Why the Mark VIII is the best Coupe value in the world.....

[John Hubertz]

I thought I'd share a photo of "why" I bought a Mark VIII. The 840 and 850 series of BMWs are still super-strong in resale - running from a low of around $9000 to around $20,000 for a clean clean car.

Yes, they are nice, but not $10,000 nicer then our cars. The performance is comparable - to me the only real sacrifice is with the windows down, as a "true hardtop" is hard to beat on appearance.

And think about it - luxury/performance coupes, what other choices do we have? The early Sebring was OK, but front drive, ditto the Eldo. Monte Carlos are for tobacco chewers, a clean Grand Prix GTP is nice but has a goofy interior and these days a nice Thunderbird SC or 87 - 88 Turbo Coupe sells for more then a newer, higher performing Mark VIII.

Mercedes 380 - 560SEC are acceptable, but the interior bits are very high dollar and they have suspension issues as expensive as ours.

Frankly, the only downside is resale. The Lincoln suspensions have such a hideous reputation with used car dealers they won't touch them. So we get our "suspension repair allowance" on the frontside, keeping $1000 or so in our pocket vs an identical Eldorado.

"Real men don't spin their FRONT wheels."

What other cars compare with ours? ANYBODY have a car that has the same bang-for-the-buck quotient?

 

[MrWilson]

first of all....montes arent for tobaco chawers.

well, i suppose a cougar rx7 or w/e they are, would be similar, but way TOO similar, and even crappier. imo, marks are cheep because its a ford product...they have been failing since 1977!

go buy a trans am, with vinal seats, and call it a luxo coupe.

 

[pepperman]

first of all....montes arent for tobaco chawers.

well, i suppose a cougar rx7 or w/e they are, would be similar, but way TOO similar, and even crappier. imo, marks are cheep because its a ford product...they have been failing since 1977!

go buy a trans am, with vinal seats, and call it a luxo coupe.

( Tobacco chawers ) haven't heard that one in a long time. The Mark VIII is a has that sports car appeal that people are looking for and are very affordable. BMW's are cool cars but are on the pricey side even for a good clean used one.

 

[MarkVIII93]

I almost creamed my pants when I saw this red mark with 78k. I want a red mark! Or a black one. This thing was clean though. Until I looked underneath the qaurter and I saw the rustttttt.

 

[98LSC32V]

What about the SC400?

 

[John Hubertz]

Sc 400/430

Price one and see why it isn't the car ours are....and they have chronic AC problems....

 

[Jibit]

go buy a trans am, with vinal seats, and call it a luxo coupe.

I have to disagree with ya. Give me a trans am and I guarantee I'll tear that thing up in a couple of months. Those cars were uncomfortable, rust buckets, and never had anything comparable to the luxary of a mark. Those cars were just meant for speed and thats it.

 

[Psychostang]

I absolutely love the 840/850 series BMW. It is such a beautiful car. The best looking BMW ever, as far as I'm concerned. The best version, being the 97 840.

 

[seanklsc]

What about the SC400?

agreed

 

[John Hubertz]

Nothing wrong with a clean Trans Am...

...or Z28 - and probably dollar for dollar not dissimilar to our cars. I had a 2002 WS6 Ram Air and it "felt" a lot like the Mark at any sane speed. And they are good values.....$7K can buy a lot of car in that market. I looked at a super clean Camaro RS Convertible ('93) for under 5K when I was shopping this last time.

(our old T/A)

What is it with American coupes? Have we exported our cojones with all the jobs? I mean, I can understand SOME American cars having poor resale - but ALL of them having poor resale?

Another pretty decent ride is an old Toyota Supra....

 

[KainDTE]

I love the hoods on those new trans am's they look so damn mean but yeah another luxo coupe is... the NISSAN 240SX! lol well not really but if you drop some racing seats in one of those they surprisingly have more leg room then the mark but too bad they have no luxury features cost a :q:q:q:qload to make look good and ride like crap

 

[67Continental]

the thing is, i don;'t think you can compare the interior of a trans am to that of a mark.....trans am is not a luxo car.....

the only thing I like about the 8 series is that they were available as a 6 speed manual....other than that, heavy, underpowered odd looking cars :s

SC300 is almost the same engine as the Supra - 2jz - and the newer sc430 was pretty cool. SC300 was available with a standard tranny.

I think the biggest reason that we don't have american coupes anymore is because there is no market. No one was buying marks, no one was buying thunderbirds - personal luxury was dead in the 90's.

I find new G35's are BEAUTIFUL, and decently fast - and 6 speed. Hopefully personal luxury will make a comeback.

 

[98LSC32V]

The G35's are very nice cars, the 5 speed autos in those are really slick...

 

[HyeLifeLS]

The 8 series is guorgeous. The 840ci might have been the best one considering the expenses but I think that the best E31 was the 92-96 850csi. That hard top of the that car is absolutely beautiful.

I like the W126 coupe Mercedes too, the 560sec, very nice car, my friend had one, very nice and quite.

I absolutely love the 840/850 series BMW. It is such a beautiful car. The best looking BMW ever, as far as I'm concerned. The best version, being the 97 840.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

I also like these older coupe E class Benzes, what do you people think? I think the body of these cars is very beautiful (I am talking about the 2 door only).

 

[67Continental]

300CE is a great car, when I was buying my mark i was also seriously considering 300CE. Very very hard to find in manual tho.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

Were they ever sold as manuals in US? I have seen couple of 260Es with manuals but not coupes. I saw one today, really nice, 93 with 82000 miles, very fresh, they were asking $8000. I might go look at it again. It was champain with cream interior.

300CE is a great car, when I was buying my mark i was also seriously considering 300CE. Very very hard to find in manual tho.

 

[67Continental]

i am not sure if they were sold as manuals in the us - but there should be enough grey market cars by now from europe to find one.

 

[Psychostang]

I only picked the 97 840, because they upgraded to the 4.4Ltr engine. More power and reliability as compared to the 4.0Ltr. The 850 12 cylinder engine was always finicky.

 

[Dominus]

All BMW engines with the Nikasil cylinder liners were finicky. But overall, they were kick ass cars.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

That's true, some of the V8s in 94-96 cars were messed up, so the BMW was changing some of the engines to the ones with Alusil blocks. My brother has a 93 530i V8 manual and it has Nikasil block, but it works perfectly, he has only about 50.000 miles on it though.

All BMW engines with the Nikasil cylinder liners were finicky. But overall, they were kick ass cars.

 

[John Hubertz]

I've got a crazy doctor friend who collects all varieties of nasty old v12 european cars - and he has two v12 bmws with over 190,000 miles and no engine problems. but the check engine lights come on intermittently and a tune up is close to $3000 (standard engine svc per manual)

Those tan leather recaros in that 560 would look SO sweet in a Mark....

 

[mespock]

Bang for the Buck, that's what you get with the Mark VIII. Gen 1's Under $4000 for a great ride that you can play with, and great style. I love the looks of a Mark VIII.

Plus they are not difficult cars to work on. One can do most work if not all themselves. Which keeps the price way down. You have no payments, only a repair here and there. They may cost a bit at the time but the price of the repair is still much less than all the car payments of a much newer car.

Plus one more added feature, in 1993 - 1998 while gas prices were dropping to below $100/gal they made the Mark VIII fuel economical. A Mark VIII 4000 lbs 4.6L V-8 all the luxury, plus hwy 28 - 32 mpg. Now I know your driving style will greatly decrease those numbers. But now that gas prices have gone up a little from the Mark VIII time period. Their fuel ecconomy puts them why above those others.

 

[KainDTE]

Another great thing about the Mark is that the Mark looks like a new car all those other cars you posted look OLD like 80's cars... I have people think that my car is like a 2000+ all the time

 

[HyeLifeLS]

Actually that interior picture is the 850's interior not the 560s.

I've got a crazy doctor friend who collects all varieties of nasty old v12 european cars - and he has two v12 bmws with over 190,000 miles and no engine problems. but the check engine lights come on intermittently and a tune up is close to $3000 (standard engine svc per manual)

Those tan leather recaros in that 560 would look SO sweet in a Mark....