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Category: Audi

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1995.5 Audi S6 Avant

Yesterday on our Facebook page, I asked whether Craig’s 500E was more desirable than the S4 I wrote up earlier in the day. The response was pretty overwhelmingly in favor of the W124, even though the S4 undoubtedly represented a better condition car for less money. Well, the C4 isn’t going to give up without a fight, because there was one pretty serious trump card that the platform offered compared to its Stuttgart-based rival; you could get a wagon:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995.5 Audi S6 Avant on Sacramento Craigslist

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1976 Audi 50LS

The Volkswagen Golf was a revolutionary design for the company. Dynamically, it took the Wolfsburg firm into the modern era, ushering in a period of compact front-drive, front-engine, water-cooled designs. That was a big step for a company which – to that point – had only produced rear-drive, rear-engine, air-cooled models. So, where did the technology to make that impressive (and successful) leap come from?

It came from the engineers at a recent acquisition of Volkswagen – Audi. We won’t go through the politics in this post of how that came to be, but in 1972, a completely modern design was launched replacing the DKW-based F102 chassis. The new B1 featured (you guessed it) a front-engine, front-drive, water-cooled motor. That motor – the EA 827 – would then find its way into the Golf, and the Golf’s transverse engine design would find its way back into Audi two years later in the Audi 50. The 50, while looking a lot like the Golf, actually was a different platform which then traveled back to Volkswagen in the form of the Polo. Confused? Well, you probably wouldn’t know much about this model, since it was never produced in great number, nor was it ever imported to the United States. But, as we know, models that never came here have a cult following and one has popped up for importation:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1976 Audi 50LS on eBay

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1983 Audi 5000 Turbo

I think I’m going to lose some credibility in my declaration of rarity of Type 43s, because for the third week in a row we get to view a very nice example. Unlike the previous two, today’s 5000 is one of the last Type 43 Turbo models to make it to these shores. Moving to the turbo model didn’t quite get you the power of the Quattro; without an intercooler, these cars only had 130 horsepower. However, that was a substantial bump over the standard 100 horse normally aspirated model, so they were reasonably quick for the time. The Turbo also featured upgraded 280 mm front brakes and 240 mm rear discs – other 5000 models had only drums. Holding those brakes up were 5-bolt hubs and Ronal R8 wheels shared with the Quattro, giving the 5000 a much more sporting presence. Usually these Turbo models were loaded, too – leather, air conditioning, and automatic transmissions were the norm. Pathetic residual value of the Type 43, though, ensured that very few have survived until today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1983 Audi 5000 Turbo on eBay

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2001 Audi S4 Avant

I remember a time not that long ago when everyone basically swore off the B5 as being too complicated, too prone to failure, and without enough pizazz. The funny thing was that these judgements were all levied in comparison to the B5’s replacement, the B6. Sure, the BBK 4.2 V8 stuck under the hood was a sonorous revelation of sorts. Gone was the timing belt and the “you’re going to have to replace them at some point” not one, but two turbos stuck in back of the motor that basically necessitated dropping the engine for replacement. The BBK brought nearly 100 more lag-free horses to the party, too, and better-looking interior bits with the promise of more build quality.

What happened?

Well, the reality is that Audi just punted the ball down field. The transition between B5 and B6 marked the real death toll in the long-term Audi for many, as complicated electronic systems really began to outweigh lifetime engineering designs. I love Audis. I really, really do. But it seems like every single system on every single Audi produced after 2002 is so unnecessarily complicated that I can’t imagine how anyone with even a minuscule amount of sense could look at the design and say “Yup, that’ll never go wrong”. They’re engineer’s wet dreams. In the case of the BBK, in addition to eating starters and prodigious amounts of expensive synthetic oil, there is the notorious timing chain guide issue. Since Audi opted to move the timing devices from the front to the back of the motor to fit into the snug B6 engine compartment, pulling the engine apart means taking it out. Finally get it out of the car and pop the covers off, and it looks like a Swiss clock underneath. And there’s one more secret about the B6 4.2 – sure, it’s fast and it feels shouty. But it’s not really that fast for having a 340 horsepower V8 because it weighs two tons unladen. And, turning them up a notch is pretty difficult – you’re basically limited to slapping a supercharger on the motor. As a result, quite a few have turned back a page on history and view the B5 in a much better light today:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S4 Avant on eBay

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1991 Audi 200 20V quattro Avant

Although the Type 44 chassis would live on in the D11 V8 quattro until 1994 (albeit heavily revised), for many the pinnacle of the chassis was the 1991 model year. It was then that finally the U.S. market received the power that Europeans had enjoyed in the chassis for so long. Audi used its Group B, Sport Quattro and IMSA experience to create a four valve head for their road cars. It was utilized in many chassis in slightly different configurations; the U.S. market 200 and early S models received the 3B, while the Quattro had a slightly upgraded RR motor. With mild revisions, this motor was again offered in AAN configuration for the 1992 model year, while Europeans had the ABY. The final development was the RS2’s ADU, but all of these motors shared the same inline-5, 20V turbo construction – and all are very highly sought. For U.S. customers, though, since the S2 and RS2 models were never offered along with the late 20V Quattros, it doesn’t get much better if you like the older cars than the 1991 200, and then again doesn’t get much better in 200s than a clean Avant:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1991 Audi 200 20V quattro Avant on eBay

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