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Looking for something a little different in a classic car? A little over a year ago I took a look at this incredible survivor 1982 Audi Coupe in the rare shade of Surinam Red Metallic with Negro Tweed interior. Though the early Coupes lack a bit of the performance of the later Type 85 models like the 87.5 NG motored examples, the early Type 81 looks are a bit closer to the legendary Quattro but on a much friendlier budget. Back in February 2015, this car sold for an impressive $5,500. It appears to have changed little in the past 14 months and is now available in a no reserve auction with bidding currently well below $2,000. This is a really cool time piece from Audi’s early 1980s history that is quite affordable indeed but will help to set you apart from the crowd nonetheless.
The below post originally appeared on our site February 23, 2015:
I was sure I had seen this car before. Tornado Red and Brazil Brown Kensington Velour? Check, but there are quite a few 4000 quattros that fit that description. But a 1985 model narrows the pool slightly, though numerically Audi reports selling more 4000 quattros at nearly 5,000 in 1985 than any other model year. Pacific Northwest and under 120,000 miles? And in very good survivor condition? Yes, surely this is the car that I wrote up in February, 2014.
But I was wrong. It’s not the same car. It’s another that is in even better condition with less reported miles. Does lightning strike twice? The air sure feels pretty electric around me as I poured over the details of this 1985:
The flexibility of Audi’s B2 platform and the huge number of engine choices that manage to fit under the hood make it a natural choice for swaps. Most popular are the all-wheel drive quattros, but the Coupe GT models are also well built, hugely capable cars that react pretty well to increases in power. And just about every period Volkswagen/Audi motor has made it under the hood of the Coupe GT; from 10 to 32 valves, rev-happy DOHC 16Vs and turbocharged inline-5s to narrow-angle VR6s and even the 4.2 V8s. But this car caught my attention because of the very unusual choice of mill to squeeze juice from. This no-spark Coupe GT has a tuned and turned up 2.0 inline-5 turbo diesel:
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 the 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…
The shining Tornado Red 1987 4000CS quattro I took a look at back in early February has appeared on eBay this week. The seller has not changed the price – $4,750 – from the earlier advertisement, but has added some more information including maintenance and modifications. Unfortunately, those disclosures also include that the car was totaled at one point. Previously the owner had stated it was simply repainted – not unusual for the single-stage red from Volkswagen/Audi if it was not maintained. While this car looks pretty nice, do you think the branded title hurts the value or does it simply not matter on this old warhorse?
The below post originally appeared on our site February 11, 2016:
