The advert for at this time’s Nice Price or No Dice BMW 316 claims it to have been imported from Germany and to have all its papers so as. Let’s see if it’s priced to make one other large transfer.
Based on the feedback, there was no love misplaced between most of you and the 1978 Dodge Omni that got here beneath our adjudication yesterday. The $3,800 asking worth was appreciably low, however in response to you, even that was a examine the automobile couldn’t money. In the top, that manifested in a shocking 57 % No Dice loss.
While it could have been constructed within the ’80s, yesterday’s Omni was really a product of the ’70s, carrying a lot of the luggage that assertion implies. Today’s 1978 BMW 316 can be a product of the ’70s, which was a tepid time even for BMW. Consider the truth that the E21 that debuted mid-decade through the ’70s is usually given the Jan Brady remedy by followers of the marque, falling between two beloved fashions, the Neue Klasse 2002 of the late ’60s and the breakout E30 that adopted within the ’80s. That makes it one thing of an inauspicious begin to the three Series line.
Here within the U.S., we solely formally obtained the four-cylinder 320i, which will get 110 horsepower out of its 1998 cc Ok-Jetronic-injected four-cylinder. Later 320s within the U.S. have been fitted with a smaller 1.8-liter 4 that makes solely 102 horsepower. Elsewhere, the E21 may very well be had with a lot of smaller fours and barely larger sixes.
This 316, because the identify implies, is powered by a 1573 cc 4, and as there’s no “i” appended to the identify, it’s plainly carbureted. In its European guise, this engine makes 89 horsepower, which affords a zero to sixty time of about 15 seconds. And that’s with the usual Getrag five-speed.
All that naturally makes this a privately imported automobile, one thing additionally made clear when slipping behind the wheel and discovering that the gauges are in metric measurements and all of the controls are marked in German. Also, oddly, it lacks a tachometer; as an alternative, providing a humungous clock within the instrument panel. Ach du lieber!
Despite the automobile’s age, doubtless sloth, and the Google Translate-demanding sprint, there’s loads to love right here. There are solely a claimed 76,870 miles on the clock, and the automobile principally appears to be like to be in glorious situation. The purple paint pops, and all of the chrome — together with the always-destined-to-fail windshield and rear window trim — all seem shiny and with out situation. Handsome 13-inch metal wheels underpin and are fitted with what look to be new tires. This is a four-headlamp automobile, which is puzzling because the consensus is that the 316s all have two-lamp noses. BMW specialists might be able to weigh in on that.
The inside can be in glorious form, with one notable exception: the rear seat. It’s typical in older vehicles that the driving force’s seat reveals probably the most put on, then the passenger seat. Usually, the again seats, owing to lesser use, are inclined to survive the most effective. In this automobile’s case, one thing occurred that resulted within the material upholstery on the entrance seats wanting pristine whereas the again bench evidences a number of factors of wear-through. It might have been that this automobile was in a group or museum, and the rear seat obtained a each day dose of solar by means of a window. Or perhaps a cat took up residence again there. Frustratingly, the vendor doesn’t present any background on the automobile in any respect.
What they do say is that the automobile has had all its import paperwork accomplished, and it now carries a clear Florida title. It’s additionally claimed to “run like new.” The asking worth for this personal import Malaise Era machine is $15,000.
What do you consider this automobile and the value? Would you purchase it simply to be taught extra about its background? Or is that in the end an excessive amount of money for this driving machine?
You resolve!
Miami, Florida, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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Source: jalopnik.com