[V8] Re: Lust List

Fri Jan 16 11:50:26 EST 2004

Yeah.  All those, too.

But now, I can say that I have "been there, done that" to a lot on my wish
list.

I've never had a 944 Turbo, and won't.  I have had two 944 cars...one a new,
1987 944 that was my wife's car.  I never really drove it much, and didn't
really care for it, when I did.

Between that wife, and my new, and last (should've been first and only)
wife, I had a very, very nice 1985 1/2 944 that I put a lot of miles on and
had a lot of good times in.  Bought used, and sold with, oh, 125k or
something on it.

Then I bought an extremely nice, 36,000 mile '87 Porsche 928S4.  Great car,
actually.  Drove it long distance, and escaped from a very nasty
"mightavebeen" on the exit ramp from the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York,
simply because the car's balance and handling were impeccable.  But I've had
one of those, and the newest ones aren't much different than the S4.
Probably the BEST of the 928 cars was the 928GT, built only for three years,
and only with a stick.  Very rare without a LOT of mileage, and now, most
928s have "stories" attached to them.  And we also know now that the later
928 Automatics have an unpleasant tendance to destroy their engines unless
driven strickly over the road....it is a Porsche design defect that they
have never acknowledged.

I was really rabid during the early to mid nineties, and at one time, I
succumbed to my forever desire to have a 911.  I bought an amazingly,
like-new, '88 Targa that shared garage space with the 928.  Man!  When that
big overhead door rolled up, all you could see was shining Porsche rumps!

But for the most part, if I was driving more than ten or twenty miles, I
found that I wanted to take the 928.  If the weather was exceptional, and I
wasn't driving too far, or in too much hurry, then the Targa was nice.  But
it was an "old" car, despite the fact that it had only 27,000 miles when I
bought it, nearly ten years old.  It was "chipped" and had a gazillion
dollars worth of amplifier upgrades for the Alpine CD unit.  If was an
exceptionally nice example of the last of the "real" 911's, but it was
basically an answer to a question that I needed to ask, and after having the
answer, no longer cared.  I kept the car only one year and sold it for what
I had paid for it.

I really thought I'd never have another BMW, either.  My last BMW was a '83
318i that I bought new while I was driving long hours for business.  Lousy
car that would NOT run on the fuel available up here in Maine, and it went
through two valve jobs, and two transmissions in 55000 miles of driving.
BMW was good about the warranty, but the car, for a small, two door sedan
that cost in 1983 almost $15,000 was really just not more than marketing
hype.  I had had several earlier BMW's, all of which were superb, but the
early '80's cars were a disappointment.  (I drove a 528E, and decided that
that car would kill me.  It had an absolute rev/fuel limit at the red line,
and if you were accelerating to that point, the engine shut down RIGHT NOW.
Maybe fuel efficient, but a slug to drive.).

So now, I am thinking fond thoughts about a 12 cylinder BMW coupe, repleat
with all the electronic gizzies that the elves in the Black Forest can think
up, while they are chewing on those funny roots or things that grow outside
the BMW Werks.  And yeah, I know about the electronic gremlins...I have an
Audi, after all!

But here's the deal.  My wrench, who's independent shop is a mere ten miles
away, is a former BMW Master Tech.  He studies my Audi V8, and basically
likes the car, but his real specialty is BMW, and he himself would like to
have a 750iL....and that might happen.  So, I can get the car serviced.

And then, my next car should be something a bit sporty.  No, not a Sports
Car, per se (I sometimes catching myself thinking about a Lotus Elise,
though), but a car that my wife and I can get in and drive to Florida or
California in, in comfort.  Right now, the perfect car seems to be the 850.
The price is getting more and more "right" every day.  Right now, there is a
pretty nice looking '91 on eBay, as well as two '96s.  The '91 seems to have
a complete history, which counts for a lot, and a '96 will be a good year,
as will a '94 or late '93.  Again, the basic rule is to buy the BEST example
for the budget, so history is important.

I am not ready to do it today, though.  My wife's new kitchen and a new
garage are first.  But maybe next year at this point, after I have
catalogued where most of the good ones are, and how much they should cost, I
will start hunting.  When I start to look with cash in hand, I will be
prepared to get into the car and go and look at whatever there is.
Basically, I will be willing to look at most anything east of the
Mississippi River...IF I decide that this particular, classic German touring
car is THE one.

For now, though I am anxiously awaiting the return of the V8, and then the
start of the '91 20Valve Avant restoration....now, the twenty valve...is a
whole 'nother tale!

Roger
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Korn, Bob" <Bob.Korn at Fike.com>
To: <getur at optonline.net>; "Coleman, David" <David.Coleman at blackrock.com>;
"Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>; "v8newlist" <V8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 11:02 AM
Subject: RE: [V8] Re: Lust List

> The 850 has been on my lust list as well.  Lately it's been an 89 944
Turbo
> or an early 80's 911SC.
>
> Bob
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Tur [mailto:getur at optonline.net]
> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 10:09 AM
> To: Coleman, David; Roger M. Woodbury; v8newlist
> Subject: Re: [V8] Re: Perfect Quattro weather...
>
>
> On Friday 16 January 2004 09:09, Coleman, David wrote:
> > > Oh, and yes.  I often think about an S-6!  But I am also thinking
> > > about a
> > > BMW 850.....   ;-/
> >
> > Make it an 850csi and you'll have something..
> >
> > -DaveC.
> ******************************
> I've lusted after one of those myself, but after talking to a few 840 and
an
>
> 850 owner I've had a change of heart. I've run into them while picking up
my
>
> beast at the local independent. Reliability wise the engines are very
> strong,
> but are expensive to work on for routine maintenance, more so than than
our
> V8s. The 850 is especially expensive. While they are put together well
they
> do tend to have electrical gremlins, the number of electrical accessories
> and
> electronic aids is much greater, as they age and these are hard and
> expensive
> to track down. The real downside to the 800 series is that they handle
like
> pigs in the twisties and wet weather. The chassis balance is not as a good
> as
> a 928 or corvette and the engine is a tad too much for it. The 800 series
is
>
> very much a high speed high way cruiser. It's nicely put together but
> doesn't
> deliver what you would expect from the looks.
>
> This is all second hand, but it's stuff from 3 owners and the mechanics
that
>
> work on them.
>
> My bit of car gossip
>
> George Tur
> 91 V8
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