The timeless land shark from Zuffenhausen!

On October 5, 2025October 3, 2025 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Very few people would object to the statement that the Porsche 911 is the most successful sports car of all time – and they would be wrong. That said, and in spite of that, it’s also a car that Porsche tried to kill off at least 911 times before it earned the unshakable position it has today. It started all the way back in the mid-70’s, when the newly developed 928 was supposed to replace the already then ageing 911.

As we all know, replacing the 911 didn’t work then, it hasn’t worked since, and it’s improbable to work in the foreseeable future. Today we’re glad that Porsche failed and be that as it may, the 928 became a great complement to the 911 when it was launched, as the GT car it really is. Fast forward to today, and it remains a great car and something you could still call a bargain, especially in comparison to classsic 911’s.

*The general 928 shape remained largely unchanged from 1977 (as here) until the end in 1995*

Design is a matter of personal taste, but unless you’re heavily into psychedelics, you’ll probably agree that the 70’s weren’t a happy period. The world was mostly brown and orange and cars generally looked like they’d been drawn with a ruler by someone loving 90-degree angles. When it was launched in 1977, the 928 was therefore a true revolution design-wise. The long hood and the “reversed” pop-up headlights earned it the nickname “land shark” in some countries, and the rounded rear with integrated shock absorbers doesn’t look dated to this day. To my mind, the 928 is probably the 70’s car desugb that has best stood the test of time. This was also proven by the production which ran for almost 20 years until 1995, with most of the design remaining pretty much unchanged until the end.

Coming back to where we started, it’s however difficult to see how Porsche actually thought that fans of the air-cooled, rear-engined 911 would ever consider the 928 as a replacement. Firstly it was obviously a larger car, even if it’s better described as a 2+2 seater than a real four-seater. Secondly it has quite a large boot, meaning the engine is up front. Thirdly, that engine was a newly developed, water-cooled V8 rather than a legendary, air-cooled six-cylinder. This led to the 928 being heavier, much more at home on the Autobahn than on curvy mountain roads. To this day, it remains a true motorway cruiser that sat nicely alongside a 911 at the time, although it never saw its success its smaller brother did.

*The “phone dial” wheels are sought after today – here on a 928S, distinguishable by the rear spoiler*

There was no getting around the 928 being a heavier car than the 911, but Porsche were very focused on doing what they could to keep its weight down. The doors, front aisles and hood are thus all made out of aluminium, and the front and rear bumpers were in composite material around a metal core. The original, 4.5 litre V8 with 240 hp was at the time the second most powerful engine from Zuffenhausen, losing out only to the 911 Turbo, and the 928 was thus well motorized from the beginning, helping offset the additional weight. It was available with either a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic from Mercedes (later a 4-speed) from the start, mounted on the rear axle and thus contributing to the excellent balance.

The 928 was generally an advanced construction with notably double wishbone suspension all around and Porsche’s so called “Weissach axle” in the back of which I’ll spare you the technicalities but which can be described as a system for greater stability and less oversteer. That system was certainly never fitted to the 911’s of the time, and even 911 fans would probably agree that the 928 was in many areas far ahead of not only the 911, but of most other cars from the same period as well.

*…as is the psychedelic, pepita square interior offered on the first series!*

The first series was built between 1977-1982, with the 300 hp 928S launched as a more powerful version in 1980, and a couple of years later becoming the only available version. The S managed the sprint to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds, a very respectable time in the early 80’s. It was also the car Porsche ran for 24 hours non-stop on the Nardo track in Italy, achieving an average speed of 250 km/h! Think of that a minute – we’re talking 24 hours with the pedal to the metal at top speed, back in the fully mechanical age! Porsche kept improving the S interior and equipment with notably ABS breaking, before it was replaced by the face-lifted 928 S4 in 1987.

The 928 S4 had a face-lifted body, best visible in the rear through new lights and a standard-fitted wing. Engine-wise it went form two to four valves and an output of 320 hp. The 0-100 km/h time was now sub-six seconds with a top speed of 270 km/h. The even sportier GT was introduced in 1989, adding another 10hp and only being available as a five-speed manual. Both versions were replaced by the 350 hp GTS in 1992, produced until 1995 and actually Porsche’s last GT car until the Panamera 15 years later. Over its full lifetime, a bit more than 62.000 928’s were built. Not a huge but still quite a large number, and in that sense it’s surprising how few of them you see on the roads today.

*The rear part of the S4 shows where the Panamera inspiration came from!*

Unless you’re not a die-hard, nothing-but-911 kind of person, a 928 will deliver the true Porsche feeling from behind the wheel. The engine is like a solid companion at all speeds, especially in combination with the manual box. The suspension is superb given the car’s age, but It’s clear from the first meters you drive that although smaller than modern cars and in spite of all the Porsche attributes, this is a true GT that is most at home on long distances with two (or 2+2) passengers and surprisingly, quite a lot of their luggage. On such trips, it will also surprise on the upside not only by its comfort, but also its lack of wind noise, one of the advantages of the soap-like design.

When writing about classics, I usually add a sentence along the lines of “make sure you check the history and the condition”. Never ever has that sentence been more true than if you consider a 928. As mentioned, the car is a complex construction. Parts have always been expensive and haven’t become less so today, only in some cases harder to find. The engine and gearbox are of course the most critical parts and inspecting the car from underneath before the purhcase is mandatory. If you’re unsure about what to look for, get a specialist to help you or take it to a Porsche garage. Trust me on this but also know that even if you go through all the checks, you shouldn’t buy a 928 with your last money, but rather keep a reserve for things that may come up.

*As in late 944’s, the 928 interior has stood the test of time surprisingly well*

So which one? Well, no surprise that a manual is preferrable, but the automatic is actually not as bad as you may think, so potentially try it if the rest of the car is good. Do get a four-peed automatic though. Design-wise it’s a matter of taste between the first and second generation, but be aware that the two-valve engine is easier (and thereby cheaper) to service than the four-valve from the S4 onwards. If that doesn’t scare you, the 928 GT of which only around 2000 were built is especially interesting. Otherwise, the 300 hp second series is also a good choice. Please don’t go for the Strosek or Gemballa 80’s versions with massive plastic wings, but rather try to find a car that is as original as possible. For the first series, both the phone dial wheels and the pepita interior you can see higher up are sought after today.

A good first series 928 will set you back around EUR 25-35.000, probably around 50% more than 10 years ago (but you’ve hopefully gotten richer in those 10 years as well!), however not much more than a few years ago, as values seem to have stabilized. The second series will typically cost around EUR 10.000 more with the GT and GTS potentially even more for low-mileage cars. High kilometres need not be a problem though, if the car has a solid and well documented history – but only then.

In terms of value for money, this means that you still get one of the best GT’s ever built for less than half of a classic 911, and no more than a third of what a power-wise more comparable 911 Turbo from the same period would cost. That my friends not only makes this a bargain among Porsche classics, it does so among classic GT cars in general as well!

*Yes, design is personal, but no one can really fault the 928, can they?*

The V10 is dead – long live the V10!

On August 24, 2025August 24, 2025 By ChristofferIn News, Opinion, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

To borrow from John Cleese in the legendary Monty Python scene from the animal shop with the dead parrot, the V10 is no more. It has ceased to be and gone to meet its maker, and for all those of us who felt it was something truly special, that’s obviously very sad news. That said, there’s a bit of a delay in this post given production of the last V10 engine took place in late 2024, but if you haven’t gone into mourning yet or perhaps hadn’t realized it, the time has definitely come to do so. Let’s therefore look back into what made the V10 so special, the most prominent street cars that featured it, and, should you decide to help preserve the V10 for coming generations, which cars you should consider!

The V-shaped, 10-cylinder engine has been around far longer than many people think. Its roots go back to the 1940’s, but its history in street cars is far shorter, starting in the early 90’s. In the era when naturally aspirated engines were still the way to go, the V10 became a good alternative for when a V12 was too big and heavy, but a V8 wasn’t powerful enough. It produced more power than a V8 and often also ran smoother with less vibrations. And whereas it was less powerful than a V12, it typically had more torque, and was obviously also smaller and lighter. And then there was of course the sound that many still consider unequalled. I won’t even try to describe it in words, but let’s just say that if you’ve heard a V10 in higher rev’s, you’re not likely to forget it!

*The V10 era was arguably the best sounding in modern F1 racing*!

V10’s were also the main engine used in F1 during two decades. They appeared in the late 80’s after FIA’s ban on turbo engines, when manufacturers during a couple of years used everything from V8’s to V12’s (imagine that today…), Notably thanks to its greater efficiency and lower weight, the V10 then became the F1 engine of choice in the late 90’s and the first half of the 00’s, when all cars ran V10’s in what’s probably the best sounding period of F1 history. The fun ended when FIA made the small, 2.4 litre V8’s mandatory in the mid-00’s, making V10’s became a thing of the past.

In terms of street cars, surprisingly few brands have featured them in their line-up. The first was Chrysler in the 10-cylinder Viper. In the true American spirit of there being no substitute for cubic inches, the V10 was developed from the Chrysler V8 to which two extra cylinders and an aluminum block from Lamborghini were added. The initial version displaced no less than eight liters, putting out 400 hp, which in subsequent versions would increase to 8.3 liters at most, and over 500 hp.

*The gigantic Viper V10 looks good, and sounds even better!*

BMW also built a V10 engine, however only one, which was featured in the E60 5-series and the E63 6-series from the (Chris) Bangle-era between 2000-2005. At 507 hp, the 5-litre engine was the most powerful, naturally-aspirated engine BMW has ever built, and also one of the most high-revving V10’s ever produced. Importantly it also featured in the 5-series station wagon called E61, the only M-wagon ever built until the current M3 and M5 Touring, and perhaps the most collectible of the three models today.

The brand family that made the V10 most famous is however Audi-Lamborghini. Audi bought the Italian brand from Sant’Agata in 1998, and when the Gallardo was presented five years later, it was with the same base V10 engine that would be featured in the Audi R8 a few years later, from 2009 onwards. It displaced 5 litres in the Gallardo and 5.2 litres in the R8, but with a similar power output at around 520 hp in both. To round it all off, both cars were also available with a manual gearbox. And whereas the R8 later also came with a V8 option, the Gallardo was ever only available with the V10, as was its later replacement, the Huracan. The special version Huracan STJ, presented in 2024, would be the last production car to feature the V10, in its final form delivering all of 640 hp.

*The Lamborghini Huracan STJ – a worthy end to an era!*

Whatever you think about our coming electrification or lack thereof, the probability of the V10 making a comback is slim, to say the least. So if you want to add an example of this wonderful engine to your garage, you’ll have to look at pre-owned cars. Should you? The answer is a resounding yes, as long as you know what you’re doing. BMW’s V10 wasn’t directly derived, but borrowed heavily from the early 00’s F1 engine the company ran, meaning it’s at heart a race engine and needs to be serviced accordingly. That may be obvious if you buy an R8 or a Huracan. Somewhat unfortunately however, as you’re able to buy both the V10 M5 and (especially) M6 for below EUR 50.000, all buyers don’t realize that. Just as little as previous owners may have.

Therefore, buying a more recent and certainly more expensive R8 or Huracan is probably a safer bet, but as always, if you do your homework properly, nothing fundamental speaks against a BMW V10 either, or a Gallardo for that matter. Personally, I would park an early Gallardo in my garage and make sure it’s a manual. It may have been Lambo’s first mass-produced car, but it was certainly also the best. Now ask yourself when you last saw one? Exactly. Especially in manual form, the Gallardo is certainly a coming classic, with a design language that is as much early 00’s as it gets.

*The E61 M5 Touring – one cool family car!*

That said, you can’t really fault anyone buying an R8 or a Huracan either – far from it. And the guy that packs his family and luggage into an M5 Touring with a V10 up front before heading south for the summer vacation will obviously always be a hero. The V10 options may thus be few, but they’re all great, so there’s clearly hope that this wonderful engine will live on for many years to come!

Mon Dieu what a collection!

On June 22, 2025June 22, 2025 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

I’m currently enjoying a bit of vacation in the south of France, and the other day we went into Nice to explore the area around the port. A lot has happened in the city in the last 10 years, transforming it from a place that at least in some areas was quite rough in my youth, to the delightful city it’s become today.

A lot of the improvements have come with a new tramline system that provide an excellent alternative to car driving in the city itself. And with less people driving, some lanes have been converted to bike lanes, trees have been planted, and it all looks much nicer than before. It proves the point that as long as there are good alternatives, most of us are happy not to drive around in city centers – but the alternatives need to be in place first, which is a point a lot of politicians seem to struggle with.

The tram line running all the way to the airport to the west of the city starts in the port area in the easternmost part. This is maybe the part of Nice that has seen most improvements over the last years, and it was while exploring the streets on the east side of the port that we stumbled upon a small alley with a garage at the end. And the garage had a few interesting cars up front, making it worthy of a closer look.

*A Daytona convertible next to an F355 – and this was just the beginning…*

What we came upon and that I had no idea of, was a garge called Motors Corner, boasting a showroom iof over 1000 sqm, with what must be Nice’s largest collection of interesting automobiles. It must also be the most space efficient car collection anywhere, and should they need to move out a car in the back part of the garage for some reason, that would probably take a working day!

Motors Corner specialize in all parts of motoring, from sales and restoration to concierge services, and the collection also reflects the varying nature of the business. Most cars are for sale, others are being renovated, and the company also has an off-market collection that is not exposed at the garage but that boasts some real jewels like the Ferraris F40 and F50, a Bugatti Chiron La Noire, and a McLaren Senna, among many others.

*Many cars are on foreign plates, and this is no doubt a European business*

The highlights in the showroom itself included two beautifully restored 911 S’s from the early 70’s, a Ferrari Daytona Convertible (top picture, can’t promise it was genuine though…), a beautiful Mercedes 540 above, a bunch of other Ferrari’s to die for, including a 250 GT Lusso. Just next to the entrance is the workshop where a Lancia Delta Integrale was being worked on, which at least by the stickers had been around on quite a few races! Next to it stood an E-type Lightweight. And I could go on…

*An E-type lightweight, a Lancia Delta… and a 3-seater Matra in the background!*

The pictures don’t tell the full story and the exhibition is not easy to take in given how cramped it is, but if you’re in Nice, it’s definitely worth stopping by! Until then, you’ll find all the cars for sale (a large part of the collection in the garage) on motors-corner.com, as I’ve discovered since, a site you can spend a lot of time on while sitting in the sun sipping your rosé!

The 8 Gordini – a true rally legend!

On June 8, 2025 By ChristofferIn Auto Legends, Classic cars, News, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Time flies -as if that’s a surprise to anyone. And in the same vein of kicking in open doors, it’s not much of a secret that I have a soft spot for France, as long term readers of this blog will have noted. If memory serves me right, the first “French” post on this blog was that on the wonderful Citroën DS, which I just saw that I wrote five years ago, during the first Covid summer. Those were not happy times so I guess we should be grateful that time flies at least in that respect, but also that floating down a French “départementale” (country road) in a DS has lost none of its charm ever since.

*The French have a thing for trees as crash protection…*

If Citroën was the technologically leading car brand in the late 1950’s and 60’s, Renault was still the largest. Unfortunately, design-wise the brand was far behind the competition in Sochaux, something that became shockingly clear when Renault launched the R8 sedan in 1962, later called only the 8. Just by looking at one and comparing it to a DS, you would think 20 years sets them apart. Of course it was the DS that was the exception, as at the time, far more cars still looked like the R8 than the other way around.

The R8 was a rear-wheel drive, small family sedan with the engine in the back as was still popular at the time. The standard version of the R8 was the definition of unspectacular, but I remember it clearly as it was also built on license in Romania under the name Dacia 1100. Growing up in Stockholm a couple of blocks away from the Romanian embassy, on the way to school, I would see some of these Dacias parked on the street in front of the embassy, together with a later version based on the Renault 10. Somehow the design felt like a far better fit to a Soviet-era, communist dictatorship than to lovely France!

“*Pretty” is not the first word that comes to mind…*

American readers may be interested to learn that the R8 was sold in the US as well, with the French trying to position it as the nimble city and close proximity car it was typically used as in France. At the time however, the US was all about far longer drives on the new interstate highway net, an environment where the small R8 with its 43 hp made much less of an impression. Needless to say, the R8 never became much of a success on the other side of the Atlantic

In Europe however, things were about to improve a couple of years later, in 1964. The regular R8 got a performance boost to 50 hp, but more importantly, the 8 Gordini was launched. Initially only available in the elegant blue called “bleu de France”, which has become a signature color for Renault’s sports versions, the extra power came from greater displacement (all of 1.1 litres!) and a different Weber carburettor setup. Power would be further increased to 100 hp in 1967, when the Gordini also got the double headlights it’s become known for.

*The Gordini deinitely changed things for the better!*

The name Gordini comes from the company of the same name and its founder, Amédée Gordini. Specialized in tuning and motor racing, Gordini was founded in 1946 and competed in F1 in the 1950’s and Le Mans in the 60’s. Amédée Gordini was so good at building race cars that he became known as “The Sorcier” (the sorcerer) and whilst he also worked both on Simca and Fiat cars through the years, most of his work was on Renaults, who bought his company and incorporated it as a subsidiary in 1968. Before the Renault 8, Gordini had also built notably the Renault Dauphine Gordini, another rear-engined, small family car.

The 8 Gordini was a true race car, not only with more power than the standard version, but also with lowered suspension and various other technical modifications throughout. It had assisted steering, a five-speed box and disc brakes on all four wheels. And those wheels were typically very small and very wide! For homologation purposes the 1967 version was also produced as a road car, with a few horse power less than the rally version and a different light setup at the front, but otherwise pretty much the same car. This made it one of the first road-legal race cars, as well as arguably the first GTI car (sorry Golf!). Of the few Gordini’s that remain, it’s mostly this street-legal version you see.

The 8’s predecessor, the Dauphine Gordini, had a lot o success on the rally scene in the early 60’s and sticking with tradition, Renault entered no less than six brand new 8 Gordini in the 1967 Corsica rally. Remember that back in the 60’s, motorsport was almost synonymous with rallying as F1 had not yet got the popularity that would follow in the 70’s. The 1967 Corsica rally would very much lay the foundation for the 8 Gordini’s future success on the rally scene and its position as one of the 60’s leading rally cars. In the first year, the winner and a further three cars in the top five were Gordinis. It would go on to win the Corsica rally another two years, and a long list of other rally victories until 1970 would follow.

*Not many cars would keep up with the Gordini in the late 60’s!*

If the regular Renault R8 still looks like a not very exciting 60’s family car, the 8 Gordini is a different story. Everything from the front lights to the lower suspension and the small wheels give it a cool poise, and the 100 hp have no problem with the car that weighed it at around 800 kg. Neither do the disc brakes, leaving the gearbox and rust protection as the weak spots. The gear change, given the gearbox in the back next to the engine and thus a long way from the gear lever makes it quite vague, and rust protection as on any French car form the 60’s is largely non-existent.

That said, if you’re lucky enough to find an 8 Gordini today, it will most certainly have been renovated. Rare as they are, a good car will be yours for EUR 30-40.000 and will provide the kind of pure mechanical driving pleasure only a 60’s car can, including the drifts from rear-wheel drive combined with the rear-engine setup. All of it brings back memories of an era when Renault was not just a manfacturer of boring family vans, but a name to be counted with on the rally scene!

Ford Capri – what’s your attitude to life?

On January 26, 2025January 26, 2025 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

Back in April of 2022 (almost three years ago, time does really fly!), I did a piece on the Opel Manta, a European sports coupé from the 60’s that has a huge following in Germany and notably also served as inspiration for a movie by the same name. At the time, I remember thinking that for the story of German sports coupes from the 60’s and 70’s to be complete, I would need to add another car to the mix as well, namely the Ford Capri. After all, if you ask true Capri fans, they’ll tell you not only that it was Europe’s first pony car, but also that explaining its history is difficult, since it goes into your attitude to life. As if that wasn’t a good place to start?

The success of the Ford Capri is difficult to overstate, as between 1969 and 1986, more than two million cars were built. But the Capri story doesn’t start there. As readers of a slightly older vintage may remember, Ford already had a car called the Capri under its American Lincoln brand. And Ford in the UK had also developed a 2+2 coupé called the Capri, based on the Ford Consul. None of those were however the “real” Capri. Instead, the story of the first European pony car really starts in the US in 1964, with the success of a certain Ford Mustang.

*A Mk1 Capri, as so often, the purest design-wise compared to later versions.*

Shortly thereafter, Ford in Germany and in the UK (regrouped to Ford Europe), seeing the enormous success the Mustang had had in the US, put some 200m Deutschmarks (DM) on the table and started developing the Capri coupe, with the Ford Cortina as basis. A big part of the success was in the design; not only was the US-inspired Capri with its long hood and short rear end pleasant to look at in a pony car kind of way, but it was also quite roomy, offering enough space for four and (at least some) of their luggage. As we all know everything was smaller back in the day, including both people and their luggage, and the fact that quite a few family fathers could thus opt for a flashy Capri rather than a more boring car, lay the ground for the sales numbers early on.

Between 1969 and 1986, the two million Capris that were sold would come in three series. The Mk1 actually represented half of the whole production, selling in more than 1.1 million units until 1974. The cheapest version was positioned very much on price, with a base version being squeezed in just at 6.995 DM, and marketed as a true sports car for under 7.000 DM. You should put a big question mark around the sports car thing however, given the car had a 1.3 litre four-pot delivering no more than around 50 hp and needing not 10, not 20, but all of 24 seconds to reach 100 km/h.

*The interior of a Mk2 car – at least it looks quicker than 24 seconds to 100 km/h!*

At the other end of the spectrum for the German-built cars (which constituted a clear majority) were however also a 2-litre and a 2.3 litre V6 (later 2.6 litre), delivering 90 and 125 hp. Two optional sport packages called GT and R added various sporty design touches, but in the first series, it was only the V6 cars that had the most important of them all: the bulge in the hood! With sales numbers starting to drop in 1974, it was time for a revised Mk 2 version, which was however not much more than a cosmetic update of the Mk1, with most mechanical parts remaining unchanged.

Correctly identifying many buyers as not that sporty, Ford softened the suspension on the MK2 and a revised rear end improved the practicality with a larger rear window and boot cover. Something far more debatable and typically not ageing very well was the vinyl roof many cars came with. The MK2 premiered in 1974 in the middle of the first oil crisis, which became clear when you look at the sales numbers of the 3-litre V6 that was now available as the top engine: only 188 cars with that engine were sold the first year in all of Germany!

*There’s tuned cars of all generations. Unless you know the tuner, stay clear of them!*

The third series, which for some reason was officially referred to as Mk2 ’78, was again mostly a cosmetic exercise, trying to make the Capri 80’s chic. Under the body, the early 70’s technology was however still very present, including the rigid rear axle with leaf springs. By the end of production in 1986, that made the Capri the last car in Germany to be built with such an antiquated suspension, hardly something to write home about. The fact that the top version was now quite luxurious and available with an automatic transmission and a 2.8-litre V6 putting out 160 hp was then more so!

If you have some space left in your garage and a strong urge to fill it with a Capri, you’ll be happy to learn that contrary to its bigger brother, the Mustang, the European pony car can be had for not much money at all. If you except the sleepy 1.3 litre engine, good cars can be had for around EUR 25.000. The later series are more difficult to find, but actually less expensive. In between, you’ll find a lot of tuned cars, both optically and mechanically, that you will want to steer very clear of. I’d go for the first series with the biggest engine possible, thus combining purity with power. That’s the best attitude to life I can think of!

Ingolstadt’s coolest Transporter!

On September 22, 2024September 22, 2024 By ChristofferIn The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

If you fly long-distance a few times per year like I do, you’ve probably experienced the same feeling when going through the in-flight entertainment menu. Sure, there’s plenty of movies to choose from, but somehow not many of them are very appealing. You keep on scrolling and then with some luck, you end up on one you really want to see. I have a few favourites that are usually featured: one is The Big Lebowski, which I’m sure we all agree is one of the greatest movies ever made. But when I’m in the mood for a bit more action than The Dude delivers, it’s usually the Transporter I end up with. And ideally, that would be “Transporter 2” or “3” in the series of five films.

Luc Besson’s Transporter series is certainly not on the list of “best movies ever made” with a story that is rather simple, a dialogue that is limited, and a strange connection to southern France in some of the films. In my view, two things still make it (very) worth watching. The first is of course the very cool Jason Statham with his rather convincing martial arts skills. The second is the even cooler car he drives in movies 2 and 3, the best-looking Audi A8 of all time. And given I’ve just spent two hours admiring it on my flight over the Atlantic, I figured it’s worth looking a bit closer at!

*Silver mirrors was distinguishing for the S8, in a design close to perfection.*

The A8 series had replaced the old Audi V8 (essentially an A6 with some luxury equipment, a different grille and a V8 engine) in 1994. It had introduced the all aluminium monocoque platform that was new to Audi at the time and helped reduce weight. As for the engines, the top version was first the S8 from 2001 after a minor facelift, and thereafter the flagship A8 W12 with the six-litre, 12 cylinder engine that essentially consisted of three four-cylinder engines in a W, making it smaller than the traditional V12 and thereby leaving enough room for Audi’s four-wheel drive system. The same engine has of course been used in a multitude of high-end cars from the VW group over the years.

In 2002, the second version of the A8 called D3 was introduced, and that’s the one that is of interest here. It looked much more modern than the first version and had taken several years to perfect, notably also since the body was made in aluminium, a material that is light but also a bit limited when it comes to bending and forming it. The final shape was however close to perfection if you ask me, and gave Audi’s luxury limo as much presence as its two natural competitors, the S-class and the 7-series. The latter was at the time designed by Chris Bangle and was no doubt the weird one. The S-class is of course the king of elegance as much then as now. But of the three, there was little doubt that the A8 was the cool one.

*Some cars are even frightening from the rear. The S8 is one of them.*

There’s sometimes a bit of debate as to which A8 our friend the transporter drove, the S8 or the W12. In the D3 series, the S8 was powered by a V10 that was derived from the 4.2 litre V8 and would later be used by Lamborghini in the Gallardo and the Hurracan. The W12 used the same engine as in the previous version, but now with 450 hp. Most W12 cars came in the extended version called L, making it a bit heavier and thereby a few tenths slower to 100 km/h than the S8. And yes, although the S8 would perhaps have been more appropriate, it was the W12 car that Jason Statham drove in “Transporter 2” and “3”, however in the short-wheel version.

In 2009 the D3 was replaced by its successor, unsurprisingly called D4, but a disappointment in design coolness compared to its predecessor. As for film appearances, it was only used in “The Transporter Refueled” from 2015, quite an awful movie that didn’t even feature Jason Statham anymore. In other words, one to quickly forget.

Between the D3 S8 and W12, I think the choice is quite easy. The S8 is clearly the more dynamic, and in fact a highly capable car, even by today’s standards. There’s actually quite a few enthusiasts who refer to it as the best A8 ever, and it’s easy to see why. It had a sportier suspension and larger wheels than the W12, but more importantly, it also featured ceramic brakes. The Torsen differential allowed for up to 85% of the power going to the rear wheels, making it rather playful. The optimised six-speed Tiptronic does a good job, but the real legend is of course the aluminium V10 up front, a great engine and one that the S8 as said shared with the Gallardo and the Huracan. In other words, the S8 is the four-door Lamborghini the latter never produced!

*Jason Statham illustrates how you’ll be expected to defend your S8 against evil people*

If the above isn’t convincing enough for why you do need to add an über-cool, large sedan to your collection, then the price definitely should be. You can find decent S8’s from the D3 generation for as little as EUR 15.000, with top cars going up to around EUR 30.000. In many cases, that will be a basis for negotiation but even if not, that’s very much a bargain for one of the coolest sedans of all time! You’ll want to make sure the engine has been properly serviced by an Audi garage throughout its life, and you should check those ceramic brakes carefully for any cracks. Many cars will have had them replaced with steel ones, but should you need to replace them and stay with ceramics, you’re looking at around EUR 8.000-10.000 for all four wheels.

If you still can’t resist the W12, note that they are more rare, but just as cheap, if not cheaper. Oh, and one more thing, probably unnecessary to mention but just to make sure. There is one, and only one colour the S8 can be in, and that’s black, inside and out. You’re also only allowed to drive it in a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie, carrying a few spare shirts in the boot for when you may get sweaty when fighting off all the bad guys who want to steal your S8, or your W12 for that matter. I would expect there to be many, and who can blame them?

Street finds – the Peugeot 205 Rallye!

On August 25, 2024August 25, 2024 By ChristofferIn Fun stuff, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Finding a true French legend from the 80’s has become increasingly difficult, mostly as they were never the most solid cars around – more on that later. Still, given I spend as much time as possible in southern France these days, the place to find one should logically be on a narrow street in Nice. But of course, according to the law that things never happen as you expect them to, that’s not what happened. The below beauty was parked centrally in Zurich, very close to my office. And what a car it was!

The Peugeot 205 GTI is, next to the VW Golf GTI, the most iconic hot hatch from the 80’s, and the only one that can really compete with the latter in terms of brilliance, and these days, price. It’s almost four years ago that we looked at it, and to me, it’s at the top of my list of hot hatches of any period, were I to get one one day (which I most probably won’t, since it isn’t really my thing, also not for down here in France for which it’s both far too nice).

*A 205 Rallye looking as new as when it was delivered, 30 years ago!*

Describing a hot hatch from more than 30 years ago as luxurious is perhaps pushing it, but there’s no doubt the GTI was the fancier car when compared to its sibling, the 205 Rallye pictured here – the real hard core version in the 205 line-up! It was created as a cheaper and simpler alternative to the more expensive and mechanically more complex GTI, although calling its grand daddy mechanically complicated today is almost laughable.

The Rallye was derived from the base version of the 205, whereby the volume of its original 1.1 litre four-pot was increased to 1.3 litres and about 105 hp. Given that still wasn’t much to brag about, the engineers at Peugeot-Talbot Sport resorted to the cheapest way possible to reduce the car’s weight, namely to remove sound-deafening and other isolation material not deemed strictly necessary. Tada – the trick was done and the Rallye now weighed in at a very modest 800 kg (794 to be exact). it didn’t improve the comfort of course, but rapidly made the car popular among the many aspiring young rally drivers France has always been blessed with!

*A perfectly restored example in every detail*

The Rallye also inherited the front suspension and ventilated disc breaks from the 1.6 GTI, keeping the same drum brakes in the rear. The interior (except then for the removed isolation) is also reminiscent of its bigger brother, but the exterior is cleaner, especially in white as they car I saw, and with those wonderful, 80’s-like white wheels (these were however not original, those were also white, however in steel). There was really no doubt that the car I saw had been restored, as it was really in perfect condition, including on the inside.

The Rallye had a far shorter life than the GTI, being produced only between 1988 and 1992, and only sold in a handful of countries in central Europe. Peugeot had initially planned for 5.000 cars but in the end, no less than 30.000 would be built. The Rallye was thus a success, also since it was a car that was really rewarding when you drove it hard. Unfortunately, that together with the quite thin body parts, have contributed to few cars remaining today. As you may remember (or just have read) from my story of the 205 from four years ago, that particular car was written off following a collision that was certainly not nothing, but also not something that would really trouble a car today.

*The interior isn’t identical, but close to the 205 GTI*

That makes the Rallye even rarer today than the 205 GTI, but price-wise, they fetch around the same money, which is about EUR 25-30.000 for the best cars (and that’s by the way almost twice the money compared to four years ago). The real issue is however finding one – including in France, where even the GTI is not only rare, but today fetches the same price as in other countries, something that wasn’t the case for quite a long time.

I bet this driver doesn’t think about the money though, driving his 205 Rallye, but rather the purest form of driving pleasure, miles from the 1.5 ton hot hatches built today. I just hope he keeps it on the road and avoids close contact with other cars – both for himself and the car!

Porsche 968 – more than a different number?

On July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Back in the day (here defined as when it was assumed we could drive our cars without 17 cameras in every angle), Porsche was a sports car company with a far larger focus on the 911 than today. SUV’s and other, strange four-door creations were still far from the drawing board, but the company was actively trying not only to diversify away from the 911, but more or less to kill it off. I’ve written about this several times, notably in my posts on the Porsche 928 and 944 respectively, four years ago.

As part of that strategy, it was precisely the Porsche 944, launched in 1982, that was to help where until then, the 928 had failed, and it definitely had a lot going for it. It looked modern in a well-designed and quite practical body, including the pop-up headlights that were mandatory in the 80’s. Especially in later years as it evolved, it was also able to shake off most of the Audi vibes its lesser predecessor, the 924, had given it, at least in the eyes of some. For the purists, that was of course not good enough, as it only had a four-cylinder engine that wasn’t even air-cooled.

*Although more modern than the 911, the 944 never won the enthusiasts’ hearts*

In spite of that, the 944 continued to evolve with a second series, called S2, launched in 1989, which brought both more power and a far nicer interior. Also, during the S2’s short lifetime of only three years, production was finally moved from the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, to the Porsche plant in Zuffenhausen near Stuttgart. All that didn’t really help though, as when S2 was discontinued in 1991, it still hadn’t been as successful as Porsche had hoped. And by now, its basic design started to look dated, especially the front and back which went back more than 15 years to the original 924 from the mid-70’s.

Porsche decided to give it one more shot in a Mark III version, internally called the 944 S3. In the eleventh hour, the decision was however taken to change the car more than what had been originally planned, so that when it was launched, Porsche felt it deserved a completely new name – the 968. The exact logic behind the numbers isn’t fully clear, more than Porsche wanting to de-emphasize the connection to the 944, while reinforcing the similarities with the 928 and thereby perhaps also create a positive vibe around the latter.

*As always in those days, Porsche supported the launch with some great advertising!*

Was this a lot of marketing talk, or was the 968 different enough to motivate the new name? Actually, if you look a bit closer as we’ll do below, I would claim it was. The 968 brought updates in several areas that taken together made it a far more modern car. Prospective buyers obviously felt differently and the 968 was never more of a commercial success than the 944 S2 had been. Fast forward 30 years however and it’s become quite an interesting proposition, as we’ll see.

To start with the exterior, there’s no doubt the 968 took after its bigger sibling, the 928. The pop-up headlights were round and the front spoiler looked the same as on the flagship. The rear was completely re-designed and given completely red rear lights, considered highly modern at the time. The interior was however left pretty much alone as since the S2 revamp, it was fully modern and actually an interior that has stood the test of time really well.

*Everything you’ll ever need to drive a car!*

The bigger changes were however in the drivetrain, where firstly, thanks to the transaxle construction with the gearbox in the back, the weight distribution pas practically 50/50 (this had obviously been a feature of the 924 and 944 as well). Also, that gearbox was now a new six-speed, replacing the five-speed box of the 944. There was also an automatic option, that we won’t go into more than that. The basis of the engine was not the 944 Turbo but rather the “normal” S2 engine, here as a 3-liter inline four-cylinder with about 240 hp. It was the first Porsche engine to feature Variocam, a system for variable valve timing, improving both performance and efficiency.

This made the 968 less powerful than both the 911 and its predecessor, the 944 Turbo, which in its last iteration had 250 hp, but also less prone to failure than the latter. And in the early 90’s, 6.5 seconds to 100 km/h was still a respectable time. Above all though, the 968 conveys a true Porsche feel of the time in terms of how it drives, less powerful but more predictable than a 911, and much more light-footed and sporty than a 928. Unsurprisingly the 944 Turbo has more low-rev torque, whilst the 968 as naturally aspirated, has a broader performance range and enjoys being revved.

*The 3-litre four-cylinder, the biggest in the market at the time, is a brilliant engine!*

To prove how good the engine really was, Porsche took it to the Nardo circuit in Italy in the spring of 1992, and drove it flat out for 24 hours. Including fueling stops, the 968 covered a distance of 5566 km, equivalent to an average speed of 232 km/h. Try doing that with an EV!

There’s thus no doubt that the last evolution of the 944 was a pretty big and important one, something I was reminded of when seeing a 968 on the street the other day, and being struck by how good and relatively modern it looked. I did what I’m sure you all do, i.e. checked how much they are these days. To my surprise, it turns out that a nice 968 can easily be yours for around EUR 30.000, with the convertible costing 40-50% more. Somewhat surprisingly, the 944 Turbo is in the same price range as the 968 convertible. As a small comparison, the cheapest 911 of the same age will cost you three times that, and whereas a 928 will be yours for maybe EUR 50.000, it will be much costlier to run than a 968. As will a 911 for that matter, which is also far less practical.

If you have room in your garage and if you still feel confident driving a car without cameras and emergency braking, then you know what to do. And don’t wait too long, as 968’s, of which less than 13.000 were built between 1991 and 1995, are starting to become really rare. The 968 is definitely a real Porsche, and it’s no doubt the best version of the 944 series. It’s both modern and practical enough to be used more than on an occasional Sunday, and all this for a price that is lower than that of a Chinese EV. That makes it really difficult to say no to!

M88 – 3x magic!

On June 16, 2024June 16, 2024 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

Remember Rod Stewart? I know he’s one of those artists you need to check whether he’s died since you last heard of him, but given I just did, I can confirm he’s still alive, and by the looks of it, still kicking. Back in the 80’s, Rod did a song called “Some guys have all the luck”. Given he’s known not only as a Scotsman with a smoky voice but also as a great womanizer, it’s pretty clear what “all the luck” was referring to. This week however, we’ll talk about another guy who really has all the luck – in car terms.

It all started during an innocent catch-up lunch with an old friend from university back in Sweden, before we both moved to Switzerland many years ago. I know he’s interested in cars, so naturally, that’s the turn the discussion took after we’d updated each other on jobs, travels and families. It turned out my friend had just bought himself the nowadays quite rare BMW M635 Csi, one of my all time favorites and a car I wrote about back in 2020. My friend went through the purchase that was a bit our of the ordinary, but will stay between him and me, and then said, kind of matter-of-fact like, that it was nice to finally complete his line-up of three cars with the same engine.

*The first of BMW’s large coupés – the M635 Csi*

My brain was working intensely while my jaw was seeking the ground, as my friend (who by now was rapidly taking on a heroic status) told me he’s also the owner of an M5 of the first, E28 generation, and even more incredibly, of an original M1. The M5 is up in Sweden, but the M1 is a car he regularly drives down here in Zurich. And of course, these three wonderful cars are all powered by one of the greatest engines of all time – the so called M88. a suitably legendary engine for one hell of a car line-up!

The M88 engine was first featured in the M1, after the prototype cars had been tested also with a four-cylinder, turbo engine. The straight, 3.5 litre six cylinder with the so called DOHC dual overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder produced around 280 hp with fuel injection, and around 330 Nm of torque at a relatively low 4500 rpm.

*The M1 was a sensation when it was shown to the world in 1978*

The power was enough to take the light and aerodynamic M1 to 100 km/h in around six seconds, a spectacular time in the late 70’s. Combined with a top speed of around 260 km/h, this made the M1 the fastest standard German sports car when it was launched in 1978, a crown it held onto until its end of production in 1983, when Porsche updated the 911 Turbo.

The M5 (E28) was launched in 1985, two years after the M1 had been discontinued. The four-door sedan was hand-built and powered by the third version of the M88 engine, referred to as M88.3, with around 10 hp more than in the M1 in the non-catalyzed, European version. The M5 was however a car BMW intended for the US market, where the catalytic converter reduced the power somewhat. It would only be produced for three years until 1987.

*Oh how discrete power sedans were back in the 80’s!*

The M635 Csi had seen the light a year earlier than the M5, in 1984. Contrary to the latter, it was built by BMW itself and not the separate M division, officially called BMW Motorsport. It rode 10 mm lower than the standard 635i and also had reinforced brakes, a lower front spoiler and two side mirrors – as standard! As its M brothers, the gearbox was of course a manual, 5-speed dogleg box from Getrag.

So there we go, three absolute legends of the automobile world, all powered by the same legendary engine – and all in my school friend’s garages. As it turned out, this was far from the ordinary catch-up lunch! Looking at it a bit closer though made it clear just how extraordinary his small collection is. Rarest of the three is the M1, of which only 453 were built. The M5 was made in 2241 units, but more than half of these were sold to the US. At 5855 units, the M635 Csi was the mass-produced car of the three.

As long-term readers know by now, Switzerland is a rich country and one that is full of car enthusiasts, so that you usually see all kinds of car legends in quite high numbers. When it comes to this trio however, not a single one of either car is for sale at the moment on the regular sites, not even an M635 Csi. Checking Classic Driver turns up three M1’s currently for sale, starting at around half a million USD. The M5 is slightly more common and will set you back around USD 100′. The M635 Csi is the cheap one of the bunch, with good cars starting at around USD 60′.

It’s in other words quite a good pension fund for his older days my friend has collected. But knowing him, I know that’s also not the reason he got them, and I know he drives and enjoy all three cars. Good for him! And in terms of having all the luck, I guess you can be lucky in other things than cars – as well. I’ll settle for that for now…

Every man’s sports car!

On May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 By ChristofferIn News, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

Car shows are no longer what they used to be and will probably never return to their grandest formats from some years ago. We can certainly blame Covid which put everything to a halt, after which it never quite resumed, but next to that, the electrification trend also caused a lot of insecurity for a number of years among manufacturers about the direction things were taking and thus what to put on their very costly stand.

One of the main attractions at car shows attraction has always been the more or less spectacular project cars that never become reality, but are used as attention-catchers and from which certain elements are eventually carried over to the following production vehicle. Exactly how much of course varies, but one brand which through the years has retained significantly more than most others from the show stand to the production band, is Audi.

*There’s a bit less glamour now than 10 years ago…*

Today we’re going to look at a car that you’ve all seen, and perhaps driven, more times than you can remember, since it’s been with us in different iterations for 25 years, until production stopped in 2023. When it was presented on the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995, it showed a design which to everyone’s surprise, except for the side window line, would be carried over 1:1 to the production car in 1998, including on the inside.

That made the Audi TT sports coupe revolutionary in its looks, with no one being indifferent to it. I’m one of those who have always liked it, especially that rounded, slightly heavy-looking first series, which you can today have for pocket change, and in that segment (the pocket change one, that is), it’s probably one of the best cars you can buy! Let’s look at why.

*Purposeful, cool – and revolutionary for its time*

The TT’s name was derived from the Isle of Man’s motorcycle race called the Tourist Trophy, at which back in the day, NSU, one of the brands which later merged to become Audi, had seen quite some success. It’s however also said to stand for Tradition and Technique, which rhimes rather well with Audi in general. The coupe was launched in 1998 with the roadster following the year after. The car was front-wheel drive as standard with four-wheel drive being optional, and up until 2003, all TT’s were manual, using a five- or six-speed stick shift.

If the exterior and interior design were both rather spectacular, especially at the time, the mechanical parts were less so. The TT was always intended as a sports car for the masses and therefore used the same platform as notably the Golf Mk IV / Audi A3 / Skoda Octavia. It also had an identical powertrain to its Golf siblings, meaning a four-cylinder between 1.8 and 2 litres with 180 to 225 hp, from 2003 complemented by the 3.2 litre VR6 engine with 250 hp from both the Golf and the Passat.

*The interior was in line with the exterior’s looks – nice!*

The TT design was said to be Bauhaus-inspired (a German artistic design movement form the early 1900’s) which is a fine source of inspiration for furniture, but perhaps less so for cars. Despite looking like a soap, at 0.35 the drag coefficient was ok but certainly not spectacular, which was a bit surprising. Even more suprising and rather disconcerting was that the car became involved in quite a few mysterious high-speed accidents, mainly in its home market Germany.

Slightly more mature readers may remember that when it first came out, the TT didn’t have a rear spoiler. What became apparent a bit too late, i.e. after the launch, was that the shape led to a lack of rear downforce at high speeds. The legendary German rally driver Walter Röhrl described it as a feeling of the car travelling backwards if you lifted the pedal in the middle of a high-speed corner, and added in his typical, dry German humour: “driving backwards is something only Röhrl is good at”.

*A cleaner shape – but a dangerous one…*

Audi took action by retro-fitting the rear spoiler and also making an ESP system standard, which the TT originally hadn’t had. The problem was solved, but some TT owners chose to ignore the recall such as to have a car in the original shape. Finding one of those today is probably close to impossible, and also not very advisable. Unless you’re Walter Röhrl, that is.

Since the downforce problem was solved, the TT has always been a safe car to drive, even if it’s never been the most fun sports coupe. After all it’s a Golf on the inside, and even if the looks and the interior give some real sports car vibes, you shouldn’t expect miracles. At around 1500 kgs that mostly sit at the front, it’s also not especially light, even if at only 4 metres length, it’s quite handy. All in all, it really is an everyday sports car for the masses, and as long as there’s only two of you, it’s also quite practical with a lot of luggage space if you fold the rear seats, which are unusable for people anyway.

Focusing on the first series that was built until 2006, finding low-mileage cars is getting difficult, proving that everyday usability. That doesn’t have to be a problem though, as long as the car has been properly maintained. As with all cheap sports cars, there will always be the risk that it’s been used a bit harshly, so a close inspection and owner history is as always important. The good thing however, is that even good cars from the early years can today be yours for a few thousand EUR, which is also interesting since the first series starts becoming rare.

I would go for a coupe with the 2-litre four cylinder, more potent than the 1.8 litre and lighter than the six-cylinder, combined with a stick shift, front- or four-wheel drive. I’d look for one of the classical colours (silver is by far the most frequent, but the kind of petroleum blue is quite nice as well) and pay attention to owner and maintenance history. The TT is no Ferrari, but it’s a German built coupe with VW servicing costs which is much more enjoyable than a regular Golf to find in the garage in the morning!

The world’s rarest, luxury SUV!

On March 24, 2024March 24, 2024 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

In my last post, I discussed the ultra-rare MVS Venturi, one of many attempts from typically small manufacturers, this time in France, to challenge the traditional sports car monopoly of the big ones, one of them obviously being Ferrari. The same week, a good friend in London mentioned a car from a similar period that I had never heard of, which doesn’t happen very often. Surprisingly, this wasn’t another small sports car manufacturer, but rather one of the first luxury SUV’s from Ferrari’s home country Italy. So in this current thread of ultra rare cars most of us have never seen, meet the Rayton-Fissore Magnum!

Of course Italy has much more of a sports car than an SUV tradition, with the latter being quite a recent phenomenon through cars like the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Lamborghini Urus and Ferrari Puros…. oh sorry, that’s of course anything but an SUV. And then there was of course the one that counts like the first, the monstrous Lambo LM002, built between 1986 and 1993. However, the LM002 was actually one year too late to count as the first, as that honor goes to the Rayton-Fissore. It takes another prize as well, which is that of completely failing as a brand, in spite of having a car that time-wise came right at the point when SUV’s started to become popular, and not being without attraction points, as we shall see.

*The LM002 was not the first, but still the biggest Italian SUV!*

The brand had its roots in the small coach-building family Fissore, and it was established by a niece in the family together with her husband in 1976. As far as I’ve been able to determine, the Magnum was the only car ever to appear under the Rayton-Fissore brand, and it was originally intended as a military vehicle, built on a chassis from the Italian truck manufacturer Iveco who also supplied the differential and the brakes. Not very glamorous perhaps, but as a small manufacturer Rayton had to buy in most parts, from the drive train to the interior, from other brands. The first cars were certainly not luxurious, especially as they were powered by the slow and unrefined diesels of the time.

*80’s looks that weren’t to everyone’s taste. It’s bigger than you think!*

Rayton however had bigger plans for the Magnum, and whereas in Europe, the Magnum was available with a variety of engines, from diesels to the same V6 that was used in the Alfa Romeo GTV6, things were different in the US. For the top version that Rayton entered the US market with, they had bought the 5-litre V8 from Ford which also powered the Mustang at the time, and slapped a supercharger on it. Not very Italian perhaps, but tried and tested!

The Rayton was thus sold both in the US and in Europe, but the only version ever intended for the other side of the pond was the top luxury V8 version. And whereas the chassis may have come from Iveco, the interior certainly didn’t. The V8 Magnum was an ocean of leather, wood, and for the time, high-end interior equipment. You see a lot of similarities to the Maserati Biturbos from the same period, Maserati also being part of the Fiat family. That’s the family where Rayton found other parts such as switches and parts as well, making for a bit of a contrast with the luxury of the rest. But there is no doubt that no brand, not even Range Rover, had an SUV with an interior as luxurious as the Rayton at the time!

*A surprisingly nice place to be, making you forget the exterior looks!*

The Magnum was designed by Tom Tjaarda, one of the leading designers at the time with cars like for example the Saab 900 and the De Tomaso Pantera under his belt. He created what looks very much like an 80’s design, however with front and backlights that quite obviously came from some other car and don’t really fit the body. Neither did the minuscule side mirrors, for that matter. What he succeeded in was however the famous lady’s shoe design, i.e. a car that was larger on the inside than it looks. The Magnum was all of two metres wide – not remarkable today, but very much so in the 80’s. This made for a very roomy cabin, with notably room for three grown adults in the rear.

*Note the not very fitting rear lights and minuscule mirrors.*

Rayton entered the US market in 1989 and had then renamed the car the Laforza. Rather incredibly, they would build it until 2003, i.e. for close to 20 years, by which time Rayton had gone through at least two restructurings, engines during a period had come from BMW, and the final assembly had at times been handled by Pininfarina. In 20 years however they never managed to crack into neither the US, nor the European market, in spite of the SUV segment gaining in popularity.

One reason was certainly the looks, that weren’t to everyone’s taste. Another was probably the fact that a car from an unknown brand with a relatively basic Ford V8 cost as much as a Range Rover, but had turn signal sticks from Fiat (not that Range Rover was a wonder of quality at the time, but at least it had brand recognition). Then there was the weight: at more than 2.3 tons, the Magnum/Laforza was very heavy for the time, no doubt also because of those truck parts from Iveco. The combination of weight and a truck chassis both made the Laforza quite slow and also gave it a relatively harsh ride, not really in tune with the luxury profile Rayton wanted the SUV to have.

*A couple of facelifts improved the looks of later, Laforza versions somewhat*

In spite of a very long production time therefore, the best estimates for how many Rayton’s were built talk about a few hundred Magnums and less than a thousand Laforzas, most of them sold in the US. How many have survived until today is also unclear, but there’s a US owners’ club that estimate there are still around 50 cars in the US. I’ve never seen one live, neither there nor in Europe, and doubt I ever will. There’s also not a single one currently for sale, at least in Europe. Whether it’s worth looking for one is of course up to you, but there is a bit of a trend currently in early SUV’s becoming more popular. If that’s your thing, the Rayton is no doubt the most exotic of them all!

Sports Car Maker!

On March 10, 2024March 7, 2024 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

Have you ever dreamt of creating your own sports car? I can’t say it’s something I think of on a regular basis, but when I was younger, I remember sitting with pen and paper, trying to draw a spectacular shape on a piece of paper. Given my extremely limited drawing skills I failed every time, however, when I was at it and thought about what I would call my future brand, at no time did I have the idea of naming it “sports car maker”.

Some people did though, and today we’ll look at a car that I’d honestly be surprised if any of those reading this has ever seen live. I certainly don’t mean to sound condescending, but a French brand from the 80’s building less than 1000 cars during its lifetime is not what you see on every corner. I hadn’t either until I all of a sudden did so, last week, at a red light in Nice. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about the MVS Venturi, later only referred to as Venturi, a French creation from the late 80’s from a brand called MVS, Manufacture de Véhicules Sportifs, French for, you guessed it, sports car maker.

The Venturi story starts in 1984 when the French engineer Claude Poiraud meets the designer Gérard Godfroy. The latter had worked at Peugeot, notably on the 205, and was also responsible for other design masterpieces like, well, the Citroën Visa. More relevant perhaps was the fact that Poiraud had worked at Alpine, the only real sports car maker in France at the time, where he had led the development of the A110, that I wrote about almost four years back.

*The Citroën Visa – perhaps not the best design reference…*

The two decided to put some fresh air in the French sports car scene by starting a new company called Ventury, a name that was supposed to lead thoughts to “aventure” (adventure in French), and the Venturi wind effect, coming from air flow analysis. By writing it with an “y” at the end, they apparently also felt they made the name more European. Be that as it may, but a first mock-up was produced and shown at the Paris auto salon in 1984. It was met with instant success and people reportedly didn’t believe it was French, given they hadn’t exactly been spoiled with sports cars up until then – and as it turned out, wouldn’t be so going forward either…

From here on things accelerated for the company, and the first production cars were introduced in 1987. The “y” had then been dropped for some unclear reason, with the first car called the Venturi Coupé. it was equipped with the well-known V6 engine from the collaboration between Peugeot, Renault and Volvo, referred to as the PRV V6, mid-mounted with a power output of 210 hp. It wasn’t the sportiest engine around, but with a body built in glass fibre, the Venturi didn’t weigh more than 1300 kg.

*That the Venturi is Ferrari-inspired is an understatement…*

In 1989 power was increased to 260 hp from the same engine, in a version suitably named Venturi Coupé 260. The last cars in that series would be referred to as Atlantique, as would the last road version of the last Venturi, the 300. You will have guessed it had a power output of 300 hp, however now from a newer Peugeot-Citroën, six-cylinder engine, and Atlantique referred to a sportier and lighter interior, contributing to a weight saving of around 165 kg, making a light car even lighter.

Given all these looked pretty much the same from the outside, which is pretty much like a Ferrari F355 without the Testarossa-like wind intakes, I can’t say which version I saw, and naturally I didnt’ get my phone up in time before the light turned green. The Venturi looks very stylish though, in an 80’s supercar kind of way. At just over four metres in length it’s a small and low car, and next to the F355, other natural references are the Honda NSX and also the Lotus Esprit. i would say it’s less spectacular than both those, but also has a more classical design.

The few who have driven a Venturi talk about a slightly chunky gearbox but a very nice and precise hydraulic steering. The car may look like a Ferrari but the engine has precious little in common with Maranello, with a red line already around 6.000 rpm, and a sound that’s only exciting if you’re an EV driver. Venturi compensated that with a very nice, and leather-rich interior, far more luxurious and well appointed than most cars of the time.

*A nicer place to be than many other 90’s cars!*

During the 90’s, Venturi went through several ownership changes and with that, more business strategies than you can count. There were notably plans to build a family car that were never realized, high ambitions for making Venturi a racing brand, and notably no less than seven Venturis participating in the Le Mans race in 1993. In the end Venturi ran out of money, and having been saved by a Thai group when it was first placed in liquidation in 1995, the subsequent Asian crisis meant that the lights went out for good in the Venturi factory in 2000. It also meant that of the 44 Venturi 300 Atlantique that had been ordered by then, only 13 were ever delivered. Those that have survived certainly belong to a lucky bunch of people!

All in all, no more than 641 Venturis would be built in total. Such a small series obviously means they’re very rare 30 years later. There’s not a single one for sale in France, neither in Germany, but there are two in Switzerland, a first series at around USD 40.000, which is the red car on the photo above, and an Atlantique of the 260 series, seen below. That’s by the way the first car of that series, in other words the first Atlantique ever built, making the price of around USD 60.000 very reasonable. Unfortunately though, it’s also a bit of a renovation object…

*If you’re up for renovating the first Venturi Atlantique, let me know…*

If you’ve always dreamt of a Venturi, Switzerland thus seems to be a good place to start. And in terms of spare parts, it’s actually not as bad as you may first think, given that as a small brand, Venturi had to buy what they could from other brands. The PRV engine will not be a problem, neither will many of the switches or side mirrors, coming from Citroën, or the rear lights from Ford… The list goes on. Not much to fear in other words, and if your highest dream is a car you can be certain of not seeing on your neighbour’s drive, it’s hard to find a better option than a Venturi!

Street finds – the BMW 3.0S!

On January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 By ChristofferIn Fun stuff, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

The snow had fallen overnight and it was the coldest morning so far in 2024, as I spotted it standing there in all its modesty, just next to my office. The BMW 3.0S was in tune with nature, not only for the color, but also since somewhat unexpectedly, it was on winter tires! Compared to BMW’s latest luxury sedan, the i7 that I had seen earlier the same day, you can’t help but admire the modesty of designs back in the day.

*Truly in mint condition, with modern winter tires!*

As always when seeing a car from an older generation, the first thought (or actually the second, after how modest its design was) is how small it is compared to today’s cars. After all, this was the predecessor to the first 7-series and already set to compete with notably the S-class, and yet it wasn’t bigger. That said the 3.0 always led a discrete life, very much in the shadow of that younger, more beautiful sibling everyone prefers…

Street finds are rare in winter and stumbling upon a BMW 3.0 was certainly not what I expected on the way to work last week. BMW’s then luxury sedan was launched in 1968 after several years when the brand had lacked a larger car, and going through a period that had been very economically challenging.

A few years earlier they had however launched the mid-sized BMW 1500 which had become a success, so ever so slowly, the finances were improving. The 3.0 was launched to re-establish BMW as a luxury maker for those with a thicker wallet and was a clear break, also in production technique, with its closest predecessor the 501, built since the early 50’s and discontinued in 1964.

*From a 3/4 view, it actually looks pretty much like a 70’s E-class…*

It’s completely unthinkable these days that the luxury line of a brand wouldn’t have a name (even if in some cases, you would wish they didn’t…), but the 3.0 was always called just that. Internally it was however known as the E3 and was the first BMW to have the E designation. Why, given that, it wasn’t called the E1, I can’t tell you.

The fact that the grill is black and the rear lights larger tells you that this is a second series 3.0, produced after 1971, however before 1974, when the six-cylinder engine was increased to 3.3 litres. At the time it was the top of the line engine, and its core would live on until the 90’s.

Back in the early 70’s however, far more potent engines were also in development, including a 5-litre V12. Four 3.0’s were actually built with a V12 engine, just around the time of the first oil crisis, which quickly put stop to any further developments in that direction. I wonder if one of those is still around, and exactly how nose-heavy it is to drive…

*Cooler and more beautiful – especially without US bumpers*…

So what about the beautiful sibling? I’m of course referring to the 3.0 CS, internally called E9, the beautiful coupé that was built by Karmann in parallel to the 3.0. Far more of these are still around today and they’ve really taken off in price, contrary to any 3.0 you may find, which will likely still be sub-30.000, or about 1/3 of a good CS. That probably tells you that a coupé was more of a Sunday car, already back in the day…

I’ve actually seen this particular 3.0 another couple of times since I first spotted it, so it clearly belongs to someone living in the neighborhood. I hope to meet the owner one day, not only to congratulate him/her on the perfect condition of the car, especially since it’s clearly driven all year around, but also to learn more about its history, because I’m sure there’s a nice one to tell. If I do, the story will be continued!

The Bavarian sports shoe!

On January 7, 2024January 7, 2024 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

As we start off 2024, I want to update you on a change that you will soon notice on the blog, namely that I will no longer keep up the weekly posting frequency. My rather hectic work life is one reason for this change, but another is also a certain pressure to come up with interesting content and write about it on a weekly basis, as the time from one Sunday to the next can be awfully short sometimes!

My priority has always been, and will continue to be, to bring you well thought-through, quality content written in a way I’m comfortable with, and on that I will never compromise. From now on however, that means posting less frequently, and in the meantime, give you time to look through the several hundred posts written so far, that you can find on the blog. I hope you’ll enjoy the reading!

____

With that out of the way, for the first post of the year we’ll go to Bavaria and look at a car that I believe is well on its way to become a modern classic. Design-wise, it stands out compared to basically everything, in what many would say is a cool and certainly a quirky way. It’s so rare that you probably haven’t seen one in quite some time, and it also brings a number of traditional qualities associated both with the thrill of driving and BMW! It became the first “test” car I drove this year, and boy was it a good start!

*The Z3 was BMW’s first model series exclusively built in the US*

I’m of course talking about the BMW Z3 Coupé, a car on which opinions have been divided since its launch in 1998. The coupé was part of the Z3 family, with the Z3 convertible as its older and more popular sibling. The convertible was launched three years earlier, in 1995, as a more luxurious alternative to the Mazda Miata that had shown the potential for modern, two-seat roadsters in the years before.

The Z3 convertible may well have been a neat little two-seater, but it was far from a rigid one, which is what tends to happen when you cut the roof off the car, as many convertible owners will know. It was notably for this reason that a bunch of engineers down in Bavaria got together in their free time and started to develop a coupé concept to complement it.

The shooting break shape that resulted wasn’t met by acclamation by management but was half-heartedly given the go ahead, and the fact that BMW never really stood behind it certainly explains the low production numbers and why it’s so rare today. What it did achieve however was certainly to make the wobbly Z3 convertible more rigid – actually 2.6 times more, making it one of the stiffest cars on the market at the time!

*Is it a shooting brake? No, it’s a sports shoe!*

All Z3 coupés were rear-wheel drive and equipped with six-cylinder engines under the long, front hood. The base version initially had BMW’s 2.8 litre straight six putting out 192 hp, which was increased to 3 litres and 231 hp in 2000, in connection with the only smalle face-lift during the short production run of the car. The M Coupé had the E36 and E46 M3 engines, as we’ll see below.

Herein also lies the reason why BMW didn’t support the new coupé whole-heartedly. Especially the M version sat a bit too close in the line-up to the shining star, the M3, with which it was also price-wise on par. This was also the reason why for a bit of a step-motherly treatment of the Coupé in some instances, for example never getting the six-speed manual box from the E46 M3, having to settle for the simpler, five-speed box.

The base model’s straight six engine was shared across all coupés produced both for the US and Europe. In the M Coupé however, the US version up until 2000 had the S52 engine from E36 M3, whereas the European version had the so called S50 engine. The benefit was more power (315 hp vs 240 hp in the US version), the downside a more complicated build requiring more maintenance and adjustments. From 2000, all M Coupés shared the 320 hp strong straight-six from the E46 M3, an engine that also requires a fair bit of maintenance, notably with individual valve adjustments.

*The E46 M3 engine from 2000 onwards is amazing – but needs a lot of TLC!*

The Z3 series was BMW’s first car line completely built in the US, correctly judged as the main market for the convertible. However, the coupé didn’t see much success there either. Apart from BMW’s positioning issues in the model range and the divisive design, competition was of course harsh at the price-point, both since you could get an M3 for the same money, and also since that money would also buy you quite a lot of car from other brands. In the end, only some 17700 coupés were built in total across the three versions 2.8i, 3.0i, and M Coupé, to be compared to the more than 170.000 BMW sold of the convertible, i.e. 10 times as many.

As I neared the 3.0 litre coupé I drove earlier this week, I couldn’t remember when I had last seen one. I’m in the camp of those who have always liked the “sports shoe” design, also since it looks like nothing else on the road. That it also has some benefits becomes clear as soon as you open the glass tailgate and find a surprisingly large luggage area, and also on the inside, which ample space for two. The car in question was a 2000 model with the 3.0 litre straight-six, a manual box and around 110′ km on the clock. It was in good, if not mint condition.

Two other things become noticeable before you turn the key. Firstly, the Coupé is quite a small car, only four metres long, and only weighing around 1400 kg, around 150 kg less than the E36 M3. Secondly, everything in the inside of course comes from the 3-series. Except for the colors that is. Thankfully, “my” car had a unicolor beige leather interior, but quite a few cars have bi-colored creations mostly in red-black or blue-black, which must have been seen as cool 25 years back – at least in Germany.

*The German idea of sportiness. There are unicolor interiors as well…*

The drive that followed quickly put a smile on my face. The 231 hp from the 3-litre six are plenty for the small car, and boy is that engine a peach! So well-sounding, smooth at every speed, and very happy to rev far beyond what you should do on summer tires in January rain at 4 degrees… The balance is exquisite, no doubt helped by the rear-wheel drive, and you can basically drive the car like a hot hatch, should you want to.

The chassis is definitely stiff enough, and there we no squeeks anywhere in the car. The manual gearbox could be tighter and the steering more direct, then again, this is a 25-year old car. That said, a 911 from the time is definitely more precise (but also more expensive). In summary, the Z3 Coupé is a car you fell at home in very quickly, that is a joy to drive on a daily basis, and that is both comfortable and practical enough for longer trips for two.

The reasons I see this as a pretty sure bet for a coming classic is of course all of the above. The Z3 Coupé is rare, has a design that stands out, a great engine, rear-wheel drive, and although the non-M Coupés could be had with an auto box, most are manual, and they are the ones you should go for. ideally in combination with the optional, glass sunroof, that help lighten up the cabin.

*The car I drove earlier this week sat slightly lower, as many do.*

Price-wise, a good regular Z3 Coupé will still be yours for EUR 25.30.000, whereas you pay roughly twice that for the M Coupé, meaning it’s already trading in classic car territory. Interestingly, that means that the M Coupé still costs roughly the same as an E36 or E46 M3. It is however not only lighter, but also far more rare, and at least for two, also more practical. To me, it’s also way cooler.

It wouldn’t be my choice however, because that would be the version I drove, i.e. the 3-litre coupé. Power is plentiful, the design is roughly the same, and there’s really no reason to pay double for the M Coupé, also in view of higher maintenance. But at EUR 25-30.000 for a 3-litre Z3 Coupé, you really can’t go wrong. A good sports shoe is always useful, and this one is arguably the coolest one around!

FF = Forza Ferrari!

On December 10, 2023December 10, 2023 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

One of the funny things with writing a blog on a weekly basis is that you’re sometimes not sure if you’ve covered a car or not. So when I went by a Ferrari dealer close to my home last week and saw a beautiful FF, I was quite certain I had already written about it, given I have fond memories of it from previously, and it is, after all, one of the most capable cars ever built – but was pleasantly surprised to discover that wasn’t the case!

All the more reason then for doing so this week, for a bunch of good rasons: firstly, it’s my all-time favourite among Ferrari GT’s. Secondly, it has a 12-cylinder, naturally aspirated engine of a kind we’ll never see again. And thirdly, whilst still pretty much a bargain, FF’s seemed to have reached a bottom and may slowly be on their way upwards in price, making it quite a rare opportunity from Maranello, given it’s one of the most complete cars Ferrari ever built!

*Pininfarina’s design language is the same as notably for the 458*

Big GT cars with four seats and a big 12-cylinder engine up front (although typically behind the front axle) have a long tradition at Ferrari, although the four seats have usually more been of the 2+2 kind, such as in the 612 Scaglietti that the FF succeeded when it was launched in 2011. Although there’s no way to compete with that name, the FF itself is definitely a more interesting proposition, and not only in terms of backseats.

People tend to have opinions of the negative kind of the wonderful, Pininfarina-designed FF looks, especially from the 3/4 rear angle. Well, anyone not appreciating the sublime shooting brake shape urgently needs a (new) pair of glasses, in my completely objective opinion. But be that as it may, the advantages the shape brings both in rear and booth space are quite astonishing.

The two back seats are of adult size and set slightly higher than the front seats, meaning they feel less cramped. In addition, the luggage space behind them is impressive, and should only two of you travel, the FF is as spacious as a hatchback. But that’s where the similarities end…

*You can fit a lot in here and if you’re four, it’s not too bad either*

Before we get to the main course, i.e. one of the most wonderful engine ever built, let’s look at another FF perk, namely its first four-wheel drive system. You see, not only is the FF Ferrari’s first-ever 4WD car, but it is so thanks to one of the most advanced systems in the market – for good and bad.

When the decision was taken that the FF should drive on all four wheels, Ferrari wasn’t happy with the compromises a traditional 4WD system would give, notably in additional weight moving the weight distribution upwards. Instead, they went ahead and developed their own system in the shape of a simplified, second two-speed gearbox (plus reverse) that sits behind the engine, allowing the latter to be positioned as low in the car as in any other Ferrari.

The system is called 4RM and can in a simplified way be described as the two gears having two clutches that constantly slip, thus meaning the system doesn’t need a differential. It’s only active in gears 1-4, and never with more than around 20% of the car’s 650 Nm of torque. The FF remains fundamentally rear-wheel drive, but thanks to the so called PTU (Power Transfer Unit) which transfers power to the front wheels independently when required, the front wheels can complement the rear ones.

*This is not the road to Verbier, but the FF will definitely take you there!*

There’s no doubt it’s a highly advanced system from a technological point of view, and one of its advantages is the weight saving, given it’s around 50% lighter than other 4WD systems. Unfortunately it’s not all rosy though, as we’ll see later.

So what about that engine? Well, it really is everything you could ever ask for. As a naturally aspirated, 12-cylinder, 6.3 litre piece, it was the biggest engine in the world when the FF was launched, and putting out around 660 hp, it ensures that even at close around 1900 kg, the FF is seriously fast at 3.7 seconds to 100 km/h and a top speed of around 330 km/h. I don’t need to tell you how well the engine sounds, and it’s paired to a seven-speed, DSG box from Gertrag that does an excellent job.

So with all this said, who is the typical FF-buyer? Some Youtuber suggested it’s someone who would otherwise consider an Audi RS6, which I personally think is utter b’shit. I would rather think of three types: the supercar driver with need for more room, the parent with small children and an understanding other half, or the parent with grown-up children, thus only looking at transporting himself and his partner. If it weren’t for the dog cage, I would fit perfectly into that third category…

If you feel like this describes you, there are a few things you should consider before parking a 6.3 litres V12 in your garage. The first is that the FF is a big car. At almost five metres long and two metres wide, it’s only marginally smaller than a Range Rover, meaning it’s not a car for narrow streets or congested cities, but rather for long stretches of motorway travelling. That also means you will manage a few more km before re-fueling, which is something you’ll be doing a lot of, in spite of a 90-litre tank. It all depends on your driving, but 1.7-2 litres per 100 km is what you’re likely to see.

*Intsead of worrying about fuel costs, enjoy the wonderful interior!*

And then there’s the PTU issue. As ingenious as the construction may be, it quickly became a major issue for Ferrari, since the PTU would leak in a large number of cases. At first Ferrari would replace it under warranty, then at cost, meaning more than EUR 25.000, but after that, specialist companies have come up who can renovate the box without replacing it, cutting the cost to EUR 8-10.000. So before buying an FF, make sure the PTU has been replaced or renovated, and otherwise negotiate the price heavily!

Next to that however, the FF rather has less issues than other supercars. It’s quite simply a great and very capable proposition, with the added advantage that it looks to have bottomed out, price-wise. Even if it was built during five years between 2011-2016, only some 2300 cars were produced in total, which is certainly one factor in keeping prices steady. The fact that most PTU’s have been fixed is another, as is of course one of the last true engines out there!

*The glass roof adds a lot of airiness especially to the back seats*

Most FF’s sold as new for EUR 350.000-400.000, depending on equipment, and most can today be had for EUR 100.000 (early cars with around 90.000-100.000 km on the clock) to 150.000, meaning less than half of their value as new. You will typically see higher mileages than for other Feraris, as FF’s tend to be used, which is a good thing! The condition, the PTU and the equipment are more important than the year of production, but if you have the choice, go for a newer car such as to avoid some small issues early cars may have. On that equipment list, the glass roof is a great option if you will regularly carry people in the back, but it’s one that will push up the price.

I could go on, but I think you got it by now. The FF is a car which as a package we will never see again. It’s far sportier than a Bentley Continental GT, and it it’s not only prettier, but also far roomier than the Aston Martin Rapide, which isn’t four-wheel drive. What’s more, it’s successor, the GTC4, is basically a face-lifted version of the same car, for which you’ll still pay around EUR 50-70.000 more, which there really isn’t any reason to do. Thus, if you have the passion and the money (including a budget for things that shouldn’t, but could go wrong), at least this blogger can’t think of a better option. FF is officially short for Ferrari Four, referring to both wheels and seats. I’ll take it to mean Forza Ferrari!

The day has dawned for Porsche bargains!

On October 22, 2023October 22, 2023 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

When I bought my Range Rover, that I recently sold, two years ago, I did so at 1/3 of its price as new back in 2015. Unfortunately though, at the time of selling it, it had lost another 20%. It felt like a pretty good deal at the time of buying, and I attributed the additional value loss to mainly Land Rover’s less than stellar reputation, and also the fact that it had a five litre V8 under the hood, which for reasons I don’t need to name, isn’t really the flavor of the day these days.

As I started looking for possible replacements however, it became clear that something had happened to secondary values in general, not just to old Range Rovers. My 2019 BMW 540i with less than 50.000 km on the clock that I finally replaced the Range with cost me CHF 49.000, from a new price of around CHF 135.000 (yep, it’s well equipped). So again, not far from 1/3 of the original value, in spite of this being a newer and more modern car, with a smaller engine, and from a brand with a better reputation.

*The 540i is in most aspects all most of us will ever need.*..

The sad truth is once more that in spite of fundamentals and common as well as economic sense, anything that is not fully electric is currently falling faster in price than Germany’s power production. The Covid pandemic was a bit of a hick-up in this regard, as it resulted in delivery issues that took a while to work through and that helped keeping prices of used cars artificially higher, but now that we’ve moved on, the trend is clear to see.

Whatever happens to the car market in general though, there’s a group of brands that are never really affected. Ferraris, Lamborghinis an other supercar exotics seem to be wholly uncorrelated to general trends, and bar some exceptions, that doesn’t seem to have changed, more on which below. And of course, anything with 911 in the name coming from Zuffenhausen can only go one way, right?

*…were it not for the attraction of that classic 911 design!*

Actually, no. In a way, this is of course not new. You’ve been able to pick up the 996 at bargain prices (and you still can, even though they’ve clearly bottomed out), but that was typically the only 911 that didn’t hold its value really well. What has become clear lately though, is that the 996 was the starting point for that being the case for subsequent models, rather than the exception to the rule.

The 997 succeeded the 996 in two series, of which the second one is preferrable to the first for quality reasons. A good 997 can today be had for EUR 40-50.000, but perhaps somewhat surprisingly, I don’t think that’s the car you should go for. Not when the far better 991 can be had for not much more.

The 991 was built between 2012 and 2019 on an all new platform, only the third one in the 911 history (the 996 being the second). It also had an all new body that was 7 cm longer than its predecessors but above all, it had a new transaxle construction with the rear wheels having been moved backward to improve the weight distribution. The result is better handling and, a fundamentally better car.

*More buttons than screens, and complete driver-focus*

The base 991 Carrera. came with 350 hp out of the flat six, increased to 400 hp in the stronger Carrera S. Both could be had both as manual and with the double-clutch, seven-speed PDK box. The first series was built until 2016, with the second running thereafter until 2019 having the all new, downsized 3-litre engine used until this day, rather than the original, classic 3.6 litre.

Today, you can find a nice, first series 991 with less than 100.000 km on the clock for around EUR 60.000. Actually, you can even dig out a Carrera S at that price if you search well. This for a modern 911 that mostly cost well above EUR 100.000 as new! Sure, it’s not 1/3 of the new price as my examples above, but it’s around half price and above all, it’s not what we’re used to when it comes to 911’s. Again, a GTS, GT cars or special models will be more expensive. But even a modern, base 911 is a pretty nice proposition, and I would argue a very nice one at this price point!

If most people agree with the above, what comes below will certainly be more contentious. When Porsche introduced the 718 Cayman and Boxster in 2016, as part of the general downsizing trend, they did so with a 2 or 2.5 litre turbocharged four-cylinder, something that was about as appreciated among enthusiasts as the introduction of the water-cooled 996 had been in the 90’s.

*The Cayman is arguably the best-looking, modern Porsche*

The four-cylinder wasn’t well received by the motoring press either, pretty unanimously seeing it as lacking character and producing an awful sound. Be that as it may – the engine certainly sounds different and doesn’t have the character of the flat six. But it’s powerful enough, cheaper to run, and for some people, two extra cylinders isn’t what really matters.

If this sounds like you, you’ll be happy to know that the very good-looking Cayman (that I’d personally prefer over the Boxster) can now be had for about EUR 40.000. And just so we’re clear, the 718 Cayman has been built since 2016, so this is a very recent car.

For me, it would have to be a first series 991 though, since a 911 is after all a 911, and I can’t really stomach the four-cylinder option. I would take my time (which will probably continue to work in buyers’ favour!) and find a nice Carrera S, perhaps pushing the envelope somewhat for the right car. And I’d go for the manual if I had the choice, but the PDK is so good so that it wouldn’t be critical.

*That’s exactly where a (preferably six-cylinder) engine should sit!*

Porsche price stability is thus not what it was, and at least in some, limited cases, this seems to be the case for Italian supercars as well. In a completely different price segment to the above, Ferrari has a bit of an issue around the SF90 Stradale, which unlike other top-of-the-line cars from Maranello isn’t really going anywhere. Literally, since especially in Germany, Ferrari dealers have SF90’s standing around for far too long, and at the time of writing, there’s currently no less than 152 cars for sale on the German market.

The 1000 hp hybrid, built since 2020, cost EUR 450.000 in base price as new, but in reality EUR 50-100.000 more once it hit the streets. Should you want to pick one up today, you’ll have no trouble finding a well-equipped one for less than the base price, probably as low as EUR 400.000 after a bit of negotiation, with insignificant km on the clock.

*You’re more likely to see one at the dealer than on the street…*

That’s not the way Maranello imagines its top-of-the-line cars to go, but my guess is that it has a lot to do with aficionados preferring Ferraris to come with a (preferrably naturally-aspirated) combustion engine rather than a hybrid, even it if has 1000 hp. If that’s true, given where the world is at, there could well be further disappointments ahead for manufacturers, but more good news for secondary buyers!

Japan’s only real pony car!

On October 15, 2023October 15, 2023 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

If there’s one thing that is even less featured on this blog than American cars, it’s those from the land of the rising sun. In the case of the US, this is explained by this not being my area of expertise. In the second, its frankly because of a lack of interest. Having said that, Toyota sells about 10 million cars per year and although it’s the biggest Japanese brand by a margin, it’s certainly not the only one. Surely there must be something to write about in those numbers ?

Honestly, these days I’m not so sure. There is the Nissan GT-R we’ve talked about, and then of course the Honda NSX, which however isn’t even close to reaching the cult status the original NSX has these days. The Lexus LC is a cool-looking thing, but as so many Japanese cars, it feels like it lacks personality. And then there’s of course a bunch of hot hatches, mostly from Honda, but if you’re into those, chances are you’re not reading this blog in the first place.

*The original Celica, here in cool, 70’s GT trim*

Last week however I saw a Japanese car I haven’t seen in a long time and which certainly. has personality. It reminded me of the time when Japanese cars were much less present on Western streets then they are today, meaning the early 70’s (which in turn reminded me of how old I am…). In an effort to change that, and especially to enter the US market, Toyota launched the car I’d just seen, the original Celica, in 1970.

Celica is Latin and means “celestial”, which I guess is the direction Toyota wanted sales to go. And over the coming years, they would be proven correct as the Celica became a very popular sports coupé. However, none of the later series had the charm of the first one, which was of course also Japan’s first try at, if not a muscle car, then at least a cool looking pony car!

*The interior, certainly with some US inspiration*

Back in Tokyo in the late 60’s, Toyota’s engineers realized that the only cars they had that could come in question for exports to the US and Europe had too small cabins for a normal Western male, and too small engines for their liking. If they ever wanted to make it big on the other side of the ocan, especially the US, that would have to change, and the Celica was Toyota’s first try at doing that.

The Celica was based on the Toyota Carina, perhaps not the best reference in the world if you want to build a sports car, and also a car with which the first Celica shared a few too many parts. But when it launched in the US in 1971, it was considerably cheaper than the Ford Mustang, which certainly helped. That said, it also offered far less under the hood, with a paltry, 1.9 litre four-cylinder, delivering a rather poor 90 hp, coupled to a four-speed manual box. Neither a six-, nor an eight-cylinder was anywhere in sight.

*It was certainly no Mustang under the hood…*

The original Celica’s looks are both unique as in the angle of the headlights, to the pony car body, also called “coke bottle styling” bridging the 60’s and 70’s. You can spot quite a few US cars in its lines, which is probably no coincidence. It’s also a car along the ladies’ shoe principle, i.e. compact on the outside but roomy on the inside, and this at a time when the Mustang was gaining both in weight and size, but not in power.

Then of course it was also Japanese, meaning it didn’t break, and actually it was the first Japanese car to be fully assembled on an automatic assembly line. It had an independent suspension and disc brakes all around, and of course it was rear-wheel drive, so that even with only 90 hp, if you knew what you were doing, it was happy to swing its tail. That’s all the Westerners needed to know to start buying Celicas in increasing numbers.

*No one drove the Celica faster than Owe Andersson!*

Swinging its tail in fast corners is also what the Celica started doing on the world’s rally stage, and would continue to do long after the first series. The Swede Owe Andersson was the first to drive a Celica, and he did it so well that he later founded Toyota’s European rally team, something that certainly helped sales especially on the European side of the Atlantic. Of course, later version of the Celica would become both more powerful and all-wheel drive, and make it big on the worlds’ rally scenes.

Going back to the original car however, the first series had a few different trims to choose from, and the engine evolved ever so slightly over the years until the first facelift in 1975, gaining in volume and thereby power, but only to a bit over 100 hp. The Celica was thus never a very powerful car, but as the 70’s moved into the oil crises, that was also not the priority for many buyers. In that sense, it came at the right time, partly explaining its success. The total production number of the first series is uncertain, but over 150.000 cars were sold both in 1972 and 1973, not bad for Toyota’s first try at a sports car in the West!

Yet as so often, there’s a big question mark around where all these cars have gone today. Sure, build quality was certainly better than rust protection even on a Toyota in the 70’s, and a fair number have simply rusted away. Given its low price, quite a few will also have ended up with young buyers better at fitting a rear spoiler than a new engine, or for that matter, at driving. That doesn’t mean they didn’t try though…

That said, around something like EUR 20.000, you can still find one of the original Celicas if you look carefully. And please do look carefully, meaning going for one with as few skirts and as little plastic as possible, as you never know what hides underneath. Ideally the car should also be complete in terms of parts, because finding spare parts for a Celica from the early 70’s could be “very difficult”, as the Japanese would put it. But if you find the right car, what you’ve then bought yourself is arguably both the coolest Japanese car from the 70’s, as well as its only pony car!

Street finds – the Fiat X1/9!

On September 3, 2023September 3, 2023 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Thrill of OwningLeave a comment

It’s not only the times that are a’changin, as Bob Dylan noted long ago, but last week in central Europe, very much the weather as well. We thus went from several weeks of wonderful summer days and late dinners on the terrace, to 12-13 degrees C and rain. Luckily things are set to improve, however to something more reminiscent of autumn by the looks of it, so I guess I was very lucky to spot a surprisingly exotic street find just before the weather change – the nowadays very rare Fiat X1/9. It’s no doubt a car that is best enjoyed in the summer, but it’s also a great testament to Bob Dylan’s changing times, as we’ll see!

*Angular body, engine right behind the seats and thus perfect weight distribution!*

The Fiat X1/9 is also very much the flashy family member in an otherwise quite boring group of 60’s and 70’s Fiat cars. It’s the successor to the Fiat 850, a four-cylinder, 60’s creation that looked like a bun (although to be fair, the Spider looked better than the coupé…). But it also belongs to the Fiat 128 family where the rights to the four-door sedan were later sold by Fiat to Soviet Lada, and which most therefore associate with old east-west spy movies.

Contrast both of those with the very futuristic X1/9, and it’s not only the model name that stands out. The angular design with the pop-up headlights was a design that would be if not copied, then definitely repeated in many other 70’s cars, such as the Lotus Esprit and of course the Lamborghini Countach. The X1/9 didn’t look anything like the rest of the family, but somewhat surprisingly Bertone had still designed all siblings, proving design houses can have good and less good days.

*Pop-up headlights were of course a must in the 70’s!*

As spectacular as the looks was the fact that the engine was right behind the seats, making the X1/9 Fiat’s first mid-engined car. Unfortunately though, that engine came from the boring part of the family, meaning at the launch in 1972 a 1.3 liter, 4-cylinder with a very modest 75 hp, coupled to a 4-speed manual box. In 1980 that grew to 1.5 liters, another 10 hp and five gears. Of course, at around 900 kg it’s fair to say that they X1/9 was a light-weight, but I think we can safely conclude that it looked about five times faster than it really was. That was of course especially true in the US, where emission regulations made the engines even weaker than in Europe.

It wasn’t only emission standards that became strict on in the 70’s, the same was very much the case for safety, again especially in the US. Fiat had actually built the X1/9 with North America in mind and had thus tried to adapt to the coming rules during the development process. Thanks to the mid-mounted engine and the targa body rather than a full convertible, the X1/9 was one of very few cars had no problem complying with what became the new US safety standards.

This gave Fiat’s faltering US a welcome boost, especially since the small coupé was far cheaper than other, somewhat comparable sports cars. Everything was going swell until the mid-70’s when those safety standards were developed further, forcing Fiat to fit what must be the ugliest bumpers in automobile history to the X1/9. Luckily these were later re-adapted to what can be seen on my street find, which is most probably a US import. Around 165.000 X1/9’s were produced in total between 1972 and 1988, and no less than 3/4 of those were sold in the US.

*The garden hedge – ugliest bumper ever seen!*

As observant readers may have noticed on the first picture, the logo isn’t that of Fiat, but rather of designer Bertone. The reason is to be found back in 1982, when Fiat wanted to discontinue the X1/9 and pull out of the US market, and Bertone therefore bought the rights and continued to produce the car in its name all through 1988. Not much changed on the car in the last years but Bertone would improve both equipment and materials, making the Bertone-branded cars such as the one I saw, the most attractive ones.

So what about the changin’ times? Quite obviously, it’s the concept of a sports car weighing in at less than a ton, making even a small, 1.5 litre engine with less than 100 hp if not plenty, then at least enjoyable enough. This is obviously very far from where we are today and if it sounds like your thing, you may think that with 165.000 cars produced, finding one will be easy. That’s however not the case as very few have survived – estimates talk about less than 1.000 cars in the US. Few are thus up for sale, but those that are tend to come in around EUR 15-20.000 in Europe.

*Cars from 1980 had five speeds and (slightly) more power*

The only question left to solve is then that around the name, because for a company who have typically been naming cars with real names or with numbers relating to the engine size, how did X1/9 come about? It turns out that prototype cars at Fiat were called X1, with the second number indicating the prototype in the order it was developed counting from a certain start date. The small Autobianchi A112 was for example called X1/2 as prototype, and the X1/9 was thus prototype number nine. It was however the only model to retain the prototype name in actual production and why that was, no one seems to know. But who cares? With the wind in your hair and the humming of a four-cylinder right behind you, you’ll have better things to think about!

Bentley Continental GT – now or never!

On August 13, 2023August 13, 2023 By ChristofferIn News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning2 Comments

When I bought my 2015 Range Rover a couple of years ago (for which I’m sad to say, I’m not even close to finding a satisfactory replacement, but thanks to those of you who have helped me trying!), there were a lot of people telling me how it was no doubt the beginning of the end, provided long assessments of everything that would break and how the car would drive me in financial ruin. Of course most of these had never actually owned a Range but of course they knew anyway, especially since the car had around 100.000 km on the clock.

As mentioned previously, there were a number of factors that made me confident with the purchase, most importantly the selling garage’s excellent reputation, the fact that they were willing to extend a two-year full warranty, and that I knew that the car had mostly been used for longer distances. Cars are made for driving, not being parked in a garage, so in many instances a car with more km’s can be preferable to one with less. To that came the fact that the car was extremely well maintained and that the Land Rover V8 is not only a very solid engine that is just about run in at 100.000 km’s, but also quite an economical one. I’m currently averaging at around 12l / 100 km, roughly 8l less than what the self-proclaimed experts told me would be the case. This is of course mostly long distance, but that’s what I bought the car for.

*Best car I ever had – and it hasn’t ruined me in any way!*

Of course I could still have had issues and no, Land Rover certainly doesn’t have the best reputation for reliability. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, just like I was 10 years ago when I owned an Alfa 166 a few years without a single issue. The fact of the matter is however that now, two years after I bought the Range, I’ve forgotten where I put the warranty papers as not a single thing has gone wrong. The lesson there is certainly not that I’m never wrong, but rather that here as well as in other areas, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear, but rather do your own research and form your own opinion.

Against that background, let’s look at a similar case to my Range but one that no doubt will cause severe cardiac issues for every naysayer. Because if the Range would drive one to financial ruin, this machine would probably do so with the rest of your family and neighbors as well. It’s a car that was actually suggested as replacement to me as alternative to the Range, but that unfortunately doesn’t really fit the bill. Because in terms of bang for the buck, there can’t be much that beats an early version of the by now classic Bentley Continental GT.

*The first series launched in 2003 – slightly heavy, but an elegant design*

11 years ago, in the early days of this blog when it was still in Swedish, my co-blogger Sven drove a Continental GT after its first face-lift (more on that below), and provided a rather sober assessment of the car not being for him (he’s a fan of Maranello machines) and also not really being worth the money as new. That I won’t argue with, but now 11 years have passed since the face-lift and 20 since the new Continental GT was premiered, so that second point has certainly changed. This makes it worth revisiting the case, also since I had the opportunity to drive an early Continental GT last week.

For memory, Volkswagen bought Bentley in 1998 and five years later, launched the Continental GT as the first Bentley ever to be produced not by hand by elderly men in coats up in Crewe, but rather by modern production techniques to a budget. Those last words are important as they certainly contributed to putting quite a few Audi parts in the car as part of the process, which made the true enthusiasts reject the Continental right away as some kind of pimped Audi not worthy of the brand.

*The permanent 4WD ensures as much fun on snow as on road!*

I think a more sober assessment makes it pretty clear that without the VW take-over and the launch of the Continental GT, the Bentley brand would be long gone. Instead there are today 4000 car builders working in Crewe, compared to around 1500 at the time of the take-over. It’s also worth noting that with every new series of the Continental, it has become less and less Audi – at least in the visible parts. Here we’ll focus on the two first series, i.e. not including the current one launched in 2018, as these cars are still quite pricey.

To me, the Contintental has always been a good-looking and timeless creation. Seen from the side it’s a testament to many classic Bentleys, and the front is just about aggressive enough. Its least good angle is certainly the rear which lacks a bit of finesse, something that didn’t really change until the current series. The first version was produced until 2011 and was only available with the W12 engine that VW had previously featured in the Phaeton (another car that can be had for not much these days but that contrary to the Bentley, there is no reason to get…). It put out 560 hp with much, but not all the refinement of a more traditional V12.

*Yes, there are some Audi switches, but this is still a beautiful interior!*

All cars had four-wheel drive and were also available as convertible, and the Speed that appeared in 2007 along with the Supersports from 2009 deserve a special mention. The former saw power increased to 608 hp and rode lower on larger wheels, the latter had performance pushed even further to 630 hp, which along with a 110 kg weight reduction made it the fastest Bentley ever at the time, with a top speed of 330 km/h.

The Series II, launched in 2012, introduced the double-turbo, four-liter V8 as alternative to the W12. At 500 hp it was less powerful but the car was also lighter and still capable of a top speed of over 300 km/h. Cosmetic changes on the outside were limited but the inside showed an improved cabin less reminiscent of Ingolstadt. Above all though, the ride, handling and steering were clearly improved over the first version. As with the first series, various special editions including Speed and Supersports were launched through the years.

*The Supersports is a bit more bad boy, notably sitting lower on bigger wheels*

I drove a W12 from 2008 this week and driving-wise, I can only concur with what my friend Sven observed 11 years ago, which basically boils down to the fact that you can’t hide 2.3 tons. That means the Continental in all versions, possibly with the exception of the Supersports, is far more a GT than a true sports car. That’s however something it does very well. Comfort is opulent, the ride is sublime, isolation from the outer world almost total.

Of course anything in terms of infotainment feels very old, but you don’t really think about it and if you do, there are after-market options for most things. Leather and wood however both age pretty well, and that’s what dominates the interior. This is a car that will transport two in utter comfort on longer journeys, be it in summer or winter, and that will allow you to stretch your legs on more or less frequent fuel stops, depending on which engine you opt for…

*The rear is the least flattering angle of the first two series*

An early, well-maintained first series Continental GT with decent mileage will today be yours from EUR 25-30.000 in Europe, a second series is around twice that, whether with the V8 or the W12. For the first series, that means around 10-20% of the car’s price as new. Of course a Continental in any version, but especially as W12, will never be a cheap car to run, and buying one should always come with a budget for running costs and unforseen repairs. If you buy a first series and set EUR 10-20.000 aside for unforseen repairs however, you will sleep well at night knowing you’ll be able to cover most things that can come up.

The main reason that a Continental GT is an easier purchase than with the Ferraris and Porsches we love, is that most of these have previously been owned by elderly people with money who don’t know what a track day is, read the manual from the first to the last page, never rev the car beyond 2000 rpm and follow the service intervals meticulously. And it that wasn’t enough, I would also think that the fact that Audi bought Bentley five years before the Continental was launched bodes pretty well. This certainly made the modern Continental more reliable than its predecessor, that cost EUR 120.000 more as new, 12 years earlier!

*The original Continental was big, heavy, handbuilt and expensive!*

Cars like the Continental and engines like the W12, or even the double-turbo V8, belong to the past as we all know, and will never be built again. It’s very difficult to know which way the car world will evolve in the coming years but at this price point, if you’re into big, opulent GT cars, then a Continental of the first or second series is a wonderful proposition. It may come at a bargain price but will always look like a million bucks, but if you do your research carefully, chances are it doesn’t require you to be a millionaire. All in all, that’s not a bad proposition, and this is clearly a case of now or never!

The UK’s most successful sports car!

On July 9, 2023July 9, 2023 By ChristofferIn Classic cars, News, The Dream Garage, The Thrill of Owning1 Comment

As we’re still in the first half of summer in the Northern hemisphere, the theme of a nice roadster continues to feel very timely. A few months ago I wrote about the legendary Triumph Spitfire, perhaps the easiest and cheapest entry into the British roadster tradition, and more recently we also looked at the forgotten Porsche 914, a German take on the roadster concept. This week we’re back in the UK for a slightly more robust alternative to the Spitfire that remains very reasonable budget-wise – the MGB. And you may be surprised to hear that the car we’re all somehow familiar with ranks as the UK’s most successful sports car ever!

It’s also very timely to look at the MGB right now, not just because we’re in the summer, but also since not only is it 100 years since the Morris Garages (MG) brand was founded, it’s also 60 years since the MGB was premiered. Originally however, MG wasn’t a proper car brand but rather a side kick to the regular garage business belonging to a certain William Morris in Abingdon, UK. In the side business, Morris and his colleagues would take boring Morris Oxford cars, work on them and hereby especially the chassis frame and transform them into if not sports, then at least sportier cars that they would then take to the race track on weekends.

*The guys around the car are probably the ones that built it the week before!*

In the late 20’s the MG brand separated from Morris Garages and start to make a name for itself in on the racing circuit. It hereby also created a bit of a mystical reputation, often being talked about as a car company with a soul that was almost palpable when you entered the factory. Be that as it may, it was certainly a car company with guts, as the MG guys choose to race the MGB’s predecessor, the MGA, in prototype form at Le Mans in 1955, managing to finish the race with two cars. They continued to do well in 1956, the first official year of production of the MGA, notably in the Mille Miglia.

Fast forward to the early 60’s and MG had become part of BMC, later to become the British Leyland group, as was notably Triumph. The time was rife for a replacement to the MGA had come but before that, as a side project, MG built a machine called the EX-181 that looked like a soap and was powered by a 300 hp, supercharged engine. Driven by Phil Hill, the car would set a speed record of 254 Mph (408 km/h) on the Salt Flats in Utah, thereby also doing wonders for MG’s racing reputation. When MG introduced the new MGB roadster in 1963 as the MGA’s replacement, they actually claimed the design was derived directly from the EX-181, which is perhaps something that doesn’t exactly jump to the eye…

*Phil Hill was a brave man, driving the EX-181 at more than 400 km/h in Utah…*

MG’s original plan was to use the MGA chassis for the MGB as well, but in the development process it was discovered that it didn’t leave enough designer freedom to create the wider but still low car they wanted the MGB to be. MG therefore re-thought the whole project and in the end, built the MGB as a monocoque rather than the traditional body-on-frame construction. One of the advantages of the new construction was enough strength to handle considerably bigger engines but as it turned out, MG would only make use of that in the MGB GT V8, more on that later.

The design of the new car was a purely internal affair, with no fancy Italian design houses involved. Basically the head of design brought his idea to the model maker, who in turn built a small model for approval by the CEO, after which he would do a full-scale model. The development would then start, leading to the finished car a few months later. Not many committees or Zoom meetings there! Even if the MGB didn’t really look much like the EX-181 record setter, most would agree that it’s a nice design, very roadster-specific and relatively timeless. It was also hugely successful notably in the US, to which MG started shipping around 40.000 cars per year in the mid-60’s, as compared to around 5.000 for the UK market.

*A timeless look, more modern than for example a Triumph TR4*

A selling point for the MGB was clearly the superior room both for people and their luggage that the relatively wide car body offered. Another was no doubt its relative simplicity. The power unit in the form of an 1800 cc, four-cylinder, transersal BMC engine was perhaps not very exciting as it was essentially a larger version of the engine used in the MGA. The 95 hp it developed were however sufficient, but when emission regulations became stricter in the crucial US market, the power number started dropping to just below 70 hp for MGB’s from the mid-70’s. The engine was coupled to a four-speed gearbox with overdrive available as an option, and disc brakes in the front were combined with drum brakes in the back.

To increase the appeal of the car, MG were set on offering the MGB also with a roof, but the MG guys didn’t manage to find a solution that looked attractive, so in the end the had to turn to, you guessed it, one of those fancy Italian design houses. Pininfarina created the MGB GT that was shown to the world three years after the roadster, in 1965. It was also the GT that in 1973 finally saw MG making use of that larger engine bay, by fitting the Rover V8 engine used notably in the Range Rover Classic in it.

*The roadster is a great looking car, perfectly usable as a practical daily driver*

The V8 may have been bigger but given it was an aluminium construction, it actually weighed less than the 1800 cc four-cylinder, meaning not many modifications were required. There were however various other problems, leading to very few V8’s being produced. On one hand MG could never get enough engines from Rover to build as many cars there was demand for, and on the other that demand quickly vanished with rising oil prices in the 70’s. In the end, the V8 would be taken out of production only two years later, in 1975, after no more than some 2.600 GT V8’s had been built.

Given the increasingly tough regulations not only on emissions but also on safety standards in the US, the 70’s weren’t kind to the MGB. I’ve mentioned the dropping engine power of the 1800 cc unit above, and added to that were some pretty horrific, moulded rubber bumbers that MG had to fit to the cars from 1975 onwards, replacing the stylish chrome model that had been used until then.

*The late 70’s wasn’t a great design period for the MGB – either…*

There were other, corporate problems as well, linked to a generally cash-strapped British car industry and other British Leyland brands such as Triumph that were given higher priority to develop the futuristic TR7, rather than trying to modernize the ageing MGB. And so the last MGB rolled out of the factory in Abingdon in 1980, and the factory itself closing its doors later the same year.

Between 1963 and 1980, no less than 387.000 MGB’s were produced, a record for any UK sports car. To that should also be added 125.000 GT’s, a pretty remarkable number given the far shorter production run, but only 2600 MGB GT V8’s. This is of course reflected in today’s prices with the V8’s being most sought-after. They start at roughly twice the USD/EUR 20.000 the four-cylinder roadster or coupé trade at in good condition. At that level it’s difficult to go wrong, as the MGB is also a simple and thereby economical car. Get a nice roadster version with chrome bumpers, and as a US MG commercial at the time would say: “at no extra cost, MG gives you the sun!”.

The Thrill of Driving

Category: The Thrill of Owning