Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
If yesterday’s low mileage S6 Avant wasn’t enough fast wagon love for you North American fans, I have just the cure. It’s easy to forget that our neighbors in the Great White North have managed to enjoy European model legal status for a full decade more than that U.S. fans; thus, it’s not abnormal to see some wild Euro cars come up for sale. Kijiji is nearly as much of a tease as Ebay.de, and today is no exception as a rare RS Blue 1995 RS2 Avant with lower miles has popped up for sale:
I believe in every C4 post I remark that it’s pretty rare to find good example. That’s especially true of the Avants, since even though they enjoy a coveted status amongst Audi fanatics there were only around 300 examples imported originally. Considering that the newest (and the oldest) examples are some 20 years of ski trips old, the likelyhood that you’ll come across a good example is extremely low. Of course, I say that, and last month a remarkably excellent Avant popped up. A one owner silver example with lower miles turned up, and immediately I contacted my family member who has been on the lookout for one. “This is your one chance” I effectively said, since it was the only near perfect silver model I’d seen for sale post-2000. While it didn’t work out in that case, here we are less than a month later; with an even better example of an incredibly rare car:
Hot on the heels of wagon week, we have another great little E30 Touring that was brought to Virginia from Germany (probably by an armed services member) a while back. In addition to the great looks of the original 3-series longroof, you get a dog cage, buttons in German, and that 80s cloth interior that reminds me so much of my childhood. Bidding is hot but significantly lower than most clean E30s out there as I write this. It seems like the allure and rarity of these wagons is starting to wane, bringing them to a much wider audience and taking them back to their original status as an entertaining, useful, and affordable daily driver.
As we round out Wagon Week, let’s take a trip to Deutschland to look at one of the cleanest, most compact longroofs around. The E30 Touring is just now importable to the US but is still quite a rarity on these shores. In Europe you can find them in all varieties and in all sorts of condition, but today’s little 318i is quite a gem. Having covered less than 50k miles in its quarter century, it looks stunning inside and out, especially with the always-excellent Shadowline trim option. The grey cloth looks clean as new and I much prefer it in these cars to the ubiquitous leather we get in Bimmers here; it’s a nice reminder that, while very cool, this is also a utilitarian, base-model little wagon. These days we Americans are starting to have access to some great E30 Tourings including the beefy 325ix, but it’s hard to beat this red 318i for good-looking simplicity and value.
When I think roadtrip vehicle, my mind immediately goes to the frugal and capable Jetta TDI. When driven carefully, they can far exceed their standard MPG ratings while swallowing tons of gear. All this with class-leading comfort and style in the interior. My main gripe is the unattractive front end, but in my dreams I just throw a TDI Cup front end on it, creating a seriously good-looking wagon. This 2009 Sportwagen has a lot of positives – low mileage, 6-speed manual, panoramic roof and premium sound are all boxes I’d want ticked. The glaring downside is the rebuilt title, which we know is always a big liability. A full inspection could suss out if the driver’s-side collision really was minor and if everything is good to go. Rebuilt titles mean low resale values – maybe not ideal if you sell it in the future, but if everything checks out it creates an insane deal on an ultimate roadtrip machine.
