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1990 Audi V8 quattro

When it came to the late 1980s, Audi’s monopoly on the all-wheel drive market was coming to an end. Not only were new turbocharged pocket-rockets being born seemingly every day, but Mercedes-Benz had introduced their new “4Matic” designed by Steyr-Daimler-Puch. While you could make a pretty convincing argument that Audi’s design was superior in extreme conditions, there was at least one aspect of the Mercedes-Benz that trumped Ingolstadt’s design – you could get an automatic.

Now, to most enthusiasts that probably sounds like a bad idea. But when it came to selling car – especially expensive luxury cars – the overwhelming majority of buyers wanted the car to do most of the heavy lifting. Audi’s response was the next generation of quattro drivetrains; like Steyr’s system, with a series of clutches in the center differential that helped to transfer power and allowed the car to be mated to an automatic transmission. That transmission – the ZF 4HP24A – was a derivative of the 4HP24, the same automatic found in the V12-equipped BMW 750 and 850s. Like the Mercedes-Benz, Audi employed Bosch ABS and a locking rear differential. But unlike other Audis with their manual- or electronic-locking rear differential, the V8 quattro used a Torsen rear differential with helical gears which would automatically split torque in up to a 3:1 ratio to the wheel with grip.

But the V8 quattro wasn’t only about its unique new form of all-wheel drive. The moniker obviously indicated there had been a change in motivation, too, and indeed the V8 launched a new all-aluminum 4 cam, 32 valve V8 displacing 3.6 liters dubbed the PT. Rated at 240 horsepower and 254 lb.ft of torque, it was the most powerful Audi for sale in the late 1980s and brought the brand to a luxury level it had previously not competed at. In the U.S., these mega-Audis were met with mixed success. The 1990 launch of the V8 resulted in reasonably good sales; Audi sold 2,823 between late 1989 and the end of 1990 which represented over 10% of their yearly sales. Consider that the legendary Quattro never even broke 1% of Audi’s annual sales here; in its most successful year Quattros comprised .62% of the overall sales for the company.

But it was downhill – sharply – from there, as Audi nearly left the U.S. market and top-flight executives hit a notoriously bad sales patch. That meant that in total only 3,868 V8 quattros were sold in the U.S. This might be one of the best ’90s left:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1990 Audi V8 quattro on eBay


Year: 1990
Model: V8 quattro
Engine: 3.6 liter V8
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
Mileage: 63,159 mi
Price: $7,999 Buy It Now

Vehicle Overview
We at Windy City Motorsports are very pleased to offer for sale this hard to find & beautiful Audi V8 Quattro luxury sedan.

***Only 2 Adult Owners Since New

***Meticulously Maintained

***Only 63,xxx Original & Certified Miles

***Legendary Audi Quattro All Wheel Drive System

***Stunning Indigo Blue Metallic Exterior

***Rust Free & Laser Straight Body

***Super Clean Undercarriage

***Immaculate Gray (Silver) Non-Smoker Leather Interior

***Large Folder Of Service History & Maintenance History

***You Will Be Hard Pressed To Find A Finer Example Of This Flagship Audi Classic!

***Inexpensive Nationwide Shipping Is Available

***Feel Free To Contact Us For A “Virtual Walk-around” Or Video

***Financing Is Available For All Types Of Credit*

***We sincerely appreciate your interest, and as a trusted Ebay award winning seller since 1999, we hope to add you to our quickly growing family of 10,000+ satisfied customers!

***Any of our service men and women stationed overseas will receive FREE front door delivery so your new toy will be there waiting for you when you get back home. We also make concessions of all of our veterans. We appreciate your service & bravery.

So many early V8s are black or Pearlescent White Metallic, it’s fantastic to see LZ5U Indigo Blue Metallic. At first it looks nearly black, but bright light shows the deep midnight blue color well. It’s matched with good condition platinum leather which appears to be the upgraded Connolly leather. Otherwise, there were basically no options on the V8 quattro as these came fully loaded. Condition really appears to be outstanding but the key item you’ll want to know about is the timing belt. Service on these used to seem expensive at over $1,000, but today that seems the norm for most newer VAG products. Also of note is that early V8 quattros had trouble with the aforementioned 4HP24A overheating. Later 4.2 V8s had an integrated transmission cooler to solve the problem, but figure you’ll want fresh fluid and a filter in there at the very least. No pictures are shown and it’s hard to tell with the V8’s 7.5″ aero wheels in place, but figure it also has the original “UFO” floating rotors that are expensive to change out and can warp without heavy use. Still, there are few chances to get a V8 in this condition and with this low mileage with what appears to be strong ownership and full records, so while the $8,000 asking price may seem high at first if you really want one of these cars this might be the best bet to get a good condition example.

Thanks to our reader John for the spot!

-Carter

6 Comments

  1. Ricky
    Ricky August 3, 2018

    I’m so tempted to grab this one. My parents had a 1990 V8 in these exact colors. For now – I’m going to resist the spell and stick to my 1992 with 128K miles (but pretty MINT) for now. If this were a 4.2 I’d be on the next flight to Chicago.

  2. Brad
    Brad August 3, 2018

    Holy cow! Nice shape interior. Normally the steering wheel leather is destroyed.

  3. Ed
    Ed August 3, 2018

    My dad and I went to look at these when they were new and I thought they were just spectacular but my dad ended up getting a 750iL instead (kept it for over 20 years!). I wish I had the space for it because this one looks to be in great shape.

  4. Brad
    Brad August 5, 2018

    Ed: when these debuted I was in full teenager Audi obsession, having just been given a 79 5000s that was still very nice, and also visiting, with my dad, the Audi dealer one hour away many times to look at the brochures and the 90s and 200s, which seemed so beyond beautiful and refined. Dad took me one day over the mountains to Reno, where there were a lot of Audis, and we test drove a V8 — the only model we ever drove. I have no recollection. It seems it was simply too much for my mind to taken in and preserve. At the dealer there I also saw the last year or so Scirocco of that generation, a very optioned specimen, painted mirrors and bumpers, and lots of Porsches, all coming in for service, which made them seem more impressive, since they seemed more “real” than the undriven ones for sale. The wealthy clientele had leather bras on their 928 mirrors.

    PS the dealer also sold Sterlings, which were absolutely beautiful and smelled like heaven.

  5. Cory
    Cory August 8, 2018

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse environment to photograph a car. Trying to get a feel for the paint color gave me a seizure.

  6. nancy
    nancy August 18, 2018

    Not me! I bought it!!!!

Comments are closed.