It’s a bit jarring to see quad headlights on the old girl, to say the least. They actually have a bit more E9 to them than they do later-style 3er, which is an interesting effect— almost like looking at the fascia of a 3.0 CS until you get to the rest of the car and realize that nope, that’s an 02 you’re seeing.
More on Hardy & Beck here.
(Image credit: Jeff B.)
Seems like an appropriate follow-up to this week’s grab bag.
Lovely.
One of these days.
…the GTI had character, spunk, and guts, and it had them in spades. The 1.8-liter, fuel-injected four doesn’t mind being lugged–its torque curve is flatter than a Nebraska afternoon–but you don’t care, because for some reason, all you want to do is go humming toward the rev limiter. You want to beat the snot out of it, shift, and then beat the snot out of it again. There’s a chunky, rubber-mounted, Beetle-like feel to everything that convinces you that the GTI can take anything you can dish out. The whole car feels indestructible.
By modern standards, the GTI’s front struts and rear torsion beam aren’t sophisticated, but they get the job done with touches of brilliance–lines are easily tweaked midcorner with a flex of your right foot, and front-end grip is eye-opening. The unassisted steering is blissfully transparent, and a cheery pitter-patter makes its way from the pavement to your fingers in every corner. The whole package prompts feats of strength; it cries out for full-throttle, giant-killing, lift-a-wheel heroism. From behind that meaty four-spoke wheel, anything is possible. Possible, that is, so long as you don’t drive . . . nice. Sam Smith (source).
‘Wrong-wheel drive’ or not, we wouldn’t mind one of these. Those phone dial wheels are irresistible.
And now, to wait until 2027. Let the countdown begin.
This sun-kissed moment brought to you by Ian Eveleigh.
The M5, specifically. Rather swiftly and unexpectedly, our interest in them has heated up— in fact, we’ll be taking a look at one tomorrow. In the metal. If it’s a diamond in the rough, then with a very heavy heart, the beloved (and all too new-to-us) E30 may end up on the selling block. But if it’s a dog, then don’t expect another E28 post for awhile— long live the E30 🙂
Even if we end up walking away though (which we give 50/50 odds), it was fun to dip our toe in the market, however briefly. You may find that it – the market –Â is surprisingly soft for high-mile drivers (although clean, low-mile examples are rare, and priced accordingly— as tends to be the case).
Now, since we’re not ones to leave well enough alone, let’s take a look at some ideas across the E28 spectrum for wheel, suspension, and body modifications if this thing does come to fruition.
This clip has been around the block— we have seen it in a bunch of different places, but hadn’t dug into it until now. Should’ve done so sooner, because this is epic stuff. If the half-hour running time scares you, jump to 18:22 for the ending (although the whole thing is in fact worth watching).
Fantastic.
(h/t to Tamerlane)
Motoring Con Brio 