Wanderlust

Category: Features

  • Market Find: Cherry Black Pearl Audi R8 V10 with Audi exclusive Interior

    Market Find: Cherry Black Pearl Audi R8 V10 with Audi exclusive Interior

    What: 2010 Audi R8 V10 quattro
    Color: Cherry Black Pearl (kirscheschwarzeperleffekt; metallic UNI; Z9X; Audi)
    VIN: WUAANAFG0AN000815
    Mileage: 32,689 miles
    Estimated: $88,950
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Auto Collection of Murfreesboro, Inc., Murfreesboro, TN
    Link: Auto Collection of Murfreesboro

    Another Audi with tailoring inside and out is this Audi R8 V10. Its exterior color is a deep and very dark purple called Cherry Black Pearl. Inside, it’s got a primarily black interior with orange leather panels on the seats and orange contrast stitching throughout, with further extended leather on the dashboard.

    Worth noting, we’re seeing a few aftermarket modifications on the car. It’s unclear whether the airbag would have also had orange stitching, but the airbag steering wheel is definitely rebuilt as Audi wouldn’t have made one in that contour nor partial carbon fiber.

    Another modification we see are the orange brakes. They contrast the paint nicely enough, but it’s also a non-factory finish that wouldn’t have come from the factory. Other modifications we think we see are non-factory carbon fiber body accents like that rear lip decklid spoiler, the grille appears aftermarket, black badges predate black optics badging and the wheels may have been refinished in more of a titanium grey appearance.

    Given the amount of modifications, buyers seeking factory specification will want to take a closer look at the car as they make their consideration.

  • Acquired Taste Market Find: Estoril Blue Audi S7 with Avantgarde Interior Choice

    Acquired Taste Market Find: Estoril Blue Audi S7 with Avantgarde Interior Choice

    What: 2017 Audi S7 Sportback
    Color: Audi Estoril Blue (estorilblaukristalleffekt; metallic UNI; LX5P; Audi)
    VIN: WAU2FBFC6HN050272
    Mileage: 89,223 miles
    Price: $26,999
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Morrie’s Inver Grove Mazda, Inver Grove Heights, MN
    Link: Morrie’s Inver Grove Mazda

    When it comes to Audi exclusive builds for the USA, cars with special exterior paint are most likely to be encountered. Special interiors are rare, and extravagantly custom interiors are even rarer. Take for example this Estoril Blue S7 Sportback, looking pretty normal on the outside. Open a door and climb inside though, and you’ll find a multi-tone interior likely very specifically made for the car’s original owner.

    Technically on the build specification, we’re seeing Audi exclusive leather-covered seat trims (YRB), Controls in Audi exclusive leather (YZ2), Audi exclusive leather trim in Valcona leather (package 2).

    In the photos, we leather in two shades of brown on the orange side of the brown spectrum. This includes rare places like the shifter and seat bases. There’s even a two-tone steering wheel including partial covering in tone of the brown colors. The distinctive wood trim with pin striping was a factory option in this C7-era S7, though looks even more exotic in this very distinctive interior specification.

    By our measure, the look is polarizing. It’s not for everyone, but there’s no doubt it’s highly unique and likely one-of-one.

  • Affordable Tailored: Designo Electric Green Edition 2000 Mercedes SLK 230

    Affordable Tailored: Designo Electric Green Edition 2000 Mercedes SLK 230

    What: 2000 Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 Kompressor Designo Electric Green Edition
    Color: Designo Electric Green (designoelektrischgrün; metallic UNI; 024; Mercedes-Benz)
    VIN: WDBKK47F1YF164255
    Mileage: 41,800 miles
    Bid Price: $5,000 with 22h, 59m remaining
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Tampa, FL
    Link: Cars & Bids

    At the lower end of the tailored market is this rare SLK roadster with AMG appearance and Designo Electric Green paint. For its age, this car has remarkably low mileage, though it’s showing its fair share of wear and tear.

    Fortunately, modern car auction sites such as Cars & Bids have made considering these sorts of car about as easy as they can with an expectation of photos depicting imperfections in detail. This listing takes that seriously, with close ups of the imperfections.

  • Market Find: Audi S6 with Audi exclusive Cognac Leather

    Market Find: Audi S6 with Audi exclusive Cognac Leather

    What: 2014 Audi S6
    Color: Ibis White (ibis weiß; non-metallic uni; LY9C/T9; Audi)
    VIN: WAUF2AFC1EN040204
    Mileage: 145,000 miles
    Price: $14,900
    CarFax: Pictured below
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Stow, MA
    Link: Car Lot Express

    A budget pick that’s close to home, this S6 has a ton going for it. Higher miles, sure, but this Ibis White example sports Audi exclusive Cognac Leather seats- an incredibly rare find. For just $14,500 this Tailored Driver represents an incredible value for both style and performance as it’s likely a one-off, and is just a $900 flash away from more than 500hp and equal torque. If you’re in the market and aren’t afraid of the miles or the minor front end hit on its CarFax, we struggle to think of a ‘better’ option.

  • EU Market Find: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic 520i Touring

    EU Market Find: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic 520i Touring

    What: 1999 BMW 520i Touring
    Color: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic (atlantisblau; metallic uni; 399; BMW)
    VIN: Unknown
    Mileage: 298,805 kilometers
    Price: €3,500
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Selb, Germany
    Link: Mobile.de

    While it’s easier to attain a Tailored Driver if your wallet is thick enough to require chiropractic intervention, we think it’s more fun when Tailored status is within reach of the everyman or woman. At €3,500 (about $3700 USD, plus shipping) this E39-generation 520i Touring painted in BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic and paired with the frankly wild Boa Boa cloth interior and a timeless 5 speed manual transmission is exactly that- fun. Consider it more of a starting point though, as the 520i isn’t exactly going to win any awards in the speed department, and the rear hatch will challenge even the most recent of tetanus shots, but the point remains. Some elbow grease, maybe a different motor, and this could be a sub-$15,000 Cars and Coffee award winner.

  • Market Find: Tailored Audi Q5 on a First Car Budget

    Market Find: Tailored Audi Q5 on a First Car Budget

    What: 2010 Audi Q5 3.2 quattro
    Color: Unconfirmed Orange, Believed to Be Glut Orange a.k.a. Solar Orange
    VIN: WA1LKAFP9AA089980
    Mileage: 179,226 miles
    Price: $5,900
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Pine Island, MN
    Link: Legacy Rides

    When you venture into the world of old and miled-up cars, finding anything tailored is a bit of a discovery. In this world of sub-$10K cars, what you find tends to be worn and thus not always the most pristine. Even still, a tailored find is a tailored find and would make a great first car for someone seeking something unique.

    Rather unsurprisingly, the used car lot in Minnesota that lists this car does not list the color. We ran a quick internal check and are not finding a known color code, the contents of that field on this car (99) likely not any color at all. So, we didn’t list a color above. Even still, we think we know what it is.

    In period, Audi was known to produce S and RS cars in an orange known both as Solar Orange or Glut Orange. They’re the same color code (LY2G / 3F). We’re 99% sure that’s this color, but haven’t been able to confirm it outright.

    As for the rest of this 179K mile Q5, that orange paint is most interestingly paired with brown leather. The car shows some wear on those seats, and it appears to have some light paint damage on the rear bumper. Honestly though, an in person inspection and and pre-purchase inspection (PPI) would be the best move on any car this age.

  • Market Find: BMW Individual Twilight Purple M5 competition

    Market Find: BMW Individual Twilight Purple M5 competition

    What: 2022 BMW M5 competition
    Color: BMW Individual Twilight Purple Metallic (metallic uni; P28; BMW)
    VIN: WBS83CH0XNCJ43231
    Mileage: 29,015 miles
    Price: $89,999
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Staten Island, NY
    Link: Status New York

    BMW models always seem to thrive in shades of Purple, and this M5 competition in BMW Individual Twilight Purple Metallic certainly proves the point. More vividly purple than the more common Technoviolet, Twilight has a similar ability to capture the light and really pop. Moving past the exterior, extended Merino Leather paired with soft-close doors ensures the interior is a great place to spend time, even if the twin turbo V8 with roughly 600 horsepower shortens the distance between points A and B.

  • Market Find: 1997 Porsche 911 (993) Turbo in Slate Grey Selling with Broad Arrow at The Amelia

    Market Find: 1997 Porsche 911 (993) Turbo in Slate Grey Selling with Broad Arrow at The Amelia

    What: 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo
    Color: Porsche Slate Grey (schiefergraumetallic; metallic UNI; 22D; Porsche)
    VIN: WP0AC2992VS375554
    Mileage: 41,500 miles
    Estimated: $280,000 – $320,000
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: Link
    Location: The Amelia Auction, Amelia Island, FL
    Link: Broad Arrow

    If Porsche Club of America’s Rennbow color archive is accurate, Slate Grey Metallic wasn’t a standard color on a 1997 911 Turbo (type 993). Rennbow has it down as offered to 1995, then returning in 1999. If true, that would make the car you see here technically a Paint to Sample specimen. Broad Arrow, the auction house planning to sell it this weekend during the concours weekend at The Amelia has it listed simply as “rare”.

    Whatever. It’s handsome. It’s also interesting in that it’s a metallic take on a classic color. In fact, Porsche has several colors known as “Slate Grey”. There’s the original non-metallic driven into the Le Mans city center by Steve McQueen in the opening sequence of Le Mans, and also Slate Grey Neo reintroduced as part of the launch of the hybridized 911 GTS (type 92.2). In the era of the 993 though, Porsche had added metallic flake.

    In the case of this car, it’s one of 612 Turbos sold to the U.S. in 1997. Broad Arrow suggests “just over a handful” were painted Slate Grey Metallic. It was delivered new through Stead Motors in Walnut Creek, California. Options included metal door sills with insignia, black floor mats, plus self-dimming mirrors & rain sensor. We’re also seeing leather on the dashboard and rare Porsche Tequipment pieces like the partial aluminum shift knob and e-brake lever with Porsche script.

    The car sells this coming weekend, so if you’re game then get to The Amelia or make arrangements to bid from afar.

  • Market Find: Porsche Paint to Sample Geyser Grey Metallic 911 GT3 Touring

    Market Find: Porsche Paint to Sample Geyser Grey Metallic 911 GT3 Touring

    What: 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring
    Color: Paint to Sample Geyser Grey Metallic (geysirgrau; metallic uni; 9G5; Porsche)
    VIN: WP0AC2A9XJS176158
    Mileage: 8,323 miles
    Price: $299,930
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Murrieta, CA
    Link: West Coast Exotic Cars

    Despite the potential for being dismissed as simply ‘beige’ by onlookers, Porsche’s Geyser Grey Metallic is a pretty interesting color in the eyes of Tailored Driver. Most commonly seen on the 50th Anniversary 911, Geyser is an off-white with a fairly subtle metallic flake for some added dynamism. The 991-generation GT3 Touring is a home run in our books, but the aforementioned Geyser Grey Metallic paint and hounds tooth insert Carbon Buckets elevate this 911 to grand slam territory.

  • Market Find: Porsche Paint to Sample Ocean Blue Metallic 911 Turbo S

    Market Find: Porsche Paint to Sample Ocean Blue Metallic 911 Turbo S

    What: 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S
    Color: Paint to Sample Ocean Blue Metallic (ozeanblau; metallic uni; 6A6; Porsche)
    VIN: WP0AD2A96MS257126
    Mileage: 7,303 miles
    Auction Price: $229,900
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: Pictured Below
    Location: Riviera Beach, FL
    Link: Florida Performance Cars

    Having been most notably applied to late production 993 (1997) and early production 996 (up to 2000) models, Porsche’s Paint to Sample Ocean Blue Metallic is a stunner that flies incredibly far under the radar. Similar enough to Lapiz Blue that we’d not fault you for being mistaken, Ocean is deeper, darker and much less common. We’d love to see it again in the future, and are happy to document it here on Tailored Driver.