Ah, the E30 M3. Already the stuff of legends before the recent price surge, the original small M that was a revolution on the race track has similarly revolutionized values of mid-1980s German cars. Not only has the E30 M3 increased monumentally in value, but in fact it has pulled up nearly the entire BMW lineup along with it. It’s not alone, though – other rare performance German cars have been ascending alongside it. From the Quattro to the 500E, once cheaply attainable and fun cars are suddenly the stuff of speculation. Is the trend sustainable? The early 911 would seem to indicate it is; after all, there are only so many E30 M3s left today and there are many more people that want them than good examples. Just the other day, I finally stopped with my wife at an example I had eyed for many years – 7, to be exact. In that entire time, it had never moved – it’s just sitting under some pine trees off the beaten path in the woods of Rhode Island. Why did I finally stop? Well, there’s a part of me that would love to have an E30 M3 – but there’s more of me that hoped I could flip it and get enough money to buy some cars that I could drive and enjoy off the proceeds. Needless to say, I didn’t walk away with it; as with many, the owner “knows what it’s worth” and is hoping to restore it to former glory once again.
When he does, there’s a fair chance it may hit the market just like this 1988 Europameister example. Originally a limited-production model of 148 examples built from October to December 1988 to celebrate the European Touring Car Championship of Roberto Ravaglia. Ironically, despite being named to commemorate a racing car, the Europameisters were mostly fully loaded luxury variants of the E30. Being one of the lowest production variants of the E30 M3 in great condition and with ridiculously low miles, you can bet it won’t be cheap – and it’s not.