Quite possibly the most famous car collection on Earth at the moment is the ‘Youngtimer‘ collection. If you aren’t familiar somehow, it’s a collection of cars from the ’80s, ’90s and some ’00s, most of them European with a sprinkle of some Japanese cars, and they’re all absolutely pristine. The best part about it is that it isn’t just filled with famous classics. Instead, it’s filled with the sort of obscure and rare metal that us gearheads go nuts over, as Chris Harris famously did. One of the best cars in this collection is an E38-generation ALPINA B12 6.0 and it can be had for the same price as a base MINI Cooper after tax.
This ALPINA B12 is currently for sale and it’s expected to go for around £22,000. That’s about the same price as a mildly-equipped MINI Cooper S and it’s absolutely worth it over the little MINI or any new car for that money.
What does that money buy you? This particular car is a 2000 model and it’s based off of the E38 BMW 7 Series, the best looking 7er of all time. Except it gets a lowered suspension, quad exhaust pipes and those gorgeous ALPINA wheels. Under the hood lies a BMW hand-built 5.7 liter V12 that’s been enhanced to 6.0 liters and it puts out a hefty 424bhp and 443 lb-ft of torque. And likely a wonderful, silky smooth noise. That engine is paired to an automatic gearbox and it drives just the rear wheels, as it should.
Its exterior is painted in a metallic silver over a black interior with wood trim and ALPINA-colored stitching. It also gets ALPINA’s classic blue gauges in place of BMW’s traditional black ones. While the interior isn’t too much more special than the standard E38’s, it’s still lovely.
This ALPINA B12 only has 50,000 km (roughly 31,000 miles) on the odometer and is in pristine condition. It’s simply gorgeous and extremely desirable. For the money, I don’t think there’s any new car on the market that I’d rather have. If I was looking to spend that sort of money on a car right now, I’d be looking at this ALPINA B12 closely.
[Source: Top Gear]
