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Tag: Turbo

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Tuner Tuesday: 1989 BMW 535i Dinan Turbo – REVISIT

Tuner Tuesday: 1989 BMW 535i Dinan Turbo – REVISIT

Published November 1, 2016 by Carter

Here at GCFSB, we feature a lot of cars. Since I started writing for this site, I’ve composed some 1,773 articles, a fair amount of which cover more than one car. So it would be easy to forget that you’d already seen a car. That would especially be the case if a fair amount of time had passed since you last saw it and it was a relatively plain-jane looking model.

Enter this 1989 535i in Cirrus Blue Metallic. Outside of Hartge wheels, it’s pretty unassuming. That is, except for the “Dinan” badge on the left side of the trunk.

It’s that Dinan badge which unlocks a world of performance that otherwise is the domain of M models, and this sleeper package with low reported miles seems to be a pretty compelling alternative. Immediately, I recognized this car but knew it had been a bit since I last saw it. Since it was originally featured in March of 2014, very little has changed – the seller utilized the same photos and much of the same description from the original ad, disappointingly. He reports about 500 more miles in two and a half years, and unsurprisingly the price has dropped little. The auction is no reserve with an $11,250 starting bid – only about $750 less than the original ask. As the market on E34s really hasn’t improved greatly since then outside of some exceptional M5s, I’d wager this automatic 535i – even with the Dinan provenance – will have trouble this time around, too.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 BMW 535i Dinan Turbo on eBay

The below post originally appeared on our site March 11, 2014:

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Tuner Tuesday: 1987 Porsche 930 Coupe

Tuner Tuesday: 1987 Porsche 930 Coupe

Published October 25, 2016 by Carter

Modified cars from the 1980s enjoy are and interesting exercise in dichotomy. Take AMG, for example – add the flares, wide wheels, hunkered down suspension and turned up engine to a W126 and the asking price increases from a standard model by a factor of ten. What is strange about the AMG model, though, is that enthusiasts of the Affalterbach company accept licensed installers as proper original builds. Such is not the case when it comes to tuners like Alpina, Hartge and Ruf; generally speaking, in those cases the only “true” original examples came from the manufacturer’s facilities in Germany. In these cases, examples that are properly sorted and original can be worth double, triple or even quadruple what an identically modified car from a licensed installer in the U.S. would be worth. On top of that, AMG continues to be a bit of an aberration in the tuner realm since most other period modified examples of Porsches, BMWs, and Audis are worth less than a pristine stock example. It’s a bit of a head scratcher, since generally speaking, companies such as Alpina and Ruf put out equally good looking products when compared to AMG, and properly modified were just as luxurious and just as fast. Nevertheless, a tastefully modified example like this period Ruf-modified 1987 Porsche 930 just doesn’t seem to draw the same attention as a AMG 560SEC Widebody 6.0 would, for example. Let’s take a look at what a reported $75,000 in mods got you in the late 1980s:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Porsche 930 on eBay

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1995.5 Audi S6 Avant

1995.5 Audi S6 Avant

Published October 23, 2016 by Carter

Yesterday on our Facebook page, I asked whether Craig’s 500E was more desirable than the S4 I wrote up earlier in the day. The response was pretty overwhelmingly in favor of the W124, even though the S4 undoubtedly represented a better condition car for less money. Well, the C4 isn’t going to give up without a fight, because there was one pretty serious trump card that the platform offered compared to its Stuttgart-based rival; you could get a wagon:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995.5 Audi S6 Avant on Sacramento Craigslist

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1983 Audi 5000 Turbo

1983 Audi 5000 Turbo

Published October 19, 2016 by Carter

I think I’m going to lose some credibility in my declaration of rarity of Type 43s, because for the third week in a row we get to view a very nice example. Unlike the previous two, today’s 5000 is one of the last Type 43 Turbo models to make it to these shores. Moving to the turbo model didn’t quite get you the power of the Quattro; without an intercooler, these cars only had 130 horsepower. However, that was a substantial bump over the standard 100 horse normally aspirated model, so they were reasonably quick for the time. The Turbo also featured upgraded 280 mm front brakes and 240 mm rear discs – other 5000 models had only drums. Holding those brakes up were 5-bolt hubs and Ronal R8 wheels shared with the Quattro, giving the 5000 a much more sporting presence. Usually these Turbo models were loaded, too – leather, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions were the norm. Pathetic residual value of the Type 43, though, ensured that very few have survived until today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Audi 5000 Turbo on eBay

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1989 Porsche 944 Turbo with 43,000 Miles

1989 Porsche 944 Turbo with 43,000 Miles

Published October 18, 2016 by Carter

Here’s a listing I am genuinely interested in seeing end in a few days. Why? Well, I’ve covered a string of 944 Turbos recently, and we’ve seen some very nice examples trade for quite reasonable amounts. But today’s 944 Turbo is special for a few reasons. First, it is one of the last of the run, S-spec 1989 models. Properly, they’re not called “Turbo S” models, but only because all of the 1989 models came equipped with option code M030 – the Club Sport Package, featuring adjustable Koni suspension, forged Club Sport wheels, upgraded 928 brakes, and 30mm/25.5mm swaybars. It also meant by default you needed to select option code M220 – the 40% limited slip differential. Coupled with the upgraded M44/51 turbo motor producing nearly 250 horsepower, these are the Ninjas of the Porsche lineup in the 1980s – silent supercar killers. Today’s example is especially desirable since it comes from a single owner, is claimed all original, and has only covered 43,000 miles:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1989 Porsche 944 Turbo on eBay

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