1984 Audi 4000S quattro

Friday, the stellar low-mileage, significant history and great condition 1985 Audi Quattro I wrote up this past week sold for $81,400. It’s definitely a signal that there’s been more interest in the mid-80s Audi market in the past few years, as finally these cars get a bit of sunlight shone on just how great they are. The problem? There are very, very few good examples left of any mid-80s Audis. Most of the really nice ones are coveted by their owners (this author included) which means they come up for sale infrequently – frankly, there’s not been a reason to sell them up until this point, as no one has been willing to pay a reasonable market value.

But $81,400? I’d wager no one with a 1985 Quattro today has that much invested in theirs. So while I’m sure there will still be a plethora of fans who want to hold on to theirs longer, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the trickle of nice Quattros we’ve seen hit the market over the past two years start to increase.

With that in mind, if you’re a fan of the inline-5 all-wheel drive recipe, you’ve got to turn to ‘lesser’ models, just as the E30 and 911 crowd has. And if you’re a big fan of the original model, there’s only one that makes the most sense – the 1984 4000S quattro.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Audi 4000S quattro on Sacramento Craigslist

Year: 1984
Model: 4000S quattro
Engine: 2.2 liter inline-5
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 50,000 mi
Price: $14,000

Beautiful 5 cylinder, 5 speed manual transmission, sunroof, excellent condition Audi 4000s for sale, 50,000 miles, very well maintained, runs excellent. text to show contact info
for time to see. $14,000

The 4000S quattro from 1984 was unique in its appearance, launched just before the model refresh for 1985. As a result, you got looks closer to the original Quattro, manual rear window cranks and front vent windows, the older dash layout, and a high-liftover trunklid with different taillights and bumpers, of course. Mechanically there were no real changes between the 1984 and 1985 quattros, but looks-wise they’re miles apart. They’ve got a niche fanbase within the already-niche Audi 4000 quattro camp. Personally, I really like the look of the later cars more – probably because I had one. But there are equally vocal fans that prefer the early look, and as the lightest of the all-wheel drive inline-5s made and with the looks of the more famous brother, it’s probably closest to the original vision without actually purchasing the more expensive Coupe.

A majority of the early cars came in either Tornado Red, Alpine White or as we see here L041 Black. This car’s interior isn’t well shown but the dash looks to be brown, so I’d wager it has the Brazil Brown velour interior. Little is disclosed about the car other than it’s low mileage and it appears to be in great condition. To me there are some signs of a repaint along the way; there’s light feathering or tapelines showing on the trim in a few photos, though I suppose it could be wax residue. If it was redone, the job looks complete and very good to excellent. If it’s original, it’s outstanding. It appears stock outside of period Bosch fog lights and it’s said to be well maintained, though nothing is outlined.

$14,000 would have been unthinkable for such a car only a few short years ago. Yet today, it doesn’t seem outrageous to me. These are hard cars to find at all, never mind in great condition. You would be pretty hard-pressed to find an original rust-free one and then find all of the NLA bits to restore it to a good level. You’re certainly paying a premium here and there’s plenty of questions and inspection points that should be checked prior to purchase, but it’s possible that we’ll look back on this one as quite reasonably priced in the not-too-distant future…should market trends continue. Even if they don’t, you’re not going to have an easy go of finding another like this or an owner willing to extricate themselves from its ownership.

-Carter