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1986 Audi 5000CS Quattro

1986 Audi 5000CS Quattro

Published July 15, 2015 by Carter

People who have owned Audis have stories about their Audis. Those that love them have stories about conquering snowbanks, hundreds of thousands of miles accrued, or the extreme value they provided in the used luxury market. Those that hate them recount the countless times they broke down, or the semi-ridiculous nature of those breakdowns; the steering rack fell off, all of the electrics died at once, or they rusted before they were even purchased new. In the world of used Audis, there just doesn’t seem to be any ambivalent middle ground; people love them, or hate them. While I fall into the hippie love-fest for most 1980s Audi products, I’ll admit that I have my fair share of horror stories that would probably scare off less devoted fans. I owned two big-body Audis; a 1989 200 quattro Avant, and a 1993 V8 quattro. In many ways, the 1989 was identical to this 1986 5000CS quattro underneath and outside, but the 200 had several updates to the interior. But the horror stories? Sure, there are plenty of those. There was the time on the Mass Pike outside Sturbridge – leaving a toll booth, the car was running great and I gave it the full boot out of the gate. Full out to redline, grab the next gear and right back on it – I must have been making an impression on the people as my land yacht wagon aimed its nose decidedly at the moon. When I looked in the mirror to see how impressed they were, I saw nothing – except white smoke. Lots and lots of white smoke. I pulled over to see that an oil feed line to the cooler had popped off and I had emptied the sump as quickly as the pump could pump at redline. Sweeeeeet. Then there was the time I looked at confused at the voltage gauge which read over 14 volts. Then it read 11. Then 14 again. Then over 14. I was over a hundred miles from home, and the subsequent drive home required me to steadfastly keep my eyes on the gauge and balance the electrical load by turning on and off all of the electrical items (which still worked) to keep the alternator from blowing up the battery. How about the time that the brakes stuck on; a common problem with collapsing brake lines that don’t allow the pressure to release. Driving down 95 in the low speed lane at 50 m.p.h., my wife turned to me and asked why I didn’t speed up a little bit. “I’M AT FULL THROTTLE”, I frustrating replied. Then there was the time on the way to a winter driving school that the car threw an alternator belt on 24 North and I had to drive back to a friends house at 4 in the morning with no lights. And that doesn’t even begin to recount my stories of the V8 quattro…these are the sort of stories that build character in enthusiasts or drive them away completely. And when you’re talking about the Type 44, most have been driven away; a complicated car which was hated so much thanks to bad press in the 1980s, Audi nearly withdrew from the U.S. marketplace. To say that finding a 5000CS quattro in the condition of this car today is rare is an understatement:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 Audi 5000CS quattro on Cars.com

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Bronze Age: 2013 BMW Gran Coupe Individuals

Bronze Age: 2013 BMW Gran Coupe Individuals

Published July 10, 2015 by Carter

I was pretty surprised to come across a F06 BMW Gran Coupe in the neat shade of Frozen Bronze Metallic (X11) this week while surfing the sea of black, silver and white examples out there. Don’t believe me? There are some 32 Gran Coupes selling used on eBay as of the time I write this; only four of them are not one of those shades. Two are dark blue which is lovely, but the Frozen Bronze somehow is a bit more in character with the model somehow. But, to order one you need to go through BMW Individual, so I was doubly surprised to see a second Individual Gran Coupe in the same shade. I can’t help but consider these cars homages to the E24 L6s and early M6s, with their fully leather-wrapped interiors and optional Bronzit color. Which one pulls off the Matte better?

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Feature Listing: 1995 Audi S6 Avant

Feature Listing: 1995 Audi S6 Avant

Published July 7, 2015 by Carter

The excellent line of C4 Audis I’ve had the pleasure of writing up continues today! If you recall my last post about the 1995.5 S6 Avant, you’ll remember that I spoke about these cars having a bespoke feel. Here’s a great example of what I meant; what we have is a very desirable 1995 S6 Avant. Unlike the 1995.5, the 1995 model got the updates of the S4 to S6 like the bumpers, but retained the early driver-actuated differential lock rather than the ABS-system reliant electronic differential lock. But some of the differences were more subtle than just that; there were changes to the headrests, for example, though the Avants early on kept the open center headrests rather than the solid units found in later sedans and Avants. You’ll note, if you look carefully, that the 1995.5 in our other featured listing had the solid headrests. That would place this as an early 1995 S6, but some of the early cars carried over the forged Fuchs wheels associated with the S4, this car has the later Speedline-made Avus wheels in place. You’ll also note, again if you look carefully, that the early 1995 S6s retained the infrared central locking system (denoted by a button on the B-pillar) – a system later replaced by the radio frequency system found on newer models. Sure, these are all small items, but they’re interesting tidbits that once again make nearly each Avant a unique car – few are identical. This particular car was also specified in the classic color combination of double black; a classic color combination which gives this lovely example a sinister and standout presence:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 Avant on eBay

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Tuner Tuesday: 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster Strosek Turbo S Widebody

Tuner Tuesday: 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster Strosek Turbo S Widebody

Published July 7, 2015 by Carter

I’m going to segue for just a moment to a pop culture phenomena – Keeping Up With The Kardashians. You see, you can sit around all you’d like and say that it’s horrible television – or indeed, that television in and of itself is horrible. You can say it’s exploitation or reverse exploitation. You can say that Kris and Caitruce are atrocious parents. Yet, one thing is for certain; there is money associated with the name and the program, and people apparently really want to watch and partake in them. They want to smell and look like the Kardashians, they want to know about their love and sex lives, they want to see fat Rob going out in public. In short, people want to see the train wreck in progress, and the Kardashians are brilliantly cashing in all the way. Like it or not, Kim Kardashian has repeatedly been the highest paid reality star in the world and makes not just millions, but tens of millions of dollars for her exploits. Clearly, they’re doing something right – or so horribly wrong, people can’t help but bear witness.

Enter Strosek. Strosek has a reputation. That reputation is for creating…well, monstrosities out of seemingly innocent and well meaning Porsches. And yet, they’re not alone. There is Rinspeed, who similarly custom-destroy cars on a regular basis. Then there were other crazy tuners, such as Konig, who tried to turn everything into a Ferrari Testarossa…badly. But Strosek had a unique talent for really creating horribly ugly versions of desirable cars. Yet, they must be doing something right – first off, people actually went to Strosek and bought the cars. Yes, I know that’s amazing, but not only that – they paid Strosek a lot of money to build them. And here we are, talking about them over two decades on. They made an impact, and like a train derailing at high speed, we are helpless but to watch the carnage that ensues from the moment the paperwork is signed until something like this custom widebody Speedster emerges from their works:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster Strosek Turbo S Widebody on eBay

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Feature Listing: 2012 BMW 335is

Feature Listing: 2012 BMW 335is

Published July 6, 2015 by Carter

Like this past weekend’s 135i, a potential alternative to the M3 that I’ve considered quite a few times is the 335i. Upping the ante a notch, in 2011 BMW introduced the 335is; ostensibly, the spiritual successor to the ZHP package that the E46 had in the 330i. As they had with the 1M, BMW kept the N54 twin-turbo motor in the 335is instead of the usual N55 single turbo that was in the 135i and 335i. Tuned up to a reported 320 horsepower and 332 lb.ft of torque, the N54-equipped 335is also enjoyed a revised short-shift 6-speed gearbox and M-Sport styling outside, bringing it closer visually to the M3 – along with unique split 5-spoke wheels. While the 335is wasn’t much of a match for the high-revving V8 of the M3, in real world conditions it wasn’t much slower – and notably, with a healthy bump in torque over the S54, the 335is matched or bettered the reported E46 M3 acceleration numbers. Having just driven an E46 M3 this past weekend, the soundtrack is great but there’s a notable lack of grunt under 3,000 RPM – certainly to be expected, but when I get into even my considerably less powerful Passat, the fun of the turbo engagement at lower revolutions to provide a healthy kick in the pants – even at partial throttle – is something it’s hard to get out of a normally aspirated car without huge displacement. On top of a bit of extra grunt and some go-faster body kit, this particular 335is was optioned in one of the better blues BMW has offered in recent generations; LeMans Blue Metallic:

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