Wanderlust

Tag: MY1998

  • Market Find: Pastel Yellow on Green 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

    Market Find: Pastel Yellow on Green 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

    What: 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S
    Color:  Pastel Yellow (non-metallic UNI; Q1; Porsche)
    VIN: WP0AA2991WS321041
    Mileage: 29,206 miles
    Price: $275,000
    CarFax: Link
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Holt Motorsports, West Chester, PA
    Dealer Listing: PCarMarket

    Green on yellow was a thing for a hot minute amongst some cars in the 1970s. Outside of that moment in history, it is a unique and acquired taste sort of decision. No doubt polarizing, we have equally no doubt that such a combination on a rare and low mileage 993-generation Porsche 911 Carrera 4S would be treasured by the right buyer.

    If you’re that right buyer, you’re definitely going to want to take a closer look at this.

    Other options include:

    • X54 – Stainless steel tailpipes, oval
    • 030 – Sports suspension
    • 139 – Seat heating, left
    • 159 – Engine sound package
    • 340 – Seat heating, right
    • 437 – 8-way electrical seat, left
    • 438 – 8-way electrical seat, right
    • 446 – Wheel caps (Arctic Silver, MY1998) with colored Porsche crest
    • 454 – Automatic speed control
    • 490 – Sound system
    • 513 – Lumbar support, right seat
    • 586 – Lumbar support, left seat
    • 650 – Sun-moon-roof
    • 688 – CD-radio Becker Porsche CDR-210 USA
    • 939 – Pleated leather rear seats
    • 981 – Leather dashboard and door panels
    • 982 – Pleated leather front seats
  • EU Market Find: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic 528i

    EU Market Find: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic 528i

    What: 1998 BMW 528i
    Color: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic (metallic UNI; 379 / 576; BMW)
    VIN: Unknown
    Mileage: 6,990 kilometers
    Price: €29,784
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Neustadt, Germany
    Link: Autohaus Cuntz

    Europe in the 90’s, man. What a strange time. The kind of time, in fact, where a well-to-do professional would put down real money for a brand new 528i, opt for BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic (great!), and also check the box for whatever this two-tone blue and beige, umm, statement piece is. Then, we can only assume, the owner came-to from whatever they’d ingested, and simply never drove it. Having covered just 6,990 kilometers in the past 27 years, a lot of statements can be applied here, but we can all agree that those who saw this car likely never forgot it.

  • Market Find: Japanese Market 1998 Mercedes-Benz E320 Avantgarde 4MATIC Wagon in Viola

    Market Find: Japanese Market 1998 Mercedes-Benz E320 Avantgarde 4MATIC Wagon in Viola

    With cars older than 25-years available for relatively easy import into the USA, we’re seeing more and more interesting specimens acquired across ponds brought into the The States only to turn up on auction sites like PCarMarket, cars like this Japanese market W210 1998 Mercedes-Benz E320 4MATIC wagon (Vin: WDB2102821X014479) in Viola Metallic (violametallic; metallic UNI; 339U; Mercedes-Benz).

    It may look like an E55 AMG, but that’s pretty common for rest of world (ROW) specification cars where AMG appearance packages with smaller engines was more common. Even if it’s not an E 55, it does have some great options such as the rare Viola Metallic paint, Avantgarde body styling, 4MATIC all-wheel drive Graphite Cuir leather seating, a glass sunroof, heated power-adjustable front seats, cruise control, dual-zone automatic climate control, self-leveling suspension, those 18-inch AMG monoblock alloy wheels, and more.

    The car is said to have been imported about two years ago and is now available in New York with just over 70,000 km (less than 44,000 miles) on the odometer. Bidding is currently only at $7,250 which seems very reasonable for what this car is. If you’re interested, check it out via the link below… but hurry, because as of this post there are only about 20 hours left to bid.

    MORE HERE.

  • Importable Market Find: Audi exclusive B5 S4 Avant in Merlin Purple

    Importable Market Find: Audi exclusive B5 S4 Avant in Merlin Purple

    There’ve been specially painted Audi models probably since there’s been an Audi brand, but the arrival of Audi exclusive as a factory tailor service and resulting availability in the market of these unique specification cars only really dates back to the 1990s. It’s rare that we actually find cars from this period, so when we do we tend to celebrate it. When we find one that’s a truly collectible or sought after specification, well we go weak in the knees.

    Given all of that, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear our jaws hit the floor when this listing was shared around the Tailored Driver team group chat. The B5 S4 holds a special place in enthusiasts’ heart, much less a well preserved manual transmission Avant. Now throw in Merlin Purple Pearl (merlin purple; pearl effect; 4B / LZ3W / Z3W; Audi) paint paired with blue Alcantara segmentation on its black leather interior and we’d argue it elevates a very well-preserved survivor to a pretty strong case for collector status.

    On the downside, this car is located in Germany. On the upside, it was first registered in 1998 so a relatively easy import into the USA via contract services from the likes of Orchid Euro. That it’s European does suggest a few more complexities for acquisition, but its EU specification production also means it’s got EU specification options like that Audi exclusive paint or optional Recaro sport seats that were standard in the B5 RS 4 and we didn’t get in the U.S.A. until the B6 era.

    Mileage is in kilometers, so it’s worth noting that 234,000 km equates to 145,000 miles. And while that’s not museum piece mileage, it is exceedingly low for this age of car. That the Avant looks largely unmodified also makes a strong case for its collectability.

    So, is it worth buying and importing? We’d say yes. We’d also say that you better hurry, because you’re probably not the only people dropping the car’s current owner a message upon seeing these photos. We suspect you’ll be competing with many others to make a deal happen… maybe including us.

    Find it HERE.

  • Market Find: BMW Individual Bronzit Metallic 323ti Sport Edition

    Market Find: BMW Individual Bronzit Metallic 323ti Sport Edition

    When you think of the auto show circuit, chances are the Geneva Motor Show comes to mind. Before COVID turned the world on its head, Geneva in March was must-see TV for auto enthusiasts around the world. Manufacturers would bring concepts and incredibly high spec builds, all positioned atop 7 to 8 figure booths, in an attempt to gain as many eyeballs as possible. This Tailored Driver is especially special to us because per the seller, it happened to be on BMWs booth in 1998.

    Yes, adjacent to the then new E46 generation 3 series sat this BMW Individual Bronzit Metallic (bronzit; metallic; 139; BMW) 323ti Sport Edition (VIN: unknown). While we can’t seem to find any images to support this claim, we certainly can picture this sitting under the lights, being crawled over by journalists, customers, and engineers from competing companies all the same. BMW Individual Bronzit Metallic really pops here in the most late-90s way possible.

    Since it left that show in Switzerland, this BMW Individual Bronzit Metallic 323ti Sport Edition has covered an impressive 345,000 km (214,000 mi), and so far as we can tell remained in good visible shape and largely unmodified apart from a Supersprint exhaust. With a slightly dipping Euro to USD ratio, the asking price of 9,900EUR (about $10,800 at time of writing) makes it a pretty interesting proposition too.

    If you’re ready to own a piece of history, you can find additional details here.