There’s something perversely appealing about a luxury car with a manual transmission. Most large luxury sedans are much better suited to automatics, with their larger, more powerful engines and most other features enjoying some level of automation. But if you like a shot of sport in your luxury sedan, there are not that many options. When the BMW 7-series was outgrowing the legacy of the E3 Bavaria, and/or BMW was still a sporty car brand, you could find cars like this 1983 BMW 733i 5-speed, now for sale in Scottsdale, AZ for $2650.
Hmm, you could buy this, or for the same exact price of $2650, you could have today’s other feature car, a 1981 Imperial coupe. That choice will certainly leave most of you stuttering and unable to choose. The owner suggests restoration of this car in his listing, yet the car seems to be in reasonably good condition. From the exterior, the paint appears glossy, and the car even has a European-market grill with big-and-little headlights.
There’s some oxidation visible on the plastic bumper “fairings”, and the car is equipped with not-so-attractive wheels from a later E32 or E34 BMW, but those issues are relatively easy to rectify. Outside of that, this appears to be a well-kept older car, and is said to run well.
Here’s the money shot – see the 5-speed manual shifter? The interior looks good otherwise, although things look a little saggy, like someone who’s spent a bit much time in the Arizona sun. By now, you know where these seat covers should end up, although in a hot climate, something other than leather is understandable if you don’t want burn marks on your backside.
The engine looks like it could use a good cleaning – at least a thorough cleaning with some Simple Green. That said, it’s nice to see an honest presentation, where the seller is not hiding any leaks or other problem areas. So would you go for a little sport with your luxury?
Rusty But Trusty 
February 12, 2014 at 3:08 pm |
What evil lurks beneath those woolly seatcovers? The Shadow knows! Truthfully the only way to buy one of these is with a stick; an automatic is just an egregiously expensive repair waiting to happen.