huge center-lock BBS wheels tucked under fender flares, and popped Bobby Unser in the driver’s seat at Talladega. Of course, to go fast at the NASCAR track, Audi needed a serious motor – and a serious motor they had. Most would recognize the 2.2-liter displacement and inline-5 cylinder configuration, but the Talladega motor boasted a five-valve head – and effectively everything on it was unique compared to earlier Audi motors. It also had titanium connecting rods and pistons, ten fuel injectors, dry-sump lubrication, and 2.0 bar of maximum boost pressure. The result was around 650 horsepower – reliably – and it was no surprise that it pushed the relatively slippery Audi to an impressive 215 mph, with an average lap at 207 mph.

One lap was impressive, but Mercedes-Benz had famously lapped Nardò with its performance sedan – the 190E 2.3-16 – at over 150 mph for long distances. The company decided to give this a go, as well, and turned up in 1988 with no less than three Audi 200 quattros converted in a very similar way to the Talladega car, only one of which is claimed to have had the same 650 horsepower 5-valve motor. These cars did differ slightly; they had revised wheels and no flares to make them more aerodynamic, and auxiliary lighting was added as they were meant to run more than one lap…a lot more. They did not turn down performance, however, and on the more open Nardò test track the revised 200 hit an astonishing 400 km/h (248.5 mph). Even more impressive? Audi redesigned several maintenance aspects to allow them to do quick service – including the ability to do a driver change, swap wheels and tires, and change the engine oil AND refuel the 340 liter tank in 25 seconds. The result was amazing; Audi lapped the track for 500 miles at 324.509 km/h (201.6 mph) and did 1000 km at 326.403 km/h (202.8 mph). One car then crashed, and later another was destroyed. But the sole remaining record car – the most powerful of the trio with the 25-valve motor – is now for sale:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 Audi 200 quattro Nardò 6000 Speed Record Car at Bonhams

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1957 Heinkel Kabine 200

1957 Heinkel Kabine 200

Published January 23, 2022 by Carter

It’s always fun to take a look at something different – and bubble cars certainly are different. I’ve previously looked at several different German variants, including one that looked quite similar to today’s Heinkel – the Trojan 200:

Feature Listing: 1965 NSU Spider

The similar looks were for good reason; the Trojan was a licensed copy of today’s car, the original Kabine. There were three Kabine variants made; the Type 153 with a 174cc four-stroke air-cooled single, and two versions of the Type 200, which had a 204cc motor in ’56 and a 198cc motor from ’57-’58. This is the latter of that group, and while it’s perhaps not the most exciting, or fastest, or most practical, or prettiest, or even…well, really it’s not a car, it’s still cool to see:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1957 Heinkel Kabine 200 on eBay

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1985 Alpina B7 Turbo/1

1985 Alpina B7 Turbo/1

Published January 22, 2022 by Carter

It was a simple, straightforward solution – but its effect was profound. By adding a KKK K27 turbocharger to BMW’s M30 inline-6, Alpina made quite a splash and firmly cemented its name in the hallowed halls of the ‘World’s Best Tuners’. The result of that marriage coupled with adjustable boost, an intercooler and special injection was 300 horsepower and 340 lb.ft of torque – in 1978! Even the much-lauded and celebrated Porsche 911 Turbo Carrera had less power from more displacement; the 3.3 turbo flat-6 produced 265 horsepower and 291 lb.ft of torque. If the Porsche 911 Turbo was a supercar killer, the B7 Turbo was a 4-door 911 assassin. The Alpina was the real deal, and ever since then they’ve been at the sharp end of the world’s fastest sedans.

Beyond just looks, the Buchloe firm of course added signature deep chin and pronounced trunk spoilers. Large (for the period) 16″ alloy wheels wore 225 section tires in the rear to help transfer that power, while specially specified Bilstein shocks were mated with stiffened and lowered Alpina-spec springs and sway bars. Inside, sport seats were outfit with Alpina’s beautiful striping, while extra gauge pods read out critical engine performance measures.

The second generation of B7 launched in 1984, and some 236 were made through 1987. A catalyst-equipped version was introduced in 1986 and added another 42 to the tally of E28 B7 production. The standard B7 Turbo/1 used much of the same formula as the E12 generation had, and again it was a 300 horsepower monster at the top of the food chain. Today, you can be owner of #66 of this exclusive club:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1985 Alpina B7 Turbo/1 on eBay

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1973 Volkswagen SP2

1973 Volkswagen SP2

Published January 16, 2022 by Carter

Volkswagen do Brasil’s attempt to revise the Karmann Ghia Type 14 took two very different directions. Both were based on the 1600 wagon, but they took very different directions. The Karmann Ghia TC looked like a restyled version of the original, while the SP2 looked a bit like a Type 4 and a 928 had a wild child.

‘SP’ referenced São Paulo where the SP and SP2 were produced. The early model had a 1.6 liter flat-4, while the SP2 moved up to a 75 horsepower 1.7 air-cooled flat-4 mounted in the rear. The proportions of the body styling seemed to suggest the opposite though, with the long, low hood and hatchback GT profile looking more like a traditional sports car than any VW had before. Other period designs were borrowed – the Volkswagen 411, the Porsche 924 and Audi’s 100 Coupe S all had similar angles.

Only about 11,300 of these ultra-rare, Brazil-only SP2s were produced. They’re about as legendary as air-cooled VWs get in the U.S., so when one pops up for sale it’s worth a look:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1973 Volkswagen SP2 on eBay

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2016 BMW M6 Coupe Competition Edition

Published January 15, 2022 by Carter

The third-generation M6 is an interesting beast. Like prior M6s, they were effective mechanical twins of their M5 counterparts. However, the F-Series M6 introduced a new concept – the F06 M6 Gran Coupe – which seemed to follow the marketplace and was reasonably successful. Of course, like the prior E6x generation, there was also the F12 M6 convertible that proved to be popular as well. In total BMW sold the best part of 6,000 examples of them in North America – not a huge market share compared to the M3/4, but still a decent number for a high-end car.

The outsider – and slowest seller – was the M6 coupe. The F13 packed a wallop with a twin-turbocharged V8, and in LCI Competition form it kicked out 600 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. But these are some of the rarest models BMW has sold here – 1,619 pre-LCI coupes were sold in North America, and just 474 late examples were imported. Today we’re looking at one of the last brought here, but to add to the rarity it’s not just a Competition model, but it’s a Competition Edition coupe. These were produced to celebrate the end of F13 production as well as BMW’s racing success with the GT3 variant of the car. Production was limited to 100 models, which got special trim in one of two colors – Alpine White or Austin Yellow Metallic, the latter of which we see here. Just 40 were made in this color for the North American market, but despite that, they won’t destroy your bank account:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2016 BMW M6 Coupe Competition Edition on eBay

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