Volvo 850 og Benz CLK/E klasse MK2 Benz CLK GTR/LM Benz CLR



Well, back when I was just a seven-year-old whippersnapper, I first caught wind of the Mercedes Benz E-Class and Mercedes Benz CLK, with their slick Porsche-style headlights. Now, even though I thought Porsche was the epitome of cool at the time, I gotta admit, those double-decker Porsche-style lights on the Mercedes were downright cool, especially with that killer design. And would you believe it, they were way ahead of their time when they hit the scene in 1995. 

Now, the Mercedes Benz CLK GTR, that was a whole different beast from the E-Class and the CLK coupe version. Sure, they were built on the same bones, but this one was in a league of its own. It was a bona fide super sports car, breaking records with its sky-high sticker price when it rolled out in 1997. In fact, it made it into the Guinness World Records as the most expensive car ever sold - or at least back in those days. I was all wrapped up in excitement for this car, thinking it'd be a real showstopper if a Norwegian came along and snatched it up, shattering records left and right with the extra taxes and fees! Turns out, none made their way to Norway, and only a handful were made - 26 in total, with just 6 of them being convertibles.


Mercedes Benz CLK GTR, now that's a whole different breed with some downright extreme performance. You could turn one of those into a seriously cool street racer with nitrous and all sorts of gadgets.

After the last street-legal version, the CLK LM, rolled off the production line in 1999, Mercedes kept the racing success going with the CLR. However, that one didn't quite hit the mark, and they called it quits on that racing experiment in 2003.


Now, talking about Volvo 850, a neighbor in my childhood hood used to cruise around in one. It was a '93 model, and he'd kick up dust as he zoomed past our dinner table. Those were some scorching summers in the '90s, let me tell you. A pristine, extra-exclusive Volvo 850 that once belonged to the Icelandic embassy from '95 to '98 and later found a home with a Norwegian family who's pampered it ever since. Just spotted it for sale on finn.no recently. The Volvo 850 series was truly ahead of its time with modern design.

Safety-wise, the Volvo 850 was top-notch, with Volvo's signature safety features in the body and a total of 8 airbags - 4 on the sides and 2 up front - right from its launch in '92. The station wagon version, introduced in '93, had those super cool taillights positioned at the top of each side of the tailgate.

I recall one time in the '90s at Burudvann in Bærum, catching sight of a Volvo 850 with those distinct taillights. It kicked up some dust on the gravel and zoomed off down the asphalt toward Bærums Verk and Lommedalen. The Volvo 850 even had its moment in the Formula 1-like asphalt race, the BTCC, back in the '90s.

















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