T87 Singles Collection, Winter 2025 Edition – Part 3: More Foreign Cars (German, Italian, etc.)

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– Posted on April 3, 2025

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The German contingent was the most numerous by a long shot, for this edition, so let’s get to the Fleisch und Kartoffeln of the matter. We’ll start things light and sporty with the SLs and work our way through to heftier fare, including (as hinted in the title pic) a cornucopia of Porsches.

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Everything in due course. Let’s keep things in order. Pagodas before 911s and all that.

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The W107s were out in force, both in long and standard wheelbase form. The SWB roadster is the more common, but I lucked out and encountered a couple coupés.

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This might be a 1977-80 450SLC with the 5-litre, with that tacked-on piece of rubber on the rear end. Those are very rare, but finding one here would make sense.

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This is the standard model – still quite a machine. Let’s take a peek inside.

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It sure looks tight back there, but better than nothing. The profile of these LWB C107s feels a lot more planted than the 2-seater R107.

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OK, I love me a W123 wagon, but in white with wide whitewalls?

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Hella yeah, that’s more like it! Sixties chic, thy name is Stroke-8 Coupé. (By the way, that “Stroke-8” moniker, though not official at the time, is what M-B themselves call the W114/115 now.)

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I’m never sure where to classify these – German? British? Spanish? Maybe just plain European, albeit made by an American company… They’re very uncommon here, and I’m not sure why: they seem perfect for Japanese conditions.

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There’s something deeply satisfying about encountering a BMW 2-litre 3-Series two-door saloon in such a pristine condition.

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This long-distance sighting of a 635CSi will sadly be the only other Bavarian-made product in this post.

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However, we have a rare entry from GM Europe in the shape of this mid-‘90s Bertone-made Opel Astra Cabriolet.

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We have a fair amount of VWs to get through, starting with this Rabbit pickup. I don’t think many of these were sold outside of North America, so they’re definitely a novelty for yours truly, as well as the numerous VW connoisseurs in Tokyo.

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The usual suspects were also present, of course. By which I mean the rear-engined Transporters, of course.

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I’d have loved to have seen this one out in the open. It looked like it just rolled off the production line.

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This one, on the other hand, was looking mighty rusty.

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This late model Type 3 Variant was little rougher around the edges still.

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This one was much nicer in many ways, though I’m personally not very fond of venetian blinds (anywhere, not just in Squarebacks).

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Beautiful restoration job on this Japanese market Beetle, isn’t it? Complete with semaphores and sunroof, too.

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I’m going to hazard a guess at the model year and go with 1956. Do let me know how my aim was.

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Right, we’ve hit the Porsche chapter. We’ll start nice with a 914-6, just to get us warmed up.

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According to a quick online browsing, Porsche built eleven 916s – those being beefed-up 914s with the 911S’s 190hp 2.4 litre fuel-injected flat-6. Is this one of them? Maybe, maybe not.

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Plain vanilla 911s are fine by me – especially the older ones.

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This one was one of those cars that looked okay from a distance, but the closer you got, the more issues appeared. Or I might need new glasses.

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I’m really no expert in 911-ology, so this might be a fugazzi and I’d never be able to suss it out, but it looks like an early ‘70s Carrera RS. What do the cognoscenti think?

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Not my cup of tea exactly, but I do appreciate that these are considered as the pinnacle of the early 911s by many.

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This is another kettle of fish. Strictly speaking, this is a 2020 Rennsport G50 RSR, not a Porsche 911. It’s basically a very high-quality restomod made in the UK. The engine is a 3.4 litre good for about 320hp and everything, from the brakes to the A/C system, has been replaced by 2020s technology. All wrapped in orange, too.

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Sweet little 356 C (1963-65) – love the non-metallic medium gray paint and that flawless interior. But there was another 356 that left me scratching my head…

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Yeah, something is up with that, isn’t it? Not sure what exactly. That “Fuel safe system” in the frunk is rather novel (to me, anyway)…

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“Porsche Cr”? The mind boggles and the web is strangely quiet – but maybe I’m not looking in the right places. Anybody know what we’re looking at here?

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Finally, modern Porsches rarely catch my attention, but this one looked like something a bit special, so I took a few snaps. Turns out the 918 Spyder, made in 2013-15, cost over $840k when new. It was a plug-in hybrid with a 4.6 litre V8 and two electric motors, totalling 875hp. And they built just 918 of them, fittingly.

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Onwards to the Italian stuff – might as well start with Ferraris, given where we left off.

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Testarossa, anyone? I’m good personally, but if you fancy your twelve in boxer form, go right ahead.

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Dinos appear on a fairly regular basis at the Sunday classic car meets. This one caught my eye more than the others. Plus that engine…

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We’ve already seen this monster before, but it came out of hiding again recently.

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Finally, a first series 3200GT! Those boomerang taillights really tie up the whole design, don’t they?

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Best Maserati of the ‘90s by a mile and a half, I say. And I’ll prove it. Right away.

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Yes, it’s a Ghibli II – the Bitrubo’s ugly sister. This one has had an interesting body kit added. Kinda like the rear taillight treatment, actually.

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Plenty of Alfas to browse through again – not complaining, far from it. The yellow colour on this Series 4 Spider was a little rich for me. But to each his own.

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Now, there were a lot of these Bertone coupés about. So many in fact that I’m wondering whether they re-started production.

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Sometimes, they even band together. For warmth, or to facilitate the sharing of parts?

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The earlier step-face kind (i.e. pre-1969) was even out and about.

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To my eyes, the simplest design – the 1971-74 Junior 1300, with the dual headlights as above – is the best.

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We’ll close the Alfa chapter on a high, because the Giulia berlina is a work of (cubist) art.

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They don’t come more beautiful than this. Berlina for the win.

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The obligatory Lancia Delta Integrale, as tradition dictates.

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The Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato has to be one of the coolest exotics ever made.

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Abarth made Fiat 500 derivatives for quite a while, too. Plenty have been shown in these Singles Collections, but this yellow one had escaped me thus far.

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The unkillable Panda 4×4. Kind of wasted here, really. Needs a snowy mountain to show off its worth.

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Cannot fault this X1/9 in any way. Love the colour in particular.

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A couple of Fiat Coupés were present, too. This one was tucked away, sort of hiding…

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…whereas this one was out, enjoying the sunshine. Very distinctive design, if nothing else.

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I hadn’t seen that jaw-dropping shape in four years! This is a factory-bodied Fiat 8V. And it’s quite quick, too!

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No Volvos to report – by which I mean that 240s are such a daily occurrence here that it’s hardly worth anybody’s time. I much prefer to focus on the (very few) Saabs that cross my path.

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That 900 Cabriolet was impossibly clean. How do they do it? Also, why?

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Something new: the GAC Aion Y Plus, unveiled in 2021. GAC are the world’s third largest EV carmaker after BYD and Tesla, so I expect these will be seen in a few places. Officially, they’re not yet sold in Japan, so I have no idea how this one ended up on the outskirts of Tokyo.

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And we’ll end this tour on a familiar sight, the UAZ-452 “Bukhanka” van. This one was imported just before the war in 2022, so it’s one the younger side, for a Brezhnev-era design.

 

That’s all folks! See you in three months for the next edition.

 

 

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