The Ur-Ur-Quattro
Developed by Audi as an amphibious offroad vehicle for the German military and produced from 1978 to 1988, the Volkswagen Iltis featured the famous four-wheel drive system which first came to market in 1980 in the Audi Quattro. Earlier that year, Freddy Kottulinsky and Gerd Löffelmann had won the Paris-Dakar Rally in an Audi-prepared Iltis – an almost-forgotten prelude to the well-known success story of the Audi Sport Quattro that ruled rally racing in the 1980s. Meticulously restored to its former glory, this 1979 Volkswagen Iltis 4x4 has been refinished in a striking Black Metallic paint, which gives the vehicle a sleek, modern yet rugged look, and fitted with a classic green soft top that increases the military-inspired appeal. So if you are looking for a more uncommon offroad classic than the usual Land Rovers and Mercedes G-Classes, this striking piece of automotive history might be the perfect car for you.
The rare one
While prices for manual Ferrari 599s and 612s are skyrocketing, the collector car community seems to have forgotten about another rare, stick-shifted V12 grand tourer from the 2000s – the manual Aston Martin DB9. After all, only 385 of the 16,500 examples of the car were produced as a coupe with a manual gearbox. Configured in the timeless combination of Mercury Silver over a Sahara Tan interior in leather and Alcantara, reasonably priced and showing just 44,000 km on the clock, this left-hand-drive 2008 Aston Martin DB9 is certainly the one to put into your garage – or drive all across the continent this summer.
A Busso with a bore
Long-time readers will know that Classic Driver’s editorial team has a soft spot for 1980s power sedans – and this rare, right-hand drive 3.0-litre 1988 Alfa Romeo 75 V6 almost made us spill our espresso when we first spotted it in the market. With is race-prepped, bright red cardboard box design and freshly upholstered interior, this ‘omologato’ is the perfect example of 1980s Italian exuberance. More importantly, the Alfa with its iconic Busso engine has been stripped down and completely rebuilt as a passion project by leading UK Alfa specialist Alex Jupe, promising an even more rewarding driving experience on road and track – and a reliability commonly unknown within the masochist Alfisti tribe. So are you ready to grab the Momo Prototipo wheel, tune in your favourite Italodisco station on the Blaupunkt and hit the tarmac?
NAS Appeal
Not to be confused with the attorney of another East Coast rapper caught up in legal trouble, the NAS Defender was Land Rover’s North American Specification of the brand’s most trusted offroad model, available for sale in the US and Canadian markets from 1994 onwards. Finished in Alpine White over Grey vinyl and equipped with the 4.0-liter V8 and ZF four-speed ZF automatic transmission, this 1997 NAS Defender 90 was surprisingly never shipped to the US, but sold in Corsica before finding its way to the UK. Since then, the car has been carefully maintained, but rarely used, showing only 1,290 miles from new while retaining the original factory paintwork, interior trimmings and even its first BF Goodrich tires. Coming under the hammer at the RM Sotheby’s Miami sale on 27 February for an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 dollars, this time-capsule NAS Defender will finally make it to North America – with a 29-year delay.
Guinness, anyone?
Supplied new in 1962 to British racing driver and car dealer and Roy Salvadori, the Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 litre FHC commonly known as ‘Woo 11’ has been campaigned in races, rallies, sprints and hillclimbs across the globe from 1964 to 2024. It was raced in the USA with the Sports Car Club of America during the 1990s, raced and restored by Graber Sportgarage and participated in the blue ribband Goodwood Revival Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration race an astonishing eight times. Most remarkably, though, it has been featured twice in the Guinness Book of Records for its number of race victories in a season whilst in the ownership of the aptly named British racing driver John Quick. If the next owner can break this record, the pint of Guinness to celebrate is on us!
