The Ur Quattro was the car that transformed the Audi brand almost overnight. Not only did this car take the competition world by storm with its handling grip and prowess, but it moved this car company forward from its days of peddling NSU and VW derived products. Cars like the Quattro and C3 platform 100 and 200 series would have consumers looking at Audis as a viable alternative to the usual Mercedes-Benz and BMW products of the time. This Ur Quattro for sale in Vermont has over 150,000 miles on the clock but presents as a nicely worn example, no doubt owned by someone who knew they had something special.
1984 Audi Ur Quattro on eBay
Commonly referred to as the Ur Quattro (“ur” being the German for original or primordial), very few of these iconic Audi Quattro Coupes imported to the United States between 1980 and 1984, my research indicates as few as 80 were imported in 1984. In my opinion, the 1984 models had the best look with the wider wheels and single headlight rather than the small rectangular lights. If unfamiliar, the Quattro Coupe was a homologated design built to dominate the World Rally circuit in the early 80′s. There is a plethora of information on the web about these cars – start with wikipedia and YouTube and stay up all night if you desire!
Considering that this car is 28 years old and has 150,000 miles, its easy to tell that it was very well taken care of since it has all original paint and no rust or accident damage. There are a few marks in the paint but nothing out of the ordinary, I am happy to share photos of all the flaws which are mostly light scratches and fading on the front hood. The wheels are all in nearly unmarked condition and all the lights and lenses are nearly perfect. You can still smell the original upholstery material, there are no major flaws or tears but the drivers seat shows minor wear, mostly because the foam padding has broken down a little.
The car was purchased from New Hampshire in non-running condition. The gentleman that owned it had meant to get it back up to speed. When it arrived at our shop we found that the engine had little compression so the engine came apart to reveal some broken piston rings in an otherwise perfect engine, minimal bearing wear, perfect crankshaft journals, really amazing condition. We bought a later model 1988 5000 Sedan for parts, thinking that we would put the larger engine 2.2 liter engine and better, more sophisticated ECU into the Coupe but realized that the original WX engine code on the block made the Coupe more valuable.
Ultimately, we opened up the cylinders from the 2.1 liter original displacement to the later 2.2 liter displacement with new pistons, bearings, rings, water pump, starter, on and on. We did install the later model ECU which has knock sensors and a more precise timing, fuel map and boost pressure regulation. At this time, the car runs perfectly. We just put a new CIS Fuel injection warm up regulator which made the car start hot and cold instantly. The transmission shifts perfectly, there isn’t any noise in the driveline, the brakes are excellent and suspension is good.
We operate a busy classic car repair and restoration shop in Vergennes, Vermont that specializes in high end European sports cars such as Ferraris, Porsche and Jaguar. We overhaul about a dozen engines a year from Ferrari and Lamborghini V-12′s, Jaguar 6 cylinder, and Air Cooled Porsche engines among others. We are known and respected throughout the Ferrari world. You can see the other cars in our inventory and the caliber of cars that we spend time with at Restoration & Performance Motorcars (www.rpmvt.com).
If you do an online search for “FerrariCraft” or “Restoration & Performance Motorcars” in Vergennes, VT, you will see some of the other cars that we have for sale and the services we offer. You can see these restorations and others including Bentley, Porsche, Maserati, Osca, and Ferrari 166, 212, 250, 275, and 330 cars at our workshop blog (www.ferraricraft.com)
We have a enclosed two-car transporter that travels around the North East frequently, so we can help deliver the car to you. Or we can work with one of our other long distance haulers to get the car out west or down south. We have extensive experience importing and exporting cars from Europe and Canada and can assist in forwarding the car to foreign countries.
The Ur Quattro was a landmark car and as such, has demanded strong values in the used market for some time. The reserve hasn’t been met at a shade under $10,000. These cars are in a similar price bracket to the E24 BMW M6s of the late 1980s. A well worn example like this Quattro may bring about $15,000 at the high end. For its relative rarity and historical significance, it’s nice to see cars like this are still within grasp of collectors with more modest means.
-Paul
Twin of my car, with flares and much less race stuff (and awd, and a turbo…). Fun cars but the amount of NLA parts can be hard to swallow. Still, there is a solid community surrounding these cars, so fixing one or finding used parts is never much of a problem, just time consuming. Wish that Audi would get the memo that Mercedes, BMW and Porsche has gotten and produced the parts for their older cars. Most are available but only in Europe through Audi Tradition and getting them stateside is difficult.
15 K may buy you a lot of cars, but my old Audi Coupe – trimmed out similarly to this car with 15″ Ronals, shiny black paint and Euro lights front and back sure turns a lot of heads and draws a lot of attention – only problem is don’t expect anyone to know what it is, even amongst dedicated “car” guys.
Everytime I think I want one of these I have to remind myself that there is no way I could maintain one. They require the maintenance of a Ferrari unfortunately, everything breaks all the time and you have to be an audi expert and be connected for parts.
Miek, they don’t break all the time – they have known problems like other cars (for example, the electrics in the early cars are suspect but fixable). Drivetrain components are solid and robust and rarely fail. Biggest problem with these cars is body rust typically. I wouldn’t put one of these into the same category as a Ferrari in terms of maintenance – more along the lines of a 930 or M5/M6. Don’t forget, this was cutting edge stuff in 1981.
I agree completely with Carter, these cars are very robust if looked after carefully. Audi is destroying its brand identity by not supporting parts for this and other iconic cars of the era.
I’m speaking from 2nd hand experience in that my uncle owned one in the 1990s.
I wouldn’t compare them to a M5 or a M6, BMW supports those cars. Audi does not support this, not even then in the late 90s. A M5 would be very easy to own. the only difficult part about one is the valve adjustments as they are hard for most people to do and most BMW techs are not familiar with it.
In fact BMW still supports 2002s……. they really are good with vintage cars.
The problem with these audis is that they were never a very reliable car to begin with and age wears on it even further. I wouldn’t buy one unless it came directly from an audi enthusiast that has a very good reputation. A lot of audi enthusiasts these days are unfortunately the people who pay everyone to everything to the car and don’t pay attention to it until it breaks.
When i’m comparing a car like this in terms of things “breaking all the time” i’m comparing it to a E28 or an 80s or classic american car. It would be easier to maintain a Triumph TR8 than this because at least the enthusiast community for that has aftermarket support. This has nothing and would be a very hard car to own. When something breaks, make no mistake it WILL happen, it will be hard to fix.
I almost think it would be a better idea to buy a Lancia Delta Integrale 8v or 16v from europe and import it. The aftermarket parts for those is HUGE and Lancia still supports them as those cars in various forms existed for more than 10 years. When i lived in Aviano 5 years ago (USAF veteran) the people who bought those had no issues finding anything for them. You might pay just as much for parts importing them from Europe then trying to source parts for this Audi. the cars would have equal “street cred” in Europe but if someone in the know saw you with a Delta Integrale here they would worship you as a god. I would say reliability is the same as this Audi but the fact that you can actually fix it means a lot.
If this was a 20v I would change my mind on this.
Miek – I own an Audi coupe, so I’m speaking firsthand. My father owns a 88 E28 M5. Guess which one is in the shop more? The M5 is currently sitting down the street getting worked on again, and needs to be in the shop every few months for fairly sizable bills. I’m not sure how that is better than a Quattro?
As I mentioned above, the NLA parts are a killer, I agree with you – the windshield, for example. However, my coupe has been dead reliable – despite 80+ days on track, it has only broken two times that have been undriveable situations – both engine cooling related. The 85 up DO have improved electrics as I mentioned, but I think your critique of the car as worse than its contemporaries is misplaced, to be honest. YMMV, but be fair in assessment – I don’t know many people with E28s that haven’t had electric issues of some sort. My father also has a 944 Turbo, which I would put on par with the M5 in terms of cost of maintenance and reliability – it too has frequently been left in a non-running state by some issue or other.
Bottom line? Pick your poison. If you want to own an older European car, odds are it will break, and it will cost a lot to fix if you can’t do it yourself.
I also don’t really understand your last comment – if this were a 20V you would change your mind? The 3B/AAN conversion is surely popular, but how does a more complicated/powerful motor suddenly make this car more appealing to you? It certainly won’t make it more reliable or cheaper to fix.
I guess I’m just confused by your critique and I think it lacks perspective, but that may just be my opinion. I’m sure someone will snap this car up and enjoy it for years to come, repairs or not. People either “get” this car or they hate it – but in all honesty I believe that most of its reputation as unreliable or problematic stems from there being very few examples in good working order.
The 3B/AAN 20V does benefit from electronic fuel injection vs. the often finicky mechanical CIS units in 10V cars. Additionally they are more powerful, tunable, tend to run more consistent, and certainly are not significantly more expensive to maintain than 10V motors. This is the reason so many people do the conversion in Audi Coupe’s. But any of the iron block 5 cylinder engines are very long-lived motors if cared for.
UR Quattro’s are serious machines, and certainly not more fragile than anything comparable from the era excluding the W124 benz, which is a well-known benchmark in robust design.
carter j hit the nail on the head with this one, it’s an old car, the older audis are relatively reliable compared to others, however the parts on the 5 cylinder cars kill. I nearly passed out when pricing out exhaust systems for my 80q…$1000+. but it’s all, part of the old car game, “you gotta pay to play” as the saying goes.