With ALPINA making the headlines today with its new ultra-luxurious and impossibly powerful XB7 model, I wanted to take a trip down memory lane, to see how things used to be done in Buchloe. Therefore, I stumbled upon a rather remarkable 1983 ALPINA B9 3.5 (E28) that’s not only gorgeous, but also going under the hammer at a Silverstone auction on Saturday. What’s more, it seemingly belonged to Jamiroquai’s own Jay Kay.
He is a man of good taste when it comes to cars and if this ALPINA was part of his collection, you know it’s special. According to the ad for it, it’s a right-hand drive model and that means it is of only 64 to have been made in this specification and one in only 18 to come with the manual 5-speed Getrag gearbox.
It has been in Jay Kay’s possession for nine years and seems to be in impeccable shape.
As if that wasn’t enough, the entire ALPINA B9 3.5 production only added up to about 500 units. Most of them came with automatic gearboxes too, about two thirds, so this is actually quite a unique combination. The car has 135,000 miles on the clock though so it was thoroughly enjoyed over the years.
Back in the day, this sedan followed the ALPINA rulebook to the letter. As such, it was nearly as fast as a Porsche 911 in the 1980s, doing 60 in 6.3 seconds and having a top speed nudging on 155 mph.
The 245-hp car retains its original paint and comes with a well documented past, having been properly taken care of. It has the ALPINA deep front spoiler, the rubber boot lid spoiler and body colored door mirrors, as well as the Deco stripe kit which was an optional extra back in the day.
The car is estimated to be sold for £25,000 – £30,000 ($30,000 – $36,000). The auction will be held online and will kick off at 14:00 BST. Since this is an online event, customers from all around the world can participate, if interested.
