Photo: Alpina
Brendan McAleer, an editor for Autos.ca found himself stunned at the 2014 Audi A4 launch in Hungary, when he couldn't drive some beautiful cars that were put on display and that might never make it in Canada, as they were intended.
Canadian laws have been eco-friendly since the 80s and thanks to them some cars that used to destroy asphalt in Europe, ended up being less powered in Canada, if they ever made it at all across the ocean.
Feeling a bit nostalgic, Brendan set out to create a "Top 5 Grey Market European Exotic Imports" to include some of the best cars that either didn't make it at all to Canada or they did and they were so few in numbers, you'd have to be really lucky to even spot one.
Amongst the five you'll find the 1994-1995 Audi RS2, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog, the 1985-1991 Citroen CX and two BMWs. Actually one of them is an Alpina, but we count it as a BMW too.
The first one is the E34 M5 Touring, one of the last M cars to be fitted with an in-line 6-cylinder engine and to be built manually. A good looker, that car made it to Canada but it was available only in a slightly de-tuned version, using a 3.6-liter engine with 310 HP instead of the one the Europeans were getting, a 3.8-liter I6 with 340 HP.
The Alpina was a thing of beauty and power. The B10 BiTurbo was based on the same E34 platform, but on the 535i model, not the M5. It had a 3.5-liter inline 6 engine with two turbochargers, 360 HP and 520 Nm of torque (383 lb-ft). With those numbers, the B10 reached 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.6 seconds, faster than a Testarossa.
The B10 BiTurbo Alpina was built in only 507 units and few of them ever reached Canada (if any). However, nobody can say that this car is not worthy of collector's item status, as is the M5 Touring too.
Feeling a bit nostalgic, Brendan set out to create a "Top 5 Grey Market European Exotic Imports" to include some of the best cars that either didn't make it at all to Canada or they did and they were so few in numbers, you'd have to be really lucky to even spot one.
Amongst the five you'll find the 1994-1995 Audi RS2, the Mercedes-Benz Unimog, the 1985-1991 Citroen CX and two BMWs. Actually one of them is an Alpina, but we count it as a BMW too.
The first one is the E34 M5 Touring, one of the last M cars to be fitted with an in-line 6-cylinder engine and to be built manually. A good looker, that car made it to Canada but it was available only in a slightly de-tuned version, using a 3.6-liter engine with 310 HP instead of the one the Europeans were getting, a 3.8-liter I6 with 340 HP.
The Alpina was a thing of beauty and power. The B10 BiTurbo was based on the same E34 platform, but on the 535i model, not the M5. It had a 3.5-liter inline 6 engine with two turbochargers, 360 HP and 520 Nm of torque (383 lb-ft). With those numbers, the B10 reached 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.6 seconds, faster than a Testarossa.
The B10 BiTurbo Alpina was built in only 507 units and few of them ever reached Canada (if any). However, nobody can say that this car is not worthy of collector's item status, as is the M5 Touring too.
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