Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
One thing I really love about writing up these 10K posts is a odd combinations pricing allows me to come up with. For today’s post, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of maximizing the budget, I decided to look at it from the perspective of what was a classic 1980s car that you could buy and maintain well under $10,000. Obviously, if you’re willing to shill out much more, there are countless classics you can jump in to turn-key; but under $10,000 means with almost certainty that the car you’ll be getting in to today will be at least in part a bit of a project. Is there anything wrong with that? No, I think there’s an inherent appeal to trying to save and resuscitate a car that was in part neglected or just needs attention. Certainly I’ve tried to do that several times with 1980s cars – with mixed results. Today, I grabbed one classic from the 1980s (give or take, we’ll see…) from each of the major manufacturers – which is the one you’d like to save?
While it’s tempting to throw the design laurels for Audi onto the later 200 20V quattro and S4/S6 models as we often do, it’s important to remember that they were really developments of the original Audi super-sedan, the 5000CS quattro. That model was, itself, a development of the earlier turbocharged version of the large sedan, as seen driven in by the father in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The CS quattro brought together the best elements of Audi’s designs; the revolutionary C3/Type 44 aerodynamic and futuristic design which provided excellent looks and fuel economy, the robust all-wheel drive system with locking differentials as seen in the World Rally Championship-winning Quattro and 4000S/CS quattro, and the turbocharged inline-5 that also powered the Quattro and had previously powered the front-drive sedan. But 60 Minutes managed to do a number on late 1980s Audi products, creating a scenario where Audi was nearly removed from the American market. That meant low residual values, and by many these 5000s were viewed as throw away cars for some time. It’s become rare to find good examples, and while this particular one isn’t showroom-fresh it is a reminder that the 5000 was a neat looking and performing package:
It’s pretty much a given that the moment I write “we haven’t seen one of these in a while”, a second appears nearly immediately. In the case of yesterday’s 5000CS quattro, these big Audis have become so rare to the market these days that it had been months since I saw a decent example for sale. Yet, like clockwork, here’s the second in two days – but with a slight twist. Few outside of the die-hard Audi fans will recall that there was a front wheel drive Audi turbo available from 1985 until 1990. Running the same power plant as yesterday’s quattro but without the all-wheel drive system, these 5000 Turbos were actually quite fun to drive on back roads, great cruisers on the highway and slightly quicker due to less weight. Despite that few chose the Turbo model as an option and it’s probably only remembered vaguely by 1980s movie fans as the car that Ferris Bueller’s dad drove.
Recently the plethora of good condition Audi Coupe GTs and 4000 quattros have drawn into sharp contrast the relative lack of 5000s that seem to come up for sale. One of our Facebook comments noted this; it’s just become very rare to see Audi 5000 quattros for sale, or indeed 5000 quattros at all! The 5000 was an interesting counterpoint to the BMW and Mercedes-Benz large sedans. It was extremely aerodynamic for the early 1980s, offered good luxury items and the awesome quattro drivetrain. For enthusiasts, it was turbocharged and ran effectively the same motor as U.S.-bound Quattro coupes and came only in a manual. The early 5000s, like the 4000 quattro, had manual engaged locking differentials for serious snow. Despite these specifications, the 5000 suffered serious depreciation following the farcical and infamous 60-minutes “Unintended Acceleration” story and few seem to have survived. Today there is a good basis for sale on Ebay, though it’ll require some work to get it back to it’s former glory:
