The German tuner-turned-automaker Alpina has a long history of taking fantastic BMWs and making them just a little bit tastier, more opulent, and, well, quicker. Of course, they weren't always as powerful as current land rockets, but that doesn't mean they were any less dangerous.

An Alpina C1 2.3 was one of the vehicles to own in the early 1980s. The C1 2.3, which was based on the original E21 BMW 3-series, filled the performance gap between Alpina's hard-charging B6 2.8 and the ordinary BMW 323i. It generated a thrilling 170 horsepower and completed the race at 60 mph in under seven and a half seconds. Not at all poor.

The performance disparity between Alpina and its competitors was quite large, as seen by comparisons to the C1's modern cousins. The BMW 323i was first introduced in 1977, and its M20 straight-six engine produced 141 horsepower, a significant increase in power over the E21's earlier four-cylinders. The larger 2.8-liter straight-six taken from the BMW 528i, with 200 horsepower, was used in the 1978 Alpina B6 2.8 3-series, which blew its doors off. In an early 3-series, all of it.

As a result, Alpina gave the 323i's straight-six some of the B6 2.8's niceties, without the latter's Bosch fuel-injection system, in order to create a middle-of-the-pack vehicle.

Alpina also put a touch of elegance inside. Recaro seats with Alpina stripes, a custom leather steering wheel, gear knob, and speedometer are all available options for the C1 2.3. peak speed? around 130 mph.

These are quite uncommon compared to typical E21 BMW 3-series vehicles. However, the exact rarity is up for contention. Depending on the source, there might be as few as 35 or as many as 400 produced.