One of the more amazing custom vehicles I’ve come across in my time writing here is also one of the most discrete. Upon seeing this Volcano Mica Audi Avant, most would probably dismiss it as just another S6 – but the secret identity of this wünderwagon lies beneath the subtle exterior upgrades. Not only did it start life as a mild-mannered A6, but the conversion to an S car went one step farther than normal in mimicing the European-market S6 Plus. The creation is unique, impressive, and semi-inexplicably still for sale today, some 6 months after I originally looked at it:
Category: Audi
Ten years ago Audi celebrated their 25 years of Quattro by giving the United States (Sorry Canada, the bumpers didn’t meet Canadian low-speed crash test standards) a special delivery of 250 B7 S4 special ‘25quattro’ editions. All painted in a typically German Avus Silver color, these cars got DTM inspired front and rear bumpers that wear non-functional brake ducting and finished off with an aero-style lower rear valance (with a red tow hook hiding below it) and a carbon fiber trunk spoiler with matching front splitter. The wheels are again DTM inspired with a 15 spoke design pattered after OZ Racing but ironically made by long Audi supplier Ronal. On the inside, your typical full Recaro setup is there with two-tone seats in jet-gray as well as some carbon fiber trim and ‘1 of 250’ shift knob. All said and done, Audi gave it’s fans a nice cosmetic package to different from the rest of the B7 S4s. Unfortunately, the 25quattro received no performance upgrades outside of some different exhaust tips to give you a slightly more aggressive sound, but the car did receive the revised more rearward biased drive system also found in the RS4. Being only 1 of 250, this 25quattro located in California might fulfill your appetite for a rare V8 Audi without stepping into RS4 territory.
CLICK FOR DETAILS:Â 2006 Audi S4 25quattro on eBay
Comments closedFar less famous than its wide-hipped brother and mostly unknown to most U.S. customers, the B2 Audi Coupe was available with quattro all-wheel drive in other markets. It shared nearly all components with the sibling 4000 (90) quattro, including 4×108 wheel pattern and 256mm front brakes – items that were also on the U.S. spec front-drive GT. So, one would assume it would be pretty easy to “swap in a quattro”, as the internet posts usually start. Of course, those individuals who start the posts best be wearing flame-retardant clothing, as they are immediately inundated with responses that kindly (or not so) explain the difficulties inherent in this project. You see, everything aft of the firewall on the all-wheel drive floorplan is different than the two wheel drive units; indeed, as I’ve pointed out previously, even the two wheel drive floorpans were different between automatics and manuals. That means to recreate a rest of the world Coupe quattro, you need the floorpan from a 4000 quattro mated to a body of a Coupe GT. This, of course, makes no sense financially as the countless hours involved eliminate all but the DIYers – and even a fair chunk of those with the talent give up on the project. Yet, it apparently didn’t stop the builder of this rally car, who not only swapped the body, but went one step further and dropped in a turbocharged motor and the brakes and wheels from the big-brother Type 44 chassis. The result is a budget Ur-Quattro rally replica without the flare of the original…or, at least, it was a few years ago before it was parked:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1984 Audi Coupe GT on eBay
Comments closedI see B6 platform A4s all the time in DC, often driven by young people in their mid to late twenties. I tend to assume that many of them are hand-me-downs from wealthy parents who live in the affluent suburbs. When equipped with all-wheel drive, these cars make for competent year-round daily drivers ideal for the mid-Atlantic climate, and they still give off that expensive, German vibe even though by now they are relatively inexpensive to buy. But while the overall design remains attractive, I think the standard models can look a bit plain. If, like me, you prefer the sportier looks of the S4, but don’t want to deal with the possibility of the $8k timing chain job that afflicts the 4.2 V8 motor, the next best thing is a regular A4 equipped with the Ultrasport package. Available as a factory option, this added S4-style door blades, revised front and rear bumpers, sports suspension and 18″ multispoke “celebration” RS4-style wheels. So equipped, the ordinary looking A4 is instantly transformed into a sportier, more aggressively styled car. The USP package was available on both sedan and wagon models, and for today’s post I’ve written up one of each.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2005 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro Ultrasport on Craigslist
5 CommentsOn a recent visit to London, I stopped through the Audi showroom on 75 Piccadilly. Sitting front and center was an RS6 Avant, a beastly estate which has become quite a popular family conveyance for the monied classes in the Big Smoke. Somehow, over 550 horsepower seems a bit ludicrous in a town where you’ll be getting nowhere fast. But where did all this horsepower madness start? Well, right here with this car. The RS2 Avant. This special Audi was produced in the same factory that brought us that other GCFSB favorite, the Mercedes-Benz 500E/E500. This particular RS2 Avant for sale at 4Star Classics is a rare right-hand drive example, one of less than 200 so equipped.