Quote:
Originally Posted by ASAP
I get why people have sentimental value for cars like these, the base line cars were more enthusiast oriented back in the day...
However; there was an article i read where they compared an new Civic to one of these older SI models and the older SI model was fun for about 15 minutes before you realize its a 20 year old car... the new car blew it away in every way.
Consider you can have a modern Civic Type R for 35K... again, not sure who would make the decision for the above, it's at best a $5k car.
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Short story....
So a few years ago I found what seemed to be a time capsule 1984 Pontiac Fiero 2M4. It was local to me, so I got the opportunity to review it first hand and drive it. While most people today find the Fiero amusing, but as far as automotive history goes, the Fiero is a very important car. It basically pioneered the adoption of molded plastic body panels for the automotive industry and it developed the high-rate production "spaceframe" architecture. It even had the rear sound system speakers in the headrests, really neat for the day. The Fiero's architecture launched the Saturn car company. But as typical, as soon as GM got the car "right" they canned it.
My older brother bought one new in 1984. I had a lot of seat time behind the wheel in it back in the day. In the era it existed, it was a great driving car, not super fast - average for the day, but it was a cool 2-seat, mid-engine sports coupe.
So back to my test drive in 2018. And that's the issue with old cars that you remember from your youth. Drive them in the modern day and they are... 20-year old cars and much more outdated than you remember. The Fiero I test drove while not in perfect mechanical condition, was nothing like I remember my brother's car in the mid 1980's. I passed on the Fiero.
That experience moved forward to late 2018, when a 1982 BMW E21 320i popped up. Again, the BMW was "local" to me, about a 3-hour drive away. This E21 was pristine. It had 55,000 miles on it. Was held by the 2nd owner, who was a car guy, but "just not a BMW car guy" as he told me. He bought it because the E21 was truly a perfect example. The original owner was a VW tech back in the 1980's and it was his dream car. I think the original owner wiped down the E21 with baby diapers after every drive. The current owner in New Jersey wanted $13,000 for it.
The E21 is probably my favorite BMW. I spent a lot of seat time behind the wheel of several E21's back when they were new as well. My same brother owned a '82 E21 before the Fireo. '76 E21 was the first BMW I ever drove.
But the New Jersey E21 was available in late 2018. I was very busy at work and just couldn't get up to Jersey to get it, and I didn't want to expose it to winter road salt. So I passed on it too, most of the reason was because of the Fiero experience, I didn't want to ruin my memories of the E21 fearing I'd find it disappointingly outdated. Keep in mind my wife has a 22-year old Z3 that I drive every few weeks, so I already have an old BMW, thank God with E30 heritage. I had a E30 too, for 18 years that I stupidly sold in 2006. Anyway.
The E21 went for $25,000 on BAT last year. The seller I was working with in late 2018 sold it to the first person who had contacted him about it (I was the second, but closer to him). The first buyer eventually bought it in early 2019, and flipped it on BAT in June 2019.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-bmw-320i-21/
The other reason I passed on the E21 was because I can't have a garage queen as I live in the woods and mice will tear up a car around here if you don't move it every few days and drive it. I have a 165-mile per day commute, so even driving it 1 day a week adds 8,000 miles a year. And that's the dilemma; buy a really low mileage example of a pristine example of a car from your youth for a lot of money, and if you use it, you kill the value of it. Don't drive it and it will deteriorate as well.
I wouldn't have dropped $50K on a Civic, nor even $25K on the E21. Maybe if I was Jay Leno...