Posts Tagged ‘Feature’

What Brakes? – 1991 BMW 318is

May 2, 2016

While every E30 BMW M3 gets snapped up by people with DTM/BTCC or financial fantasies, and the hard-to-kill, fun-to-drive six-cylinder cars keep piling on the miles, most people overlook a lesser-known alternative – the E30 318is. And while it only gives up 26hp to the top-dog M3, you should really be comparing the car to BMW’s earlier four-cylinder sport sedans, including the E21 320is and the 2002 and 2002tii. In this light, the 318is shines – there’s more power available than in any smog-choked E21, and the power and relatively modern electronics of the M42 make it a credible alternative to the much-older 2002. And so we come to this 1991 BMW 318iS, for sale by reader Dave S., currently with no bids at $1500 in Barrington, IL.

1991 BMW 318iS left front

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California Car – 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde

May 2, 2016

Back when the Alfa Romeo Milano debuted, it was certainly a challenging design – people thought the high trunk line made them look like they’d been rear-ended. But with the benefit of hindsight, the car looks a lot better, and many other manufacturers used the low-front/high-rear look in the coming years. Of course, they were also dogged by the cheap-to-buy, expensive-to-maintain woes – rapid depreciation meant people with little appreciation for the complexities of what was, at the time, a high-output V6 were not prepared to do the maintenance needed, and the underdeveloped timing belt system on the otherwise-awesome Busso V6 was just icing on the cake. That said, the Alfetta-based transaxle platform was pretty well-developed at this point, making it an excellent driver’s car with power and handling to show the German competition a thing or two. Check out this 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde for sale for $2500 somewhere in Orange County, CA. Thanks to reader Marc for this suggestion.

1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde 2 left front

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Rusten Men Trofasten – Citroen CX 2.2 TRS Break

April 20, 2016

It’s always fun to look at what the self-imposed $4000ish budget cap will get you elsewhere in the world, and what better place to look than Denmark, home of the 180% tax on automobiles (which is actually the ceiling on new cars, starting at 105% with the ceiling dropping to a mere 150% this year). Fortunately, this tax is not imposed on used cars, good news if you’re a Danish classic car enthusiast. And that’s how you can find interesting deals on odd cars like this 1986 Citroën CX Break for sale for KR19,000 (about $2886 today) in Klampenborg, Denmark.

citroen-cx-22-trs-4d

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