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Here’s a piece of automotive trivia for you the next time you get together with your petrolhead friends: what was the first front-wheel drive Volvo? Give up? It was this car, the 480. If you’re unfamiliar with this hatchback, you might be scratching your head at its existence. Every time I see one of these, I’m instantly reminded of the song from the children’s program Sesame Street: “which one of these things is not like the other….which one of these things just doesn’t belong?” So stark is the difference in the 480’s styling from the rest of Volvo’s lineup at the time, it can’t help but intrigue you.
We like to feature the odd Swedish car here at GCFSB, but the 480 was actually designed by Bertone and built in the Netherlands. The end result was a curious car for a manufacturer known for boxy styling and an emphasis on safety. Taking it’s rear hatch styling from the short lived P1800ES, the 480 was supposed to come to North America but was cancelled at the last minute. Introduced with a 1.7 liter inline-4, a turbocharged, 2.0 liter unit was introduced in 1988, which is what is under the hood of this 480 Turbo for sale in Regensburg, Germany.
When I spent some time in England and Germany, my friends there laughed when I stopped to gawk at a 5 door A2 GTi. My German friend kept telling me “it’s nothing special, it’s just the golf 4 door with GTi badges”. He was both right and wrong, because while the 5 door GTi shown here really is just mostly an appearance package it was a car that the U.S. never received and one that I really wanted. I’m not even completely sure why Volkswagen chose not to bring the more versatile 5 door to the U.S. until the Mk.5 platform, but like many of the European variants they have remained out of our reach since new. 1989 saw the beginning of the changeover from the smaller bumper A2 to the chunkier “big bumper” look with integrated fog lights. Today’s example looks nearly identical to the 2.0 16V GTi we received on these shores – with the exception of the number of openings!
Want something plush for highway cruising but not a particular fan of any of the American modern classics? Well, why not try on what GM’s Europe arm had on for size at the end of the 1980s, the Opel Senator. The Senator B was a long-wheelbase version of the Opel Omega, a car that would later go on to form the basis for the Cadillac Catera. The Senator was laid to rest after the 1993 model year, as Opel decided the new Omega would give the company enough range in the luxury segment. This Senator for sale in Northwest Germany is a top level CD model with the 3.0 liter inline-6.
What was the first BMW Z car? Ask any American on the street and they’ll probably tell you the Z3, otherwise known as the car from the James Bond flick, Goldeneye. That answer would be incorrect. The first Z was the Z1, built between 1989 and 1991 with 8,000 copies produced. Noted mainly for its doors that retracted into the side of the vehicle, this roadster was based on E30 3 series mechanicals and featured new technology that would trickle down into the rest of the BMW range. The Z axle rear suspension would go on to be used in the E36 3 series and high intensity discharge lights would appear on many future BMW models. Curiously, no Z1 came fitted with air conditioning, as there was limited room in the interior for both heating elements and the cooling unit. This particular Z1 is for sale in just north of Hamburg, Germany.
The day has finally arrived. It is now the year where R107s of all kinds are legal for entry into the US, no matter where they came from. For me, this has my eyes set squarely on one very specific model: the 1989 300SL with the 5-speed manual gearbox. The final years of the R107 SL saw but one model in the US market, the 560SL with the 5.6 liter V8 engine. Those that have driven them know these are competent cruisers but aren’t the most all out sporting of machines. For 1986, Mercedes revived a storied name when it dropped the M103 inline-6 under the hood: 300SL. For those not in need of the power (or fuel economy) of a V8, this was an attractive option and was offered with another feature not available on US-bound R107s: a 5-speed manual gearbox.
As a preview to our week of celebrating 1989 vehicles eligible for importation stateside, here is a very low mileage 1989 300SL for sale just south of Cologne, Germany that is equipped with a 5-speed manual. It also has a few other options like heated front seats and the rear Kinder seat that you don’t normally see on the US market 560SL model.
