From the same collector as last week’s 2002Ti Alpina comes an equal rarity this week. As with early Alpina and AMG information, details on early Hartge cars are sparse at best. Though Hartge was around as early as 1971, there just isn’t much information on how many cars they built or the exact details. That makes today’s E24 pretty interesting; what should likely be labeled a “H6” isn’t, instead being referred to as a “635CS”. It appears to originally be a 1978 635CSi which had the injection undone. Instead triple Webers adorn the M30, a setup reportedly good for 290 horsepower. But while Hartge badges adorn the car, there are odd details that seem to question the authenticity:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1978 BMW 635CS Hartge on eBay
Year: 1978
Model: 635CS
Engine: 3.5 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: “0” mi
Price: $50,000 Buy It Now
Rare E24 Hartge
Engine L6 3.5 Tri-carb Weber 45″ ~290hp
Getrag manual gearbox
Strut bar
Bilstein 5mm shox
Bodykit M Technic
BBS RS 003 16,2”
More photos and videos in http://www.oacervo.com/bmw-635cs-hartge-1978
Missing are obvious things such as Hartge wheels and stripes; though it doesn’t seem that Hartge wheels were fully in swing until the 1980s. Stranger is the comfort seats inside and the M bits such as the steering wheel and body kit. This car has come into question amongst BMW enthusiasts previously; there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of supporting documentation that it’s a true Hartge built car, but instead a Euro 635CSi that has some cool BMW and Hartge bits installed, a carb conversion and some slick BBS RS wheels. As such, it seems hard to justify the extremely steep asking price; at $50,000, you could buy multiple M6s. This is a pretty and very rare combination of parts, but I’d think values of this sort would be reserved for a fully-fledged and documented Alpina B7 Turbo only. It’s lovely to look at, but I’d wager the value of this car lies at best around 50% of the asking price.
-Carter
Definitely alot of questions to be answered before spending this kind of dough. A great looking car, i’ll bet the performance is pretty awesome too.
Boy that guy made some smart buys back in the day…fun drivers that turned out to be great investments….have your cake & eat it 2….. I’m always torn between buying a fun reliable newer car thats basically depreciates while you own it or a smart affordable classic that will most likely go up if taken care of ….
The old Hartge had all BBS wheels as almost all German tuners in the early ‘ 80, Brabus, Lorinser, Koenig…
Alpina made full cars since 1978 with a constructor status by the German TÃœV Hartge was in 1985 !
In 1978, Hartge did more auto racing than tuning so it is difficult to find official documentations.
There was motor tuning Hartge with tri-carb Weber for the 320 to 635 (bi-carb Weber for 316) but not necessarily one presented here…
@Karl, agreed on the BBS wheels being the go-to of 80s tuners; but the RS models didn’t roll out until ~83?; if this is an original car, it should have been on BBS RAs or Mahles, or if it was really trick magnesium Exx models.