Journal: Which German, Six-Cylinder Super Coupes Captures Your Imagination?

Which German, Six-Cylinder Super Coupes Captures Your Imagination?

By Petrolicious
June 24, 2013

Six cylinders, rear wheel drive, German heritage, and four seats in a pretty coupe shell—though each of this week’s featured cars uses those same ingredients, they follow very different recipes. Either one will provide buckets of driving thrills with a spine-tickling soundtrack, not to mention that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from owning and caring for a fine piece of engineering.

In honor of our month-long Bavarian Experience, we’re once again featuring an M6. Though not quite as elegant as its E9 predecessor (what is?), the E24 is still one very fine looking automobile, its razor-sharp sharknose, large greenhouse, simple detailing, and spectacular BBS’d stance all contributing to a whole that’s somehow greater than the sum of its angular parts. What really sets this car apart, however, is the race-bred S38 straight six behind that lovely slanted double kidney grille. With six throttle bodies, twin cams, twenty-four valves and a refined, yet somehow still quite raw, nature befitting of its competition heritage, revving one of these things out is an experience you’ll replay in your dreams for years afterwards.

Competing for your attention is a beautiful Porsche 964, this one a very well-preserved example from its first year in production, 1989. Representing the first substantial redesign of the 911 since its introduction a quarter of a century earlier, the 964 brought then-modern levels of refinement and a litany of performance enhancements to the already time-honored 911 tradition, while retaining much of the quirky character that made earlier cars so special. Pull the little trigger on its door handle, slide into the plain yet supportive seat, depress the floor-hinged clutch, and turn the left-mounted ignition until the flat six slung way out back coughs to life, it’s hollow, lumpy, metallic idle like nothing else on planet Car. Like its Munich-born cousin, a drive in a 964 will etch itself in your subconscious.

So, which six-cylinder, four-seat, two-door slice of driving heaven most appeals to you?

1989 Porsche 911

Click here for the Porsche details.

1988 BMW E24 M6

Click here for the BMW details.

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Lamond Jack
Lamond Jack
11 years ago

I don’t know if you guys would consider it a super coupe but for me one of the most profound German six cylinder coupes is the Volkswagen Corrado VR6! It’s a sleeper and a German classic in the making in my opinion!

Lewis deSoto
Lewis deSoto
11 years ago

I’m enamored of the Enitre E36 M3 line. I am a recent owner of a 18k mile M3 cabriolet and have to say, the 3.2 liter stuffed into this narrow, lithe body has big appeal for me. The smoothness of the inline 6 along with the smooth torque curve and turbine like exhaust note is heady stuff.

Luc Bonachera
Luc Bonachera
11 years ago

I’ve never driven an E24, but I doubt they really compare on the road: the 911 is meant to be a sports car, the 6 is more of a GT. Thus, I agree with Steve Jain?

Luc Bonachera
Luc Bonachera
11 years ago
Reply to  Luc Bonachera

Sorry, there wasn’t supposed to be a question mark at the end of my sentence, a simple period was what I was aiming at… :p

Niklaus Gingro
Niklaus Gingro
11 years ago

964 all the way, I love look, and they are so fun to drive.

However, all 1989 964s were 4-wheel drive (in the ad you will see it says “Carrera 4”), and the system was based on the legendary 959 system, it’s very good and still feels like you’re driving a RWD car but I’ve heard that in the snow and rain they really hold their own.

Josh Clason
11 years ago
Reply to  Niklaus Gingro

When I was living in Utah I would see a black 964 headed to the slopes very frequently and it always made me very jealous.

Jono51
Jono51
11 years ago

The E24 shape has never really done a lot for me – I’d rather have an M5 E28. So it has to be the Porsche by default.

Erwan Brillot
Erwan Brillot
11 years ago

The Porsche must be fun to drive, but more common. I would have the BMW because you don’t see much of them.

Jan Christian
Jan Christian
11 years ago

Celebrating the BMW month, I bought myself a 83 635csi two weeks ago. Thus, the m6.

Josh Clason
11 years ago
Reply to  Jan Christian

Very nice!

Steve Jain
Steve Jain
11 years ago

This is an easy one…964 all the way. One of these cars started from the ground up with design as a SPORTS car, the other was was retrofitted to make it sporty. The BMW still has the basic design and construction that sought out to be a nice coupe, nothing more nothing less…then BMW M division made it go faster and handle better with the compromise of what the original engineers designed.

Jack Olsen
Jack Olsen
11 years ago

The Porsche is lighter.

Leucea Alexandru
Leucea Alexandru
11 years ago

This one:

Leucea Alexandru
Leucea Alexandru
11 years ago

A very tough decision. As a BMW enthusiast and ex-owner, my choice would be predictable. But one day something snapped, and when i ran into this particular 964 Carrera 4 with just 56.000km on the clock, it got under my skin..it had all the factory stickers and the interior was mint.

Matthew Lange
Matthew Lange
11 years ago

M6 for me, especially as this one looks like such a nice example. Love 964’s too but probably not the 911 I would choose.

Josh Clason
11 years ago

I have long said a 964 is my next car which would seem to make this choice a no-brainer. For some reason it is harder than I imagine after looking at that M6.

noekult
noekult
11 years ago
Reply to  Josh Clason

Very cool. I know 964s have gone up in value but it has always been “my” 911. I grew up loving the 965 3.6 because of Bad Boys but in real life, even if I had the money to buy a 3.6 I’d still have a base Carrera 2 instead. It’s the perfect blend of classic/modern, which is what I adore about these cars.

I bought an E28 (non-///M) and have completely fallen in love with Sharknose BMW’s. I’m afraid I can’t ever “move on” now, only upgrade the E28 line until I have the M5 – the community is great, the cars are cool as hell and I love the way EVERYBODY loves the car…
It also seems like a perfect blend of classic/modern so I’m an E28 addict now I guess.

An E28 M5 + a 964 C2 and I would die a happy man.

Sid Widmer
Sid Widmer
11 years ago

I’ve done the air-cooled 911 thing and it was glorious so I’ll take the M6. I have yet to drive a BMW I didn’t like.

matthew wiseman
matthew wiseman
11 years ago

Thats a hard one, the 6 is going to be a fantastic cruiser, and in euro spec id argue is better looking than the 911, but the 911 will be a better canyon car, can i has both?

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