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The other day, Rob wrote up a 1978 911 SC Restomod which backdated the look to the earlier 911s. It’s a popular trend, not only amongst late 70s and 80s 911s, but even 964s – the basis of choice for cars like the Singer 911. It makes sense; early 911s have gone through the roof and it’s much easier to replicate the look with a later chassis – plus, you get a faster car. Today’s 1977, though, goes a very different route and instead replicated the look of some of the famous 911 RSR race cars. Specifically, this car is made to replicate the early 1970s IROC 911 RSRs – the birth of the “whale tail” legend that continued with racing and street 911s. Looking like a mix of Singer and Rauh Welt Begriff cars, this Olive Green 911S is available on a budget:
While the other day I wrote up two great looking early examples of one of the best performance bargains in classic German motoring, 944 Turbo. Now we’re going to look at the end of the run – the 1989 944 Turbo. Often mistakenly referred to as “S” by even enthusiasts (I’ve been guilty more than once myself), the ’89 did in fact gain all of the upgrades that the 1988 Turbo S received. Today we have two seemingly equal examples – but as we know, not all things are created equal. Which white over black ’89 is the one you’d choose?
The Type 44 Audi was an impressive advance for German automobiles, a huge leap forward for Audi in a new marketplace – but also nearly the cause of its demise. It was an aerodynamic, futuristic sedan when both BMW and Mercedes-Benz seemed to be producing cars stuck in the 1970s. It was the blueprint for most modern luxury sedans from not only German companies, but many of the advances were copied by the Japanese, Italians and Americans for their large sedans. Yet, by 1990 Audi nearly pulled out of the American market thanks to some creative journalism from 60 Minutes, who in their effort to prove Audi was at fault for some unintended acceleration cases nearly killed off the company entirely. In part as a result of their efforts, it’s become quite rare to find clean examples of them today – but it’s also because they were such good, long-lived and solidly built machines that few have lower miles today. While I recent featured a few 20V turbocharged examples in the 20V Turbo comparison, today we’ll look at a few of the lesser appreciated examples, starting with a clean 5000CS quattro Avant in Canada:
I suppose it’s beating a dead horse just a bit, but it’s astounding what a good deal the overlooked 944 Turbo is these days. You can get a very clean early 86 944 Turbo for around $10,000 – significantly less than what an equivilant E30 M3, Quattro or 190E 16V will cost you. Performance from the turbocharged inline-4 will surprise the other three legends, too. Even in early 220 horsepower specification, the 944 Turbo will easily out accelerate, out turn and out brake the other three. The most aerodynamic of the three, it will also return the best fuel economy on a long trip. The only downside is that, unlike the others, the rear seats are mostly useless to anyone who has legs; but they’re there in a pinch, and the versatility of the hatch in part makes up for some of the downside. But for Porsche, it wasn’t quite enough to have a car capable of besting its contemporaries, so in 1988 Porsche upped the ante with the “S”; an additional 30 horsepower, trick M030 Koni suspension, limited slip differential and forged Fuchs wheels led the list of changes that were carried over into 1989:
To Porsche fans, air cooled is more than a preference or novelty; it’s a borderline religion. And if the 993 represented the ascension of the prophet of the boxers to near God-like status, the 996 was most certainly the Anti-Christ. As a result, peppered by their own frenzied quest to prove the merit of the the super-Beetle Porsche fans themselves have driven up the prices on the last of the holy 911s. There are several special versions and owners and enthusiasts of each will kindly explain at length why their pick is or should be top value amongst the 993 crowd; but for most people not interested in that multi-hour conversation look no farther than right here. Porsche once again resurrected the the “S” moniker for the 993 Turbo’s last run and it was surely worthy of the crown; upgraded over the already 959-esque twin-turbocharged all-wheel drive 993 Turbo, Porsche added a few horsepower and some styling tweaks to a few hundred of these special Turbos, ensuring their future collector status and accompanying price:
