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Tag: 4000CS

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1987 Audi 4000CS quattro

We usually try hard to steer clear of nefarious characters, both in automotive products but more often in sellers. Today’s 4000CS quattro comes from a flipper in the Pacific Northwest who has gained a well-deserved reputation in the rather close-knit classic Audi community for misrepresenting, over selling, incorrect information about the cars, high and unrealistic prices and my personal favorite – the inability to take a whole picture of the car with normal perspective. So why am I once again showcasing a car of his? Well, two-fold; I’d like to correct the once again poorly researched information he’s provided (and, he managed to provide TWO whole frame photos!), and it’s just so infrequent that we get to gaze on a reasonable condition 4000CS quattro that I thought it was worth a look. Can we see past the seller to find a potential reasonable ride?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro on eBay

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Seeing Red: Audi 4000 quattro Roundup

The Audi 4000 quattro was like a Sherpa to thousands of European car enthusiasts; a steadfast winter standby with slick styling and Rally-bred sure-footedness. On paper, looking back today the 4000 was probably a bit dull; nearly 2,900 lbs of brick-on-brick design with a measly 115 horsepower motivation. But numbers don’t tell the whole story of the B2 Audi, because in any configuration it’s a great handling car. The quattro, however, had some special features that would have been headline items for any sports sedan until very recently; four wheel independent suspension with a large front sway bar and four wheel disc brakes. Couple that with the first all-wheel drive system fitted to a small car, sprinkle some luxury items in and cut the price of the exotic Quattro in half, and it didn’t matter that it wasn’t particularly fast. What the 4000 quattro was, though, was one solid all-around performer. The subtle changes from the front-drive sedan resulted in a car that felt more grown-up and refined, yet still pushed you to do silly Hoonigan things. 4000 quattro owners that I’ve talked to almost always have the same proud story; the time that they managed to get their 4000 quattro stuck. Normally, that would be a cause for embarrassment, but such was the grip of the plow-through-anything small sedan that it became a badge of honor when you outdid the car’s twin-locking differentials. The secret, of course, was just to make sure all four wheels were in the air! But because of this type of sillyness inducing competence amongst dropping residual value and a second or third tier of ownership that didn’t always repair or maintain the cars, few are left in good condition. However, I managed to scratch together a trio of three-quarters of the U.S. bound production years, all in the fetching shade of Tornado Red. We’ll start with the end of the run:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro on eBay

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Rare B2s: 1987.5 Coupe GT “Special Build” and 1986 4000CS Quattro “Commemorative Edition”

I’m not sure who is funnier – enthusiasts or marketing specialists. Let’s start with marketing specialists; for Audi, the introduction of a new “Fox” design brought with it a specific name for North America – the Audi 4000. There were various trim levels available, but by 1985 the trim specifications were limited to “S” specs. Now, at one point, the “S” actually stood for a slightly different Sport trim specification, but in 1985 you couldn’t get a non “S”. That changed slightly in 1986; if you wanted a quattro, your only option was the 4000CS quattro. Presumably, that stood for Commemorative Sport – but while in 1986 the CS versus S meant the difference of a turbocharger in the 5000 model range, in the 4000 there was no option. In part this can be viewed as the problem with the cars directed towards the United States; in Europe, there were two different trim specs with different motors, too – the 80/90 and 100/200. But to throw even more confusion into the lot, there was then a series called the “Commemorative Design” which was launched in 1986, too. Those Commemorative Design editions were available in Coupe GT, 4000CS (front drive), 4000CS quattro and 5000CS models and were a celebration of 100 years of the automobile. Convoluting things even more, there was now a 4000S and 4000CS front drive, but no 4000S quattro. Make sense? It seemed uniquely un-Germanic, but also signified that Audi did things differently than the rest of their compatriots. What did the Commemorative Design get you? Well, that’s interesting, too – because it varied by model. In the GT and 4000CS quattro, it was color-matched trim in your choice of white or graphite metallic with a special red leather. The GT was slightly different, with a digital dashboard making its appearance in that model – but not only in the Commemorative Design, as a slew of normal 1986 models also came with the digital dash for some reason that no one completely understands. The red leather was not carried over to the 4000CS front drive interestingly – it instead got Audi 5000-spec wheels, Coupe GT brakes and split leather and Alcantara seats. The 5000CS Commemorative was only available in front drive spec and similar to the 4000CS front drive, making the front drive 5000CS more luxurious than the 5000S quattro – which was more expensive. Of course, these cars weren’t called the “CD” models – because there actually was a 5000CD in Canada which was spec’d more like the 5000CS. Still with me? To quote Adam Sandler from a memorable Saturday Night Live skit, “Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?”

Now to complicate matters even more, in 1987 Audi launched a revised Coupe GT which it then promptly discontinued. The car was substantially changed – a new engine bumped up to 2.3 liters (the NG/NF that would see duty in the later 80,90 and 100 models), along with new to the GT 4-wheel disc brakes and – like the Commemorative Design, color matched trim. There was also a slightly different gearbox and different dashboard – still digital – just to confuse things even more. There were only a few hundred of each of these models that were imported to the U.S., making this whole exercise a bit strange in the grand scheme of things. But what’s undeniable is that B2 enthusiasts generally love these cars the most, creating their own names for them – the “Special Build” GT and “Commemorative Edition” 1986 models:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987.5 Audi Coupe GT on Craigslist

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1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro

The less glamorous version of what was a fantastic chassis and engine combination, the Audi 4000 quattro brought rally-bred performance to the masses. You really could think of it as the original “WRX” because while the big-brother Quattro that stole all of the headlines in its day is currently a reasonably good value compared to some of its contemporaries, when they were new the turbocharged, box-flared brother was simply out of reach of most enthusiasts. Original sticker price of the Quattro put it around the same price as a well-equipped Porsche 911; equivalent today to a base model R8. It was therefore very exciting to see a nearly identical drivetrain layout passed down to the more pedestrian sedan version, complete with a similar-sounding inline-5 and locking differentials. You got all of this in a slick-looking 4-door package for around $20,000 – not cheap, mind you, but half the price of the Quattro. For many fans of the Quattro package, it proved to be legendary in its own right:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro on eBay

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1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro

“It was bound to happen”. Over the past few months we’ve seen a spike in Audi 4000 Quattro prices, and with the spike the nice examples have started to come out of the woodwork. As a $2,500 car, you keep it until it dies. As a $5,000 car, you treat it well and it changes hands from time to time. Once prices crest $10,000 – prices that 4000s haven’t brought since the 1990 – people start flipping them. It makes sense; the 4000 Quattro is a great car but for $13,000 you can get many nicer, faster cars. Last week I wrote up a Tornado Red 1985 4000S Quattro that had reported fresh paint and seemed to be a good example, but failed to push a price as high as I expect the owner was looking for. Today’s example is arguably a bit nicer, but shown in the same shade – will you be seeing red?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS Quattro on eBay

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