There are small auctions happening all over the country on a given basis, far outside the glare of the big-ticket Mecum and Barrett-Jackson auction houses. While I wish we could sniff out all of these estate sales and local auctions, there’s only so many hours in the day – but we’re glad we stumbled upon this listing for what looks like a decent BMW 2002 and a slightly needy Nissan 240SX. There are also some small parts stashes for sale, including two sets of BMW and Mercedes-Benz wheels and a cache of spare parts. The 1975 BMW 2002 shown here has been repainted but is said to run well despite needing a replacement clutch slave cylinder.
The original color of this 2002 is still visible in the door jams and it’s actually a fairly desirable shade known as Malaga. It’s a shame it was painted over in what is likely a low-buck version of Signal Red, and the listing notes some visible flaws in the finish. When 2002s were still very cheap cars to buy, it seems highly likely a local car lot did a quick color change to make it racier or at least have some more eyeball appeal than the factory maroon color. Regardless, this 2002 has some very desirable Recaro seats in the cockpit, which should pull about $2,000 on the used parts market by themselves. If this 2002 sells for less than $7,000, you’re sitting very pretty, even with the obvious cosmetic flaws.
The 240SX is a bit of a surprise to see here, as it appears to be a bone-stock example equipped with the optional automatic transmission. I’m surprised because these S13 cars have almost been entirely snapped up by young drivers and wanna-be drifters, making it highly unusual to see a car that remains completely untouched. The automatic gearbox may have limited the desire of aftermarket-obsessed drivers to mess with this one, but I also wonder if the Nissan was the daily driver while the 2002 was the weekend car of whomever these cars previously belonged to. The Nissan does have some rust in the rockers, but it’s fairly minor for a vintage Japanese car that has apparently lived in Ohio.
The seller is honest about the general state of this car, which includes the fact that it didn’t want to stay running and that it blew a brake line while being moved out of its storage location to a trailer. It’s also leaking coolant. Someone swapped Volvo wheels onto it at some point, but the factory wheels are included; personally, if this were my auction, I’d swap the OEM wheels back on before taking pictures. A four-cylinder with 140 horsepower came standard, but it’s the rear wheel drive configuration that makes enthusiasts covet these 90s sport coupes. Both cars are going cheaply at the moment and listed here on Proxibid.com.
I worked at a rental car company in the late 1980’s . We had a few 240SX automatics in the fleet. The bummer at the time in the auto is a four speed (reliable but did sap some fun) but damn did these handle. They were also generally nice cruisers.
I think this example survived without being a drift mobile because of the automatic transmission. Someone could get a decent starting point for a project.
Had a 1989 240sx back in the day. One of the best cars I’ve ever owned. Only wish it had more power. If they offered this car with an inline 6, would have rivaled the iconic 260/280z.
I’m high bid on the Bimmer. We’ll see what it goes for but as noted it’s still going well below market.
Well, it’s at $7500 now with a bidder premium of 1125 and with tax it’s going to be another 500 so it’s over $9k. Still a good deal but not a steal.
The 240SX sold for $2300 + 15% buyer fees
The 2002 sold for $11,500 + 15% buyer fees
Auction ended at $11,500, add in buyer premium and taxes and it’s going to be over $13k out the door. Nice car buy not a good deal given what it needed at that price. You can buy a much nicer one on Ebay for 19k that had DCOE Weber and a fresh paint job. To get this one in similar shape you’ll spend a lot more than 10k. Shows that the rule to buy the best one you can afford still applies.