Owning a low production and exclusive car is a special experience, and the more rare the car the more special the experience is. This is because when you get something very rare and obscure you don’t usually get noticed by the average person, but the people who do notice are those who truly understand what your car is.
Our Pick of the Day is one of these cars a 1997 Alpina B10 V8 for sale on ClassicCars.com.
For those of you who do not know, Alpina is an outside tuning company that has been in business for more than 50 years. They have always focused on BMW cars ,and over the years have built full-bore BMW race cars and also built special built Alpina modified BMWs. These road cars have historically focused on two areas: performance and luxury. What Alpina does is take a standard BMW before it is complete and have it shipped from Munich to their facility in Buchloe, Bavaria, where they install hand-built Alpina BMW engines, transmissions, suspensions and interiors. These cars are then badged as Alpinas and even carry a VIN that identifies them as Alpina cars and not BMW. The boffins at Alpina only built a few hundred of each model a year, making them a rare sight in the U.S. Among BMW fans an Alpina car is something extra special. They are well respected and desirable.
This Pick of the Day 1997 Alpina B10 is described as a car that has covered 176,300 kilometers (109,600 miles) from new. It is a left hand drive B10 that has great history and has been registered in Germany and Ontario. The 1997 B10 V8 Alpina was never offered in North America, and was imported to Ontario, Canada, in 2013, where it has remained with two careful owners for the last 11 years. The car is offered from a prestigious BMW collection with factory manuals, a build sheet, import documents, and service records.
The body and paint are very straight and show very few flaws. This BMW retains all of its original paint (a paint depth gauge report can be seen in the photos). It has gold Alpina graphics with shadowline trim. Factory 18” Alpina wheels are fitted, and it has been upgraded with H&R coilovers.
The interior is in great shape. The seats are black Montana leather with matching door panels. The dash and center console are trimmed in wood grain. Alpina striped floor mats, Alpina door sills, and an Alpina #221 production plaque can be found inside. This B10 also has a period BMW car phone. The original Alpina badged steering wheel is trimmed in Alcantara. The dash cluster is Alpina branded and features a 330 km/h speedometer.
The engine in this car is very special. The standard 5-series had a 4.4L engine but Alpina wanted more power and displacement. Since BMW engines had Nicasil coated bores, Alpina couldn’t simply overbore the engines to 4.6L displacement. To solve this problem, BMW specially cast a whole new block at 4.6L displacement for these cars. Alpina then added their own crankshaft, a more aggressive camshaft, hand-tuned ports, high compression Mahle pistons, and a reprogrammed Motronic system. The result was an impressive 340 horsepower which gives the B10 a 0-60 time of 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph. The transmission is a ZF 5-speed automatic with steering wheel mounted switch-tronic system.
Underneath, this Alpina B10 V8 looks amazingly clean and rust free. The suspension and steering components looks terrific in the photos and this car looks like an example that needs nothing. The seller closes by stating that this B10 starts, drives, and shifts well. It is comfortable and can be driven anywhere.
Now, what is the cost for all of this exclusivity and rarity in a car? I am happy to tell you that despite Alpina only building a total of 277 total Alpina B10 cars over its six year production history, the asking price of this car is only $26,000. For that you get a car that is way more exclusive than a E39 M5 and, not only with a nicer interior, one that has a higher top speed. Sure the average car guy might walk right past your B10, but at a European car show, RADwood, or BMW event your car will be one of the stars.
Click here for this ClassicCars.com Pick of the Day.
Source: www.classiccars.com