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The 1984 Audi 4000S quattro is a bit of a unique beast. Though it appeared for all intents and purposes identical to the 4000S Limited Edition from the same year, underneath the two shared little in common. Indeed, when you lifted the covers much more of the quattro model was shared with its bigger brother, the exotic Quattro – the so-called ‘Ur-Quattro’ by fans. Herein lies part of where things get confusing in Audi history, since the actual development mules for the boxflared rally wonder utilized the 4000 (née 80). You could make a pretty convincing argument that the small sedan was the original, but that’s neither here or there at this point and is generally semantics (though, it’s occasionally nice to splash the waters of reality on enthusiast’s ill-informed fires of unshakable belief). Whoever was technically first, there’s no denying that the 4000/80 model brought the idea of permanent all-wheel drive to a much more affordable market of rally-bred enthusiasts who eagerly snapped up the roughly 4,500 examples of the first year model. Radical-looking changes came for the 1985 model year with a thorough refresh, and there are those who love both generations with equal aplomb. Admittedly, I’m a fan of the post-’85 models, sometimes referred to as the ‘sloped grill’ cars. But you don’t have to go far to find fans of the more square ’84 model. One reader of ours tasked me with the goal a few years back of keeping an eye out for a clean ’84. Easy, right? Not so fast!
One thing about Mercedes-Benz brand is that if a vehicle segment exists, they probably make something in it. As a result of that, you can basically buy everything from a GT1 homologation car all the way to a cement trunk. Falling in one of those segments is basic vans that no one bats an eye at in Europe, though they are a real novelty if you see one running around in North America. Today, we have of those with a little twist.
This is a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 207D that was probably built new as a box truck. Somewhere along the line, someone took off the box and added a pair of transporter ramps that you would think would make a great little car hauler truck. You would think. However, I am here to tell you that this cool little truck isn’t hauling anything.
Hey, remember yesterday’s Gol LS?
1983 Volkswagen Gol LS
I mentioned that they made a pickup version of the Gol as well, which Volkswagen do Brasil sold as the Saveiro. It effectively followed the same recipe as the Rabbit Pickup; chop the front off of the normal car and make a somewhat usable back end. In the case of the Saveiro, the result was even a bit more bizarre-looking than the Sportruck, but nevertheless it’s neat to see one – and it’s perhaps no surprise that the seller of the Gol is also shifting this one:
If there is one thing I love, it is one-off examples of cars with a bunch of things I never knew existed or didn’t even know were possible to order.
This 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera was built for Tilman Brodbeck, assistant to then-Porsche CEO Peter Schutz. The story goes that the car had so many unique features and touches that it was physically pulled off the assembly line and painted at a special off-site facility before returning to Porsche, where it was fitted with one of the craziest interiors I’ve come across. Just wait until you see the details on this thing.
Alpina E30s have exploded in popularity over the past year; I never remember seeing quite so many of these small tuned 3s for sale on a regular basis. In part I’m so incredulous because so few were produced; with this B6 model for example, a scant 259 were made between late 1983 and mid-1986, with just over 1,100 total E30s modified in all forms by the legendary company. The B6 2.8/1 wasn’t as wild as the later big-motored 3.5, but it was still much more than adequate with 210 horsepower from the M30 coupled with lower suspension, bigger wheels and brakes. Alpina, of course, added their personal flare of colors, stripes and awesome interiors, and the B6 is one attractive small sedan in such form. It’s easy to forget that there was a time before the M3, and in early 1984 this was the fastest small German 4-seater you could buy. That would change in mid ’84 with the introduction of the B6 3.5, but today it’s still a very desirable and rare to find package.
