Rusty But Trusty

I’m sure I’m not the only one in the world to think this way, but every so often I’ll see a car I want, that really fits the bill for me, and hold back on acting on it because the angel on my right shoulder beats up the devil on my left, and I do nothing. That explains why in the last few weeks I’ve passively passed on a 1975 Alfetta GT, a 1969 Alfa Berlina, and now this car. Two of those are in my own back yard, and probably didn’t sell, but there are so many other things to do… home projects, moving, wedding planning, getting the Beta sedan through smog with an eye towards selling it, and hey, maybe spending a bit of time with friends and fiancee.

So let’s focus in on the most recent example of my tale of automotive woe. As you might have noticed from earlier posts, even reject cars from a popular marque pique my interest, and the Bavaria definitely qualifies here. I’ve written before about the many attractions of this model of car, and my only significant criteria with these are they be manual shift and reasonably rust-free, since the money’s not in them to fix their bodies up significantly. The most recent Bav to pop up is this 1972, for sale in Menlo Park for $2600.

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For part 2 of the BMW installment, I’ve found a 1972 E3 Bavaria in a fairly unlikely place: Wicker Park, IL. Find it on craigslist near Chicago for an asking price of $3400. In Sierra Beige, it looks pretty much like the loaner my parents had for a weekend back in the late 70s (who knew that car would make such an indelible impression on a little kid?). Normally I’m reluctant to post cars from areas that salt their roads, but this car looks on the surface to be pretty clean, and is a good example of the bargain the E3s can be versus the prettier E9 coupes.

This particular car comes with a 4-speed, air conditioning, and a power sunroof. Knowing that, a buyer would want to look for rust in the C-pillars, and honestly, pretty much anywhere else since most 1970s imported cars are rust-prone. The 4-speed is definitely the more durable powertrain choice, and upgrading to a 5-speed is an option if you want more relaxed freeway cruising.

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