We’ve featured a few Audi Coupe GTs here recently, and for different reasons I have loved them all. In the case of this car, it has to be the interior – one of the hard-to-find Commemorative Edition GTs with red leather. These are fun but affordable cars that have a healthy dose of good styling from Giugiaro but enough practicality to transport four plus luggage, and are known to run easily into the hundreds of thousands of miles. Unlike their 4000 quattro stablemates, mint condition examples of Coupe GTs seem to pop up from time to time, and today we have found one – a Graphite Metallic 1986 Audi Coupe GT CE.
Year: 1986
Model: Coupe GT Commemorative Edition
Engine: 2.2 liter inline-5
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 56,500 mi
Price: $7,999 Buy It Now
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1986 Audi Coupe GT Commemorative Edition on eBay
ULTRA Rare Anniversary Edition Audi Coupe GT. Probably the rarest Coupe GT in the USA and the Black Exterior with Red Leather Interior is the rarest color combination. They made these in 1986 and Anniversary Editions had Digital Dashes, different wheels, red leather interior, red door panels, body color painted spoiler, Coupe GT Floor Mats, blacked out interior trim instead of chrome stock, digital trip computer, mpg, etc. They only came in White and Black and Black being the rarest. You WONT find another one like this and its taken me 2 years to go thru it. Car has 56K original miles. Interior is in Mint condition. Door cards and pockets are all attached still and in excellent shape. Has New Michelin Hydro-edge tires on original wheels. Original COUPE GT Floor Mats with red stitching, Fully functional Digital dash working as new. Everything works as it should. New sunroof seal. New rear trunk shocks.
Car had been in a hail storm in the past from a previous owner, so I had taken out all the interior and headliner so I could get it all done by a pdr guy which cost me $1,400. I had every dent on every panel taken out. Put everything back in and fixed anything that needed to be fixed or repaired. Original carpet is mint, dash, center console, all in excellent condition. trunk is like new with original jack, spare and tools. Car has rear window defrost, rear wiper. All headlights are excellent, lenses. Rear tail lights are mint, rear prismatic coupe strip is mint. I replaced oil pan gasket, head gasket (10v turbo metal), head bolts, valve cover gasket(1 piece rubber), water pump, timing belt, tensioner roller, alternator belt, power steering belt, thermostat and vacuum pump gasket, painted oil pan cover, valve cover, timing belt cover. Radiator completely gone thru, re-cored, and re flow tested and painted. New Clutch Kit, OEM. New Battery. Lots of other hoses, etc are new. Car has minor surface rust spots from the hail where it cracked paint. Nothing serious. Hard to see with black. No Rust Anywhere other that that surface spots like I said. Underneath is immaculate. New Magna-flow Exhaust that sounds amazing. You wont find a nicer one of these and very few Coupe GT’s from any year in this kind of condition. This is a collectors Item and will go up in value year by year. I have many Audi’s and id like to keep this car. No enough space as 2 years was much longer than I anticipated as I had to do a lot of the work myself.
Pics of everything at photobucket:s120.photobucket.com/user/hoopster21/library/Anniversary Coupe GT
This car comes to us from the same seller that offered the equally rare and equally pricey
Ginster Yellow Coupe quattro. He obviously has a knack for finding rare Audis – eagle-eyed readers will likely spot a rare 1984 4000 quattro in one of the photos. That said, I do have some issues with the way the car is presented – mostly being that the information presented on the car isn’t completely correct. The car isn’t black (that wasn’t an option on the C.E.), but Graphite Metallic. Graphite is the more rare color for the C.E. Coupes, but this is not the rarest combination available on GTs – that would likely fall to the ultra-rare black with black leather Special Build 1987.5s.
In other advertisements for the car, the seller’s quote on paintless dent removal varies from $800 to $1,400, and frankly the paint just doesn’t look as nice as some other lower mile GTs I’ve seen for sale, though the Graphite color was tough to keep looking good – many had clearcoat failure long ago. The wheels are not correct for a 1986 model GT – indeed, the C.E. did not get different wheels than the normal GT (other than being painted white on Alpine White models). The wheels on the car are either from a FWD 5000 model or perhaps one of the very rare FWD 4000CS models with “heavy duty brakes.” There is also talk on the 4000/GT model forum that the A/C is disconnected and non-functional. These may seem like minor points, but they draw into question the level of detail on other items, and when you’re attempting to set the market with price, in my opinion you should have your ducks in a row.
With that said, it is very difficult to find a nice 1986 GT these days, though not impossible. The mileage on this car is certainly lower than many I’ve seen in a long time. The difficult to keep looking good red leather looks fantastic, and the seller claims to have mechanically updated the car. It is interesting that two low mile GTs have come up in the Pacific Northwest in the past two months – the last was turned around somewhere in the $6,000 range and was in the more desirable Tornado Red shade. As much as I love it, I think the seller is reaching on this car by a fair amount and the value is $5,000 -$6,000 at most. Even at the top of the market for these cars, they’re well bought drivable classics that you can have fun with for many, many years to come.
-Carter
(The link to the auction goes to the 200 Turbo quattro Avant link on Audifans from the previous Audi post.)
Sorry about that Walter, the link should be fixed. Thanks for letting us know! The Buy It Now price was also lowered $501, and I have updated the post.
We have received confirmation from one of our Facebook followers that both the A/C and cruise control are inoperative (and the A/C has been removed). It’s a good reason to follow us and like us on Facebook, too!
That’s a lot of caveats on an very optimistically priced car. Add to that the fact that the seller was not forthcoming with his description of the car. In addition to the items mentioned above…
“Head was rebuilt of coarse.” Before 56K miles? And seller, please learn the difference between “coarse” and “course.”
“carfax comes with the car as well.” It doesn’t do me any good if it comes with the car. Why not include it with the ebay listing?
Yes, this is a very appealing Coupe GT limited edition model, but there are way too many red flags to take this listing seriously.
I agree with your points Larry. However, if you want this color combination, your options are extremely limited. I’m certainly not saying that justifies the price, however it may justify overcoming some of the sellers shortcomings for the right price.
I’ll put my thoughts out there and say no way it has that mileage. When I had a DIGI dash back when these cars came out we had The Digi replaced at 36k. And yeah, miles were not the same after. Agree it’s a $5k car.
But how often do you see a CE come up anywhere near this Quality. I didn’t realize the special builds black on black combo was rarer than this combo. Glad I own one ;).
Back in the early ’90s I owned a ’79 528i. It was a 3 owner car with every service receipt from the day it was purchased. Time began to take its toll on the cosmetics and the car reached the point where it would cost more to refresh/restore than it would be worth. I had to make the decision to either fix it right (and be buried in it) or let it go. This car reminds me of that situation.
Minor rust showing through cracks in the paint – that’s code speak for “this car is going to need at least a partial, if not a full, respray.” Incorrect wheels, missing air conditioning components, cruise control inop, etc… I agree with the poster above… this is a $5,000 car at best. At the seller’s asking price, the question is whether or not the car would be worth the nearly $15k you’d have in it after fixing all of the Issues (those mentioned AND those that haven’t been mentioned).
So, the reality is, most of these items probably aren’t deal breakers, except maybe the paint. Even then the attention to detail of the seller is such that I’d really want to see it to believe it, as I’m not sure he completely knows what he’s talking about (witness other items). Wheels are fixed for less than 200$ if you want original ones. The CC is a simple vacuum system that isn’t hard to fix. My guess with the A/C is that he removed the compressor and didn’t pull everything (unlike me….) because it takes a lot of time and effort to get in under the dash to pull it all. I’m not trying to downplay these items and agree that they should be right for the full unrealistic asking price, but again I don’t think any of them are really deal breakers on the car itself – again, with the possible exception upon inspection of whether it needs paint work.
I’m not trying to argue with you Carter, but I tend to dispute some of your conclusions. I haven’t seen a set of the Coupe wheels go for less than $100 a piece in years. Then there’s freight, possible reconditioning and of course mounting and balancing tires. That assumes the current tires are up to par.
The cruise control is a vacuum system, but if it is so easy to fix, why are so many Audis listed for sale with the cruise not working? Also, if the vacuum system is anything like the HVAC system in my wife’s ’87 Cabriolet, there are some key parts that have gone NLA.
As to the air conditioning, I am assuming the cost to get it back into the car and working the way it should, not completing a removal of the system. There are very few cars that I would consider buying without air conditioning and an Audi Coupe GT is not one of them.
Finally, with regards to the paint. The seller states that there is visible rust in the cracks so it’s not a matter of IF it needs paintwork; it is only a question of HOW MUCH paintwork it needs.
Kevin, agree with you and also not trying to argue, but trying to put things into perspective. I think that the cruise control is broken on many older Audis because most people don’t properly maintain or pay to fix older Audis, period. I’ve owned many, and the cruise worked on all of them, for example – even my current GT when it had 190,000 miles on it. In regards to the R8s, they are harder to come by than they used to be, but are still not expensive wheels. I’m not sure where you’re getting quoted 100/wheel for OEM 14x6s, but that’s out of line even for refinished wheels. You can even find and buy the more desirable 15″ option wheels for 400-500$/set if you look. Tire size on the OEM wheels is the same as the tires presented, so it would be a dismount/mount/balance, if indeed you didn’t need to refinish them. Even then, an industrious fellah can refinish their own wheels for not much money – I successfully repainted my Passat’s steel wheels for around 50$ and some time (with German paint, even!). The A/C would certainly be a bigger issue to repair, no dispute, and having spent a fair amount of time in my GT without air conditioning, I’d agree it’s not the car to drive around in without it. And again, just trying to introduce some perspective on the paint question – with the seller as questionable as he seems to be on other items, I guess I just also question his definition of “rust” in the dent removal areas. It could very well be, or it could be clearcoat stressing from impact that he’s reading as rust. As there aren’t good photos one way or another, it’s hard to say and speculative in either direction, but I introduce it just for the thought. Of course, you may turn up and it looks much worse in person, but I guess I’m trying to give the car a bit of benefit of doubt and separate it from the semi-nefarious seller.
Kevin, actually coupe GT’s don’t need AC.
The window angle is perfect to have them cracked
Or the fan at the first setting. I’ve driven mine
For many summers never needed it under 94 degrees,
Unless car is sitting in traffic.
Also around here you can’t give away a set of 14″
Stock coupe GT wheels. I’d take any money I could
Get for them.
Matt, you must sweat less than I do. That, or you haven’t driven that black/black GT much yet. You’ll want the A/C working (coming from a black/black GT owner!!!).
Matt, I don’t know where you live, but I live in the southern half of Georgia. Today’s high was 93 degrees with a heat index just a bit higher than that. In the summer it routinely gets to 103 and higher. I have driven quite a few Audi Coupes and while it may be fine for your climate without A/C, it is not in mine.
But that’s really not the point. It bothers me when things don’t work the way they are supposed to work. I’m certainly not going to pay a premium price for a car when significant systems don’t work because I know I’ll just end up spending more money to get them working.
I think the point here is that this is a solid $4,000 car, not the $8,000 example the seller feels it is. In my communications with the seller he does not come off well. He claims to have offers of $6,500 already and that he’s sold other Coupe GTs for over $10,000. So take everything you see and said about this car in the description with a healthy dose of salt.
If hes willing to not disclose that the AC compressor and condenser are missing, what else is he not saying about the car?
The “problem” with the cruise is usually the vacuum vent switch on the brake pedal, a $50ish part. It can even be bypassed and the system will work fine. Any other issue beyond should be diagnosed and disclosed at the BIN price.
Its a rare example, but the red leather is either loved or hated. You’re going to have to find someone that simply loves the color combo as its the only thing this car has “going for it”. That and they are willing to pay Ur-q money to have it. I don’t think that person exists and this car will not meet its reserve price by thousands of dollars.
Great points by everyone and an interesting conversation! Thank you all for your input and look for more affordable (and not so overpriced) classics coming soon!
For the record, I’m a “love the red leather” guy. 🙂
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