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Today’s Audi 4000 quattro is a great example of what yesterday’s GTI 16V seller was claiming – a true survivor, in completely unrestored form. Unlike the GTI, though, this Canadian-market 1986 4000S quattro is also completely stock and original, too. Nearly as much a legend in its own right, while the performance of the 4000 was no match for the twin-cam hot hatch (at least, in the dry…), the package nevertheless possessed its own draw for a similarly devoted group of fans. Also as with the GTI, finding a clean and original Type 85 quattro is very difficult, too. But the low mileage Zermatt Silver Metallic example we have here should do the trick for most!
Do you know how many times I’ve heard “It was just too nice to part out” when referring to an older Audi? Heck, I’ve personally had three that I’ve said that very sentence for, and at least one more I should have said that about. One time I bought a 4000S front wheel drive 5-speed simply because I wanted a door. No, I’m not joking. The entire car was in mint shape – Sapphire with Marine Blue velour, and because I was 18 and had fully subscribed to the idea that the only good Audis were all-wheel drive Audis, I paid $300 to rip what was otherwise one of the nicest 4000S models I had seen to that point in my life apart. Most of it went to the junkyard, in fact. It’s something that near 40 year old me is mad at 18 year old me about, still.
Fast forward 22 years into the future, and since then I keep hearing the phrase in relation to all sorts of obscure, slightly crusty and forgotten examples of the brand. So when this 4000S 4E 2-door popped up for sale with just that thought in the seller’s advertisement, it was worth a look.
Interesting and diverse additions to our Hammertime value guide for this week include some head scratchers, some values and some breathtaking numbers. Leading the charge…
I was sure I had seen this car before. Tornado Red and Brazil Brown Kensington Velour? Check, but there are quite a few 4000 quattros that fit that description. But a 1985 model narrows the pool slightly, though numerically Audi reports selling more 4000 quattros at nearly 5,000 in 1985 than any other model year. Pacific Northwest and under 120,000 miles? And in very good survivor condition? Yes, surely this is the car that I wrote up in February, 2014.
But I was wrong. It’s not the same car. It’s another that is in even better condition with less reported miles. Does lightning strike twice? The air sure feels pretty electric around me as I poured over the details of this 1985:
The 1984 Audi 4000S quattro is a bit of a unique beast. Though it appeared for all intents and purposes identical to the 4000S Limited Edition from the same year, underneath the two shared little in common. Indeed, when you lifted the covers much more of the quattro model was shared with its bigger brother, the exotic Quattro – the so called “Ur-Quattro” by fans. Herein lies part of where things get confusing in Audi history, since the actual development mules for the boxflared rally wonder utilized the 4000 (née 80). You could make a pretty convincing argument that the small sedan was the original, but that’s neither here or there at this point and is generally semantics (though, it’s occasionally nice to splash the waters of reality on enthusiast’s ill-informed fires of unshakable belief). Whoever was technically first, there’s no denying that the 4000/80 model brought the idea of permanent all-wheel drive to a much more affordable market of rally-bred enthusiasts who eagerly snapped up the roughly 4,500 examples of the first year model. Radical looking changes came for the 1985 model year with a thorough refresh, and there are those who love both generations with equal aplomb. Admittedly, I’m a fan of the post 85 models, sometimes referred to the as the “sloped grill” cars. But you don’t have to go far to find fans of the more square ’84 model. One reader of ours tasked me with the goal a few years back of keeping an eye out for a clean ’84. Easy, right? Not so fast…
