BMW F30 Factory Tour Is 15 Minutes Of Awesome Machinery

Fifteen minutes is a long time for any youtube video that doesn't involve singing cats, so it is surprising that one with a soundtrack of creaking/clucking/zapping machinery has almost 1 million views.  (Thanks to tip from DT reader Scot!)

5k Flash: Frugal Touring; 1999 BMW 540iT Wagon

The E39 BMW 540i is one of the many BMW performance bargains available on the used car market today.  Prices for the all-alloy V8 engined cars start around the price of a winter beater and even the nice/rare examples trade for well less than the price of new Civic.  This 1999 BMW 540iT Wagon has potential to be a great sleeper for the new owner, and is for sale in Atlanta, GA for $6900 via bimmerforums.com.

15k: Sonderklasse Oil Barge; 1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SD W126 ; Rare

It is really unusual to see the 'rare' badge on an early 1990s Mercedes sedan...a diesel to boot!  But this isn't your ordinary Mercedes 240D or 300D - its a 350SD, only sold in 1990 and 1991 with a total of less than 5000 produced in both short and long wheelbase versions of the W126 Sonderklasse.  This 1991 Mercedes-Benz 350SD W126 is for sale in Scottsdale, AZ for the premium price of $12,500 buy-it-now via ebay.
 

10k: Shatei Class: 1984 Toyota Celica Supra 7MGTE swap; Fast

The 2nd generation Celica Supra showed the world that the company Kiichiro Toyoda founded 45 years before was determined to build fun cars.  The Mk II Supra debuted in 1982 with a spattering of technology including a digital dash, and was powered by a descendant of the 2000GT's M-series engine mated to the rear wheels via a standard gearbox.  It wasn't particularly fast when new, but future generations of Supra would build upon the simple and classic rear drive setup.  This 1984 Toyota Celica Supra has been fitted with a 400 horsepower 7MGTE engine swap and is offered for $8,000 in Riverside, CA via craigslist.

15k Wasteland Wednesday: 1965 Austin Mini Cooper-Jeep; The Meep

The BMC Mini is one of those motoring icons that is instantly recognizable anywhere and is known for its compact package, large usable space and cat-like reflexes. Throw all you know out the window and expect women and children to scream at the sight of this monster truck style Mini wherever you go.  This 1965 Meep is for sale in Hampton, GA currently bidding on ebay for $12,000, with a buy it now price of $15k.

Market Watch: 1970-73 Mercedes-Benz W108 280 SE 4.5: Update on the Bull, the Bear and the BS!

As mentioned in our post of a great looking 1971 W108 280 SEL 4.5 last week, ebay frequently serves only to confuse market watchers, rather than bringing any clarity to car prices. The reason for this is simple; auctions are put up by sellers who are fishing for unrealistically high prices, hoping to catch an overly emotional buyer. As their reserves are never met, the more prudent 'watchers' are left wondering what it would have taken to actually buy the car.

In the case of the (1970-1973) W108 280 SE and SEL 4.5's, it appears that because these are great cars, their sellers have high expectations that these cars will sell in the upper reaches of Daily Turimo's range (at $12-15K) when, in reality the nice ones appear to be in the $6-7K range. While this makes them great candidates for DT daily drivers, many of their current owners may still be hoping to pull a rabbit out of someone else's hat.

So, let’s try this again, but this time with the shorter wheelbase version 1972 W108 280 SE 4.5 which opened up on Ebay with bids of just $1,125 with a week left to run. This is DT, so you know there's a catch...Catch #1 of the day is ... This is at least the second time this car has been offered on ebay. I noticed this car awhile back, just before its auction closed at $6600 on Dec 16, 2012, which failed to meet its reserve. Let's first consider this car, then consider the actual market price for W108's with the 4.5 liter V8.

10k: BMW Cam5ro; 1997 BMW E39 5-Series LS1 Swap

Drive an E39 BMW 540 or M5 and one of the biggest complaints you will have is the steering feel and feedback.  The powertrains are great, but the ancient reduction box steering system with recirculating ball power assist feels like it's been adapted from a trash truck. Only the lowly inline 6 powered E39s got a proper rack and pinion system, allegedly because of packaging issues with the BMW DOHC V8.  However, you can have your kuchen and eat it too if you swap a pushrod V8 into the front of an inline 6 equipped E39 and put the beefier M5 LSD in the rear.  Find this 1997 BMW E39 "557" w/ Chevy LS1 V8 swap in Palmdale, CA offered for $10,900 via craigslist.

15k: Saintly Coupe; 1969 Volvo 1800S

Three Thorsdays in a row...that's just how we roll at DT. But unlike yesterday's 245 and Monday's 1800ES, this one is not a wagon. It is, however, one of the best photographed cars currently on ebay and as such earns the coveted Ansel Adams award (disclaimer: photos on ebay not actually taken by Ansel Adams). The car looks to have been fastidiously rebuilt and maintained over the last few decades by the previous owner and the current seller. It's a 1969 1800S, for sale here on ebay in Portland, Oregon. Bidding is currently hovering around $10k with reserve not met, and about four days to go.

5k Flash: Minty Clean Yuppie Mobile; 1989 BMW 325i 5spd

There is no hiding our appreciation for E30 BMW 3-series and we will get lots of hate-mail for being fan-boys, we can't help it! Someone is about to get a fantastic deal on this 1989 BMW 325i 5spd currently bidding on ebay $6,900 with 15 hours to go.  Bid on it, buy it and then pick it up in Portland, OR.

DT Success: Monday's Roadkill Volvo 1800ES Has a New Home!

Well that was quick.  The Volvo 1800ES featured exclusively online via the Daily Turismo yesterday was snapped up by one of our readers within hours of posting.  We recieved a short note from the seller: 

I was the owner of this vehicle featured in the last few days. It has been sold thanks to you guys. Thanks for your efforts. -Bill

5k: Helga - Thor's Mistress; 1978 Volvo 245DL Survivor Wagon

After yesterday's 1800ES roadkill, how about a bargain-priced alternative that's still a super clean Volvo wagon? This 1978 Volvo 245DL is named Helga...because hey, every Swedish car needs a good Viking wench name. Helga is an awesome survivor car wearing her original paint, having been through comprehensive recent maintenance and including some nice OE upgrades as well. The owner claims it even smells new inside. Find her here on the turbobricks forums for a song - just $3500 in Woodinville, Washington (see the seller's website here if you can't access the forums).

Trades Only Monster TruckAm; 1970ish Pontiac Firebird TransAm

The second generation Pontiac Firebird TransAm was built from 1970 to 1981.  It was an evolution of the classic muscle car and featured a lineup of front mounted V8s, a sporty 2+2 body and rear wheel drive...at least until someone raises it 6 feet and mounts it on tractor tires.  This undisclosed model year Pontiac Firebird TransAm monster truck is offered along with a supercharger (currently attached to another vehicle) in exchange for a 1st or 2nd gen Camaro in Denver, CO via craigslist.

15k: Lincero Hearse? 1959 Lincoln Continental Hearse

Of the 200 billion stars in our local Milky Way galaxy, astronomers with high powered telescopes predict that there are billions of planets similar in size and composition to our own planet. Given enough time we would assume that the local humanoid inhabitants would do one of two things; launch sinister spacecraft to subjugate earth's inhabitants or build a series of Lincoln Continental style El Caminos Rancheros for hearse duty...and thankfully the inhabitants of local Alpha Centauri Bb (the folks on the scientific extrasolar planetary naming committee really need to recruit someone from Hollywood to name these things for them..Bb..really?) have chosen the later path and a nearby wormhole zipped this one onto our planet.  Find this 1959 Lincoln Continental hearse for sale in Gambrills, MD, USA, Planet Earth, 3rd Planet from the Sun, Inner Rim of the Orion Arm, Milky Way, the Known Universe...via ebay (the ebay) currently bidding at $12,000 reserve-not-met with 4 earth hours to go.

15k: The LS2000, A 2001 Honda S2000 w/ LS1 Chevy V8 Swap

The Honda S2000 is one of our favorite modern roadsters; it features an extremely rigid chassis and a high revving four-banger that translates to cat-like reflexes, but limited straight line speed.  Turn the S2000 world upside down with this Chevy V8/automatic trans swapped riddler, a 2001 Honda S2000 with LS1 V8 and an automatic transmission, currently for sale in Knoxville, TN for $20,000 obo.

1k: British HotRod 1969 Triumph Spitfire; GT6 Inline 6 Swap

 The Triumph Spitfire was a tiny, lightweight, two-seat sports car assembled in Coventry, UK from 1962-1980.  A competitor of the Austin-Healey Sprite & MG Midget, the Spitfire was only available with a small inline four cylinder engine and didn't get the bigger inline sixes available to the GT6 or TR6. Don't worry, lots of folks over the years figured out how to shove the extra two cylinders into the Spitfire body and save you the time/trouble.  Find this 1969 Triumph Spitfire with GT6 engine in Mount Clemens, MI for $1100 via craigslist.

15k Flash: 1992 Ford Sierra Cosworth Race Car

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was a souped up version of the Sierra, built specifically to homologate the race cars for Group A racing in Europe.  They were never sold on this side of the Atlantic and it's probably immaterial because this car is located in Europe and likely not legal for street use...anywhere.  This 1992 Ford Sierra Cosworth race car is for sale on ebay, currently bidding for $16,100 and located in Prague, Czech Republic (not Czechoslovakia - that was dissolved 19 years ago).

15k: Texas Toast and Crumpets; 1971 Jensen Interceptor

The Jensen Interceptor followed the classic formula of big American V8 shoved into a European body.  You can expect to see one destroyed in the soon to be released 6th installment of the Fast and Furious movie franchise, or you can buy one for less than the cost of a new Civic.  This 1971 Jensen Interceptor is for sale in Eugene, OR currently bidding on ebay for $15,600 reserve-not-met with a few hours to go.

10k: Swap Market Find; 1973 Volvo 1800ES; Roadkill

We at DT are constantly scouring the internet looking for interesting, affordable cars because there are few barn finds to be found in the metropolitan areas of Southern California where most of us spend our drive time. However, yesterday, DT's grey-haired cub reporter found this really nice 1973 Volvo 1800 ES for sale by the mechanic/painter who just finished restoring it to its former glory.  Here's the catch. He did the work for a customer who couldn't pay.  He now owns the car and is only looking to recoup his costs out of it, that's why it is for sale for just $7,950 as shown on the sign in the window.  The seller, Bill, is located in San Diego, California and can be contacted directly via Email and phone number listed below.This 1800ES is sold!
 

10k: Uncommonly Nice 1972 Fiat 124 Spider

When you think of classic affordable roadsters, the MGB, Alfa-Romeo Spider, Datsun Fairlady/Sports 1600 and even the Mazda Miata probably come to mind. But there's another option in this genre that is often overlooked, still fairly plentiful, and worth consideration as a respectable alternative (if you don't have a healthy fear of rust). We are referring to the Fiat 124 Spider, which we've featured before here as a minty late-model and here as a vintage racer. Those were nice but the 124 was better looking and purer in its early form - as evidenced by this sharp little 1972 model offered here on ebay for $8500 buy it now, or make offer.