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. I once sold one that hadn't had the recall done to retrofit the spoiler and thats probably a rare car now.
A guy near my folks had one when they first came out and never sent it back for the recall. Think he still has it.
At the time I remember thinking I wouldn't have sent it back to aid future uniqueness / price etc.
I didn't actually realize the only difference was the spoiler. I assumed there was more.
Also never* has a spoiler been more aptly named.
*possibly a ducktail porsche - still don't get why people like to ruin the back with those.
hugo7-
I didn't actually realize the only difference was the spoiler. I assumed there was more.
From memories of Autocar etc at the time I'm pretty sure there was - the goal was to stop people leaving Autobahns backwards at high speed, so lift off/high speed oversteer was clearly catching people out. I thought there were geo changes, if not outright suspension changes, plus the spoiler to remove rear axle lift.
As such, the unmodified cars are meant to be more, erm, lively - more of a sports car than what came later in the words of one reviewer.
Dammit
Really glad you're signing off the occasion with a car purchase that you can have a bit of fun with. An early TT 1.8t would be good and I think that a nice specced car should be a bit sought after in years to come. If you can find an original one with the baseball leather seats, thats what I'd look for as it echoes the ideas from the concept. I once sold one that hadn't had the recall done to retrofit the spoiler and thats probably a rare car now.
Looking on autotrader, your budget would get you into a later MK1 3.2V6 car which gives you the benefit of the noise of a VR6 but with the much worse fuel economy.
The Alfa would be a good choice if you want something that feels special and is a little bit different from the norm. I can't comment on longevity or build quality of them though.
The other things that would tempt me would be a E46 BMW 330 CI Clubsport or if I was feeling brave an RX8.
If you really wanted something daft there seem to be tonnes of cheap Mercedes CL500's. These win purely on the "This cost someone 75K+ back in 2000! I gave 2 grand for it" stakes