Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Time for another Honorable Mention Roundup of the cars we just didn’t have a chance to get to this week. We’ve got quite a few reader submissions in this edition, and by chance it ends up focusing on some super sedans which are all quite affordable in their own ways. Which is the one we should have spent more time on?
I’ll start this post with the bad news; our reader Z sent in an awesome Dinan S3 spec E39 M5 that was supposed to run in this slot. Unfortunately, although the auction was slated to still be running it ended early, meaning we don’t get to look at that car. Now the good news; because Dinan is a factory-backed tuner and the M5 is one awfully popular machine, here’s another to fill the void! This particular example isn’t quite as wild – without the supercharger, you’ll have to make due with only around 450 horsepower from the naturally aspirated S62 with a host of Dinan upgrades:
The E39 M5 is well known for being one of the wolfiest cars wearing sheeps’ clothing ever. Typically seen in silver or black, I grew up near an Imola Red version that draws a bit more attention. Today’s will draw the gaze of all who pass, including car lovers and cops. As much I love subdued performance machines, red is my favorite color and I actually love this hue on M5s. I might go without the bright chrome wheels, but hey, if you’re going to be blinding people, you might as well get some help from your wheels as well. With right around 100k miles and a Buy-It-Now of $16k, this is a great deal for a stunner in both aesthetics and performance.
The Z8 is a bit of a wallflower these days, its handsome looks appreciated by those who remember when it hit the roads but a less eye-grabbing than the ultra-faceted and streaked cars coming out 12 years later. Even to the trained eye, they don’t show up that often, and it seems like a lot of owners are hiding them away in the hopes of selling them for more later. I still get excited when they do come out of their garages, and the today’s silver example reminds me of the sunny afternoon drive 7 years ago that shifted my opinion on convertibles. Structural rigidity be damned, there’s nothing wrong with having your ears a few unobstructed feet from the S62’s rumble.
For many, the Paul Walker story is one of tragedy and loss – it was a senseless death of a movie star and his friend, or if you’re quite cold it was a senseless death of a Carrera GT. But recently I was watching a Formula 1 documentary talking about Francois Cevert, killed in qualifying at Watkins Glen in 1973. One of the drivers mentioned how then team owner Bernie Ecclestone asked why he was upset, to which the driver replied that Cevert was dead, of course. Ecclestone’s reply was that Cevert, right up to the moment that he died, was doing exactly what he loved to do – as were Senna, McLaren, Clark – indeed, every driver that has died in racing was doing exactly what they loved to do at the moment they perished. If there can be any moment of solace in the feelings of loss, it is that. You could dislike Paul Walker’s movies, but you can’t deny that he was at heart a true automobile enthusiast. When the Fast and Furious franchise first started, initially I really disliked the movies. I didn’t feel as though they accurately portrayed…well, anything, really. But my initial feelings have softened over the years as I both realized the place of the movies in automobile entertainment; after all, they weren’t documentaries. Further, I have to say that if someone came to me and said I’d be in a series of semi-corny automobile movies for multiple millions of dollars so that I could pursue my interests, I’d be hard pressed to say no and take the moral “higher ground” on the basis that I didn’t like the artistic license of the movie series. Paul Walker ended up being one of the stars of the Fast series, and as a result assembled quite a collection of memorable automobiles – one of which is a German car favorite and for sale today:
