Some auctions are home to specific eras or types of cars from automotive history, while others seek to bring the rarest collectable models together in the hope of a bidding frenzy. There are auctions, however, that celebrate all kinds of vehicles – old, new, fast, slow, Italian, British, and something that caught our eye in this particular sale: German.
Dorotheum’s Classic Car sale at the upcoming Classic Expo in Salzburg has some real German gems, some of which we would love to enjoy blasting along the Autobahn or on a twisty back road. We’ve managed to pin down five that really caught out eye, and we’ll start with some Porsche goodness. Among the many classic 911s and increasingly-desirable 944s, this 928 GTS had us intrigued, featuring an uprated V8 engine to set it apart as a final runout model. Wider arches house 17-inch alloy wheels as standard with the GTS, giving the whole car a far more appealing design. This new found sportier edge, combined with impressive power outputs got the Porsche marketing team thinking, and later delivered one of the brand’s most famous straplines describing the GTS: “It's about as fast as you can go without eating airline food.”
Elsewhere in the Porsche lineup, we have a stunning 996 Turbo Cabriolet, which boasts an attractive colour combination and just 19,800km from new. One of only 127 Turbos built in the last model year, this 996 is surely a car that is only going to increase in value!
Alongside the flurry of Porsches, BMWs and Volkswagens, Dorotheum’s sale has a smorgasbord of Mercedes-Benz models to stick a bid on. Built during an era where Mercedes would spend millions on refinement and luxury, lots such as the stunning 1976 450 SEL 6.9 really are the ones to watch, offering unrivalled driving quality and finesse. We just couldn’t ignore the two aftermarket Benzes though, and most notably a 190E we have never heard of before. Built in 1983 by Schulz Tuning, a company now famous for their convertible and hatchback variants of the Baby Benz, this one ended up down a more power-orientated route. Squeezing a 5.0-litre V8 once found in the 450 SLC, it certainly isn’t a baby anymore, and is arguably one of the rarest 190Es ever made. We think this example is a must for any German car collector!
