Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
2021 has been the year of the C4 S6 Avant here at GCFSB; I’ve written up several different varieties, including a few European-market examples:
It’s no surprise, as the Avant generally draws the crowds, attention, and asking prices. But there are also a lot of really nice sedans still out there to be had, and today’s early S6 certainly looks like shining example of that. It’s a Tornado Red over Ecru model with just 112,000 miles. In Audi terms, that’s barely broken in! Let’s take a look:
This S6 Avant sold on September 12, 2021 for $8,077.
One of the more captivating baffling options in the used performance wagon market must surely be the C5 Audi Allroad. Despite the reputation for 100% metaphysical certitude that they’ll fail – probably catastrophically, they’re fan favorites. Often as a retort to internet commentaries that they’re not reliable, actual owners will chime in, demanding respect and steadfastly assuring the audience that the Allroad’s reputation is undeserved.
‘It’s been 100% reliable!’ they’ll insist.
Of course, the recipe to actually make it reliable involves major reworking of the engine and suspension. And, sometimes the electronics, too. On top of that, it turns out that various people’s definition of ‘reliable’ varies greatly – especially for Audi owners. Basically, to be deemed ‘unreliable’, an Audi must first assassinate a major public figure, then make a Star Wars reboot featuring only Jar-Jar Binks, then kneel during the National Anthem (easy to do, as most have failed suspension on at least one corner), perhaps call someone the wrong personal pronoun, and finally do the action sequence out of a Michael Bay Transformer movie when you turn the key. If, and only if, those conditions are met will fanatics finally fail to reply to the assertion that the Allroad just isn’t a reliable car.
But, it’s cool. And so you probably want one, even though you know it’ll bankrupt you. So the smart way to buy an Allroad is to not buy an Allroad – you should buy an S6 Avant, and in particular, this S6 Avant.
I have to say the fascination with BMW wagons and their ensuing high prices sometimes perplexes me, as Audi offered a sporty, manual, all-wheel drive Avant that is great looking, reliable and long-lived and will make you feel pretty special. That’s especially so when it’s optioned in one of the more rare shades available on the B5; today’s example is Cactus Green Mica. It looks great offset by Celebration wheels, and it’s got a lot of recent maintenance – so let’s take a look!
From a wheel that was pretty but let the car down, I’d like to move to a wheel that was pretty and really made the car. In the case of today’s A4, it had all the boxes ticked out of the gate: click the S-Line package on your order form, as many did, and you snuck an extra $2,000 out of your bank account. That got you a black-only leather interior, the 1BE sport suspension, brushed aluminum trim, a S-Line 3-spoke multifunction steering wheel, 18-Inch 5-Arm quattro GmbH Wheels with 235/40 All-Season Tires, S-Line door entry plates, and aluminum optic pedals. Considering what Porsche charges you just to take a radio out of a car, that’s not a bad deal, all in all. You then had the option to click the special package on the special package: the Titanium Package. This gave you blacked out trim inside and out, a black headliner, and the special Ronal-made 15 spoke quattro GmbH wheels in 18″ and finished in titanium, of course.
Sure, the rest of the stuff was nice, and in fact you could get these wheels on other A4s as well. But while I usually don’t love dark-toned wheels, the dark finish on these Ronal wheels, the shape, the stance…everything worked just right to make a really awesome package on the B7. I’m not alone in thinking this, as the B7 Titanium cars typically hold the highest value in the marketplace for this generation of A4. So, let’s take a closer look at this one:
I’ve spent a lot of time diving into the V8 quattro, both literally and figuratively, so I won’t rehash what makes the model special (or exceptionally scary to own) – but if you’re unfamiliar, you can check out my post on a Pearlescent one from January:
The Lang and short of it is that if you see one marked ‘Project’, you really better have your eyes wide open going in. And without much further ado, that’s what we have here – a project 1990 Audi V8 quattro in California. So why look at it?
