Sold in the US from 1974 till 1984, when Fiat left the North American market, the 131 Supermirafiori featured 1.3 and 1.5 liter 4-cyl engines, making 77 and 95bhp respectively.

This is a Series II car, which came out in 1978. The US-spec Series II 131s retained the round quad headlights, while in other markets the Series II 131s gained single rectangular headlights, not too different from ones seen on VAZ 2104′s.

Fiats of this era have been criticized (specifically by the hosts of a certain UK-based television programme) as being especially prone to rust due to the Soviet steel used in their construction, which is cited as often starting to rust before it was even stamped into body panels. Even so, I’m a huge fan of 1960s and 1970s Fiats, and would love to try one of these.

Curiously enough, Polski Fiat was the lone Socialist-bloc manufacturer to license a midsize sedan from Fiat (most other licensed Fiats tended to be from smaller segments).

Seen at Carlisle Import & Kit Nationals 2011. Full Gallery

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One of my top faves from 2011 Lime Rock Sunday in the Park was this wonderful Fiat 124TC, which appeared to be in concours condition inside and out. The rear hatch had a US-spec license plate niche, so I’m guessing this could have been a US-market car originally. This little wagon stole the show, at least as far as Italian cars were concerned. The Fiat sat opposite a row of Ferraris and Lambos, but it was the Fiat that people were crowding around.

The 124TC served as a prototype for the SEAT 124 estate, as well as the VAZ 2102 estate, and in facelifted form, the VAZ 2104. Polski Fiat, however, went for an estate based on the 125, which shared relatively few parts with the 124 series cars, which is one of the reasons that VAZ passed up on the 125 range entirely. Polski Fiat got the sweeter (more expensive) end of the deal, as the Fiat 125s had a lot more bells and whistles, but they were far rarer than the Fiat and VAZ wagons.

More photos after the jump

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One of the best surprises of German Car Day 2011 at Larz Anderson was this wonderful 1974 Audi 100 Coupe S in RHD, originally a South African car.

It is one of about 600 remaining in the world, and one of 5 Audi 100 Coupes in the states, and is the only one in RHD as one might guess. This car lived in South Africa from new till about 2 years ago, and we have the climate there to thank for its preservation.

One of my top 5 faves at German Car Day 2011, and featured on Bringatrailer.com when it was for sale out of TX:

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/04/10/germany-via-joberg-1974-audi-coupe-s/

This behemoth is one of several uses that were designed by Pininfarina and built for BMC by Marshall Motor Body of Cambridge, UK, on a Leyland FFK140 chassis. BMC used them for training its dealer service mechanics and for technical support. This particular one is from the first series of these BMC buses, built in 1963 and later, and has a 6 cylinder diesel (not clear if original) mated to a 4 speed manual transmission that is quite difficult to operate if you watch the video below.

More info and photos after the jump

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Held since 2004, the Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance quickly became one of the country’s top ten concours events, nearly eclipsing Greenwich Concours in every category. The loss of the Hunt Club venue led the organizers to search for a new location, but it appears they weren’t been able to find a suitable replacement. Bill Scheffler, the Chairman of the concours noted that “ultimately, we concluded that none of the options enabled us to continue our steady growth over eight years and onward towards our greater goals.” I had heard that Harkness Mansion in Waterford CT, among other places, was one of the alternatives being considered, but I was not especially surprised that it was not chosen as a replacement venue. The departure of Fairfield County Concours is an unexpected and disheartening loss to the northeast car collector community, though its Nutmeg Tour remains.

Newport Concours d’Elegance will now take place on July 15th, though the new venue has not been chosen yet. The last few years have been sort of rough, in terms of the location and field. The concours took place in 3 different locations around Newport harbor since 2008, each presenting its own challenges. Fort Adams is the backup location for the 2012 Newport Concours.

Stated to be the only federalized Z1 in the United States (most others being here under Show and Display), this BMW Z1 belonged to a Miami restaranteur who brought the car into the country in 1993. This very Z1 appeared in the background of the wincingly dated romcom Miami Rhapsody, starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

The BMW Z1 was famous for a couple things: doors that closed downward, and “easily” detachable plastic body panels, which in theory would allow owners to change the color of the car by replacing the body panels in a matter of hours (though in reality people who attempted this generally accomplished the feat in two days). As long as one doesn’t have parts left over when you put it back together, it’s generally going to be okay.

This was one of two Z1s at the 2011 Carlisle Import Nationals, and one of my fave cars of the weekend. These change hands from time to time in North America, but we’re not going to see noticeably more till the earliest examples hit 25 years. Obvs.

More photos after the jump

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The owner, who collects early and brass-era cars and vintage motorcycles, uses this 1987 Citroen CX GTi as a work truck and to make dump runs on the weekend. Before the CX this role was performed by his Peugeot 505 wagon which succumbed to old age and parts shortages and was put on craigslist. The surprising part is that the 505 sold in mere hours, was driven to a seaport in NJ, and put on a cargo ship to Africa to join a taxi fleet.

This anecdote may go a long way to help explain where old Peugeot 505s have gone from our roads. The replacement Citroen CX may also make the owner a finalist for the title of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

::voiceover:: “He uses an old French sedan to do yardwork”

Stay thirsty, my friends.

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to drive a 1991 Peugeot 505 SW8 Turbo for a day. This estate had 216K miles on it, and spent half of its life on the mean streets of NYC before settling in rural Connecticut, arguably a Peugeot 505 wagon’s natural habitat.

Made between 1979 and 1992, the Peugeot 505 was a tremendously popular car, and they ended up being assembled in eight countries. The North American market 505s all came from France’s Sochaux plant, and were encumbered with the usual DOT modifications that were not especially becoming. The 505 estates, in particular, were a somewhat popular alternative to the foreign and domestic station wagons available at the time, and in SW8 trim offered tremendous cargo capacity. (I’ve ridden in the back of a 505 wagon in Spain, and can attest to this firsthand). The 505′s main foreign competitors were the Volvo 740 and 940 estates, the Mercedes E-klasse W124 estates, and to a lesser extent the BMW E34 estate.

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When was the last time you saw one of these on the road in North America, or anywhere for that matter?

One of the best surprises of the 2011 Greenwich Concours was this wonderful 1962 GAZ 21i Volga. The GAZ 21 was built from 1956 till 1970 in three series or facelifts, which are distinguishable by the grille designs, among other details. The GAZ 21 is powered by a straight-four engine, good for 75bhp in its standard form, mated to a 3-speed manual transmission on a steering-column shifter. There was quite a large number of different versions of this car, ranging from the GAZ 22 Estate to the GAZ 23 V8 Sedan (which was built in very small numbers), in addition to taxi, ambulance, automatic transmission, RHD, and other versions. The suffix 21i indicates that this is a base sedan version.

More info and photos after the jump

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Automotive history is littered with examples of luxury sedans that didn’t quite make it for a variety of reasons, ranging from horrifying styling to devastating unreliability. Some were plagued with issues before they went on sale, while others wilted on the second or third generation (I’m looking at you, Ford Taurus!). So what were some of the least successful most naff luxury sedans of the last 40 years?

1. Aston Martin Lagonda – no surprise here, as the angles of this car were sharp enough to deflect not only radar, but also customers. Styled with a ruler by William Towns (who actually did some good cars), the prototype kicked off the parade of awfulness by stalling on its way to the podium during its London premiere. Star Trek internal controls that rarely worked sealed the deal.

2. The Cadillac by Cimarron – or was it the other way around? Wasn’t there like a third part? Oh wait, I’m thinking of the Buick Opel by Isuzu. In any case, the GM by Cimaddilac was a midsize Cimarron that was not particularly pleasing to own, look at, or drive. Print and TV adversiting pointedly avoided refering to it as a Cadillac because GM felt it would tarnish the brand’s image. This brash display of self-confidence paid off, and nobody ever confused it with the paragon of excellence that was Cadillac of the 1980′s.

3. GAZ 3105 – this innovative luxury sedan was supposed to take over from the venerable 3102 midsize executive sedan in the early 1990′s, and featured an automatic gearbox, a V8 engine, AWD, and futuristic (for 1990′s Russia) styling. Factory management, however, didn’t really have the whole concept of supply/demand nailed, so it made the car without first checking to see if there was a market for it. Approximately 90 were handmade to order over the course of two short years.

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I never got the impression that GM took Opel in the US very seriously. Opel’s first entry into the US-market was perhaps the most earnest, where Opels were sold at Buick dealerships alongside US models, starting in 1964. Priced below Buicks, they filled a niche in a price segment, and were quite popular for some time.  The GT came along in 1968, and over 70,000 were sold in the US over the next five years. The Ascona and the Manta arrived in 1971 to replace the departed Kadett. They were sold until 1975, when GM pulled out the German-made Opels, and replaced them with the Buick Opel by Isuzu. The straighforwardly named Buick Opel was an Isuzu Gemini, which itselt was based on the Kadett-C platform. Overall, Opels were used to fill gaps in price segments, but weren’t really allowed to stand on their own.

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Ahh, options….. The CX Prestiges imported by CX Automotive, among other options, came standard with the gas guzzler tax upon entry (18/21mpg), and generally sold in the low to mid $40,000s.

A CX Prestige that was present at Rendezvous 2011 displayed its original invoice sheet, including the total price at the bottom: $47,000. Not bad, but that’s in 1989 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $85,600 in today’s money, which is squarely in German V8 luxobarge territory.

All things being equal (not quite apples to apples, and draconian taxes aside) the current Citroen C6 is pretty far from that price territory, even aggressively optioned. And yes, I’ve seen Porsche Cayennes optioned up to 3.2 quadrillion rupees on those option calculators, but here I’m just talking about well equipped cars with powah-everything. If you could, would you pony up double the retail price of a Citroen C6 to have one stateside?

Now that, is not even an option for us.

As of January 2012 the 1987 Opel Senator B became importable into the US by the virtue of being 25 years and thus exempt from the, ahem, slightly weighty DOT requirements for privately imported automobiles not sold in the US of A. I don’t expect to ever see on on US roads, as no one will ever want to import one okay, so I know a few guys who might consider it, but this brings up an important (to car people) issue: collectibility. Or in the Senator’s case, lack thereof. But there is still the issue of a singular, personal appeal of a bread and butter car unavailable on these shores, and that is still worth something to an owner.

What’s a uncollected and uncollectible bread and butter car that you’d want to buy, regardless of what anyone says?

Just a few years ago Peugeot was thinking of coming back to the American market. The economy was doing well, people were, ahem, still buying cars, and car companies were making money by actually selling cars (true story!). Since withdrawing from the US market in 1991 Peugeot maintained an office in New Jersey, ostensibly to facilitate the distribution of parts for remaining US Peugeots, but they’ve also kept an eye on coming back. In fact, since withdrawing in 1991 they have occasionally let its former dealers test the waters with new models, like the 406, which they’ve provided for customer test drives. Even as late as 2006 PSA was still making noises about a possible comeback, and a gaggle of new Peugeots would sometimes be spotted around NYC. However close they were to reintroducing its model range in the US, those plans have now been put on hold indefinitely, and with plenty of sobering reasons.

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Not to imply that the 328GTS above is a $30K Ferrari, but at some point what gearhead hasn’t been tempted by a used Ferrari for the price of a new econobox? And indeed, there are some very tempting choices out there if you’ve got $30K to spend on a Fiat-era offering from Maranello. Of course, the price of entry is merely a down payment on what it’ll take to keep the beast running. As Top Gear has demonstrated a number of times, buying a used Ferrari for the price of a hatch is in many respects a scary proposition. But is there such a thing as a entry-level Ferrari to start with?

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Presented below for my Canadian friends as a public service, what Oprah calls enablement, are some schweet choices among foreign cars which are already eligible for importation this year. Yes yes, all those AWD micro-toaster vans from the late 80′s purchased at an Osaka police impound auction and stacked ten-deep upside down into a shipping container are indeed very practical, but there are more exciting options out there, ones that don’t involve traveling in a refrigerator box with wheels. So here are some suggestions, lest I see another bespoilered 5-owner JDM racer with 308K kilometers at Tim Horton’s. (Any semblance of suitability of the cars below for the harsh northern climate is entirely coincidental).

1. Alfa Romeo 145 hatch – these came in sedan form as well, and were made from 1994 till 2001. The Cloverleaf is the one to go for – it squeezes out 153bhp from a 2-liter inline four.

2. Toyota Century  – do I even have to make arguments for buying one of these? The all-new 1997 model featured a 5.0 liter V12, which was a first for a Japanese sedan. Watch as Lexus owners’ jaws will drop.

3. Peugeot 406  – designed by Pininfarina, the stylish sedan and coupe featured an impressive lineup of engines, and finding one in your favorite color shouldn’t be a problem as plenty of these were made. You might even find some on Saint-Pierre & Miquelon if you feel like just driving one over from France by yourself. Don’t be late for the ferry, its not too frequent.

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The contestant on the right is a 1980 Quattroporte III with Maser’s own 4.9 liter V8 mated to an autobox. It was in a slightly shabby shape with the catalog describing it as a parts car. Some trim was missing, but overall it looked pretty solid on the outside and underhood. It moved around under its own power, though it needed a little help from the auction staff to get started, and did so with a fair amount of transmission whine. It was estimated at $3K to $5K, but received no bids at $1K and was passed. It appears that a deal was put together post-block, and it went for $1K.

The contestant on the left is a 1987 Quattroporte III in Argento Silver with Maser’s 4.9 liter V8. It’s a sub-50K mile car that was estimated at $8K – $12K in the Bonhams catalog, and was in excellent shape for a driver. Offered with no reserve from a California collection, it sold for $2340.

That’s a lot of car for the money, but also a lot of money for the car. These aren’t exactly in high demand, and there are one or two on eBay any given week (usually with roasted paint from sitting in an elderly owner’s well-manicured Florida yard). While this wasn’t exactly the deal of the auction, as some bigger steals were to be had, it was quite a bargain for a slightly very underappreciated piece of Italian V8 luxury. It would have been less so had the bidding reached its low estimate, but the crowd at Fairfield was less than enthusiastic about Miami Vice period pieces in September in Connecticut. But at this price I say no harm done, and a slight fluffing following a checking of its vitals may even be in order.

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The 80′s gave us a lot of great things: hair bands, MTV, Howard the Duck, and if you were a connoisseur  of German engineering, a wide selection of very capable executive sedans. In fact, the decade defined the three full-size sedan model ranges that still dominate to this day, the Mercedes-Benz S-klasse, the BMW 7 series, and the 8 cylinder Audi.

The car that arguably had the most impact on the market and that once again set the benchmark for executive sedans was the W126 S-klasse. But how did it stack up against the competition, and which one of the three would you least terrified of buying today?

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Quite literally the definition of barn find, this 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Series 3 Ventoux Coupe with 22K km on the odometer was found in a barn in central Pennsylvania, having sat unused for about 30 years. Originally sold for 82,224 Francs in 1938, the car was fitted with factory Ventoux coachwork. The original color of this car was dark blue. Imported in the 1960s from Switzerland to the US, the car suffered an engine fire around that time which caused damage to the hood panels and fenders. Most of the wiring was believed to have been destroyed in the fire as well. The car was acquired in this condition from Marlboro Motors in NJ by a gentleman who was an engineer. Most of the mechanical damage from the engine fire was repaired, and the car ran as late as 1966, though it was not given a restoration.

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