Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
In a new location, from a new seller and with 700 more miles, the “White Christmas” Audi 200 20V Avant I wrote up in late December is now back up on the market. I included both descriptions as there was information in the original that was not present in the new advertisement. The car sold in the mid $3,000 range last time, so expect that’s where the reserve is set this time too.
-Carter
1 Comment
Though produced in similarly small numbers and both enjoying their own separate and unique fan base, we seldom see both V8 quattros and 200 quattros for sale at the same time anymore; it’s generally one or the other. So is this car the start of a 200 trend after our string of 4 in a row Pearlesant V8 quattros? Either way, I’ll be happy. It’s interesting to me how similar and yet different the V8 and 200 20V are; they executed the same goal in such a different way you’d be forgiven for thinking they were from different companies entirely. While both shared many body panels, wheels, brakes, nearly the full interior and major drive train components, the engines weren’t the only difference and there are surprisingly a large amount of them. As such, while it’s rare to see a modified V8 quattro, it’s quite rare to find a stock 200 20V; but this particular model has some fairly subtle modifications that don’t detract from the overall package:
It’s hard to remember that there was a time before the M3 and the 944, but before they rocked their flares into the collective consciousness of every school aged and school aged-acting boy there was the Quattro. For as the 944 brought Le Mans development and the M3 brought Touring Car development to the street, the Quattro was born in the fire-breathing World Rally Championship. The technology that filtered down created a extremely competent GT car; it wasn’t the fastest around a given corner, it wasn’t the fastest in a straight line, but it would be the fastest all year long. By 1989, though, the B2 chassis had been retired in favor of the new B3 – complete with a new Coupe. But Audi didn’t retire the Quattro without a bit of fanfare just yet; for 1989 the car was upgraded with a development of the Group B Sport Quattro motor now sporting 20 valves and electronic fuel injection. The motor is now as legendary as the car, and the combination of the two created perhaps the best all-around GT car of the 1980s; the “RR” Quattro.
A veritable highlight show of the line, the last of the run 1989-1991 Quattros featured the 20V motor, the chunky looks and box flares of the original covering the best 8″ wheels (okay, the Sport got 9″ wheels made from unobtanium), better suspension, ABS, smarter-on-the-road Torsen center differential, painted body color spoilers and the flush-mounted H1/H4 lights, new better steering wheel, the revised later dashboard – and of course, the best digital dashboard. What did all of this make? Arguably, the best Quattro, of course!
While earlier this week I reviewed a importable 1989 Audi Coupe, the car we received in the United States in late 1989 was this car, the 1990 Coupe Quattro. While on paper the new B3 chassis car had specifications very similar to the U.S. spec Audi Quattro that it replaced, the truth was that the new Coupe sported much more luxury and the accompanying weight, dulling performance and making the car feel fairly sluggish. What the B3 coupes did gain was a much more user-friendly design and a less driver-dependent all-wheel drive system. With a commodious hatchback and fold-down seats, it was now easier to carry large items that the Quattro simply couldn’t fit. Further, where the early car had driver-selected lockable differentials, the new car sported the next generation of quattro, with Torsen torque-splitting diff in place of the old lockers and a electronic lockup for the rear that was disabled above 15 m.p.h.. Despite the dumbed-down for the driver but smarter for the car AWD system, these Coupes were nearly as good as the previous generation cars in snow and ice. They arrived expensive and at a bad time for Audi, so it’s no surprise that they’re a rare find these days:
If today’s 5000CS quattro Heap of the Week got your hopes up for older big Audi ownership on a budget, this S6 should get your blood flowing as well. That 5000 was going to need a lot of work to get it into shape, and in the post I suggested you could get a later 200 in better shape for less than it would cost you to resurrect that 5000. Well, here you go; an even more recent and arguably more desirable last-of-the-run 1995.5 Audi S6 in similar black over black: