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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:
In general I like to reserve the Motorsports Monday posts for actual track-flavored cars, but occasionally one comes along that is worth a look even if it’s more of a poseur than pole position. Of course calling any original Quattro a poseur isn’t particularly fair. Out of the box these cars were effectively Group A race cars with some luxury goods fit to them. But the owner of this particular Quattro took the next step in their “restoration” of this 1984 car, modifying the boxflared wonder to look like its fire-spitting WRC brethren. Does it pull it off?
I’ve been part of a broader discussion about values on 1980s Audis over the past few years. In one corner, I’ve suggested that values have been steadily increasing and that very good examples of 1980s Audis – the 4000 quattro, the 5000CS quattro and the Coupe GT – are higher now than they have been since the early 1990s. But have they really been increasing? Hagerty, among others evidence we’ve collected, would seem to say yes. The problem is that few examples of 1980s Audis in really exceptional condition come up for sale. But today is part one in a mini-litmus test of the market on one of my favorite models – the Audi Coupe GT. I’ve suggested that really excellent examples of these cars are currently $6,000 – $8,000. The basis for my argument is twofold; one, it’s so uncommon to come across a really top-condition, low mileage Coupe GT these days, and two – that between no longer available parts and the cost of a proper restoration, you’re better off paying top-dollar for a no-needs example rather than trying to bring a lesser example up to show-ready quality. So, let’s take a look at part one – a reportedly “excellent” Coupe GT:
I’ve been taking a look overseas over the past few days at a few older treats that never came here, so today we’ll look at a few newer Audi products that also were prohibited from U.S. shores. One of the biggest disappointments for many four ring enthusiasts was that the 8P RS3 model wasn’t imported here. Basically a 5-door TT-RS, it was a Golf R on even more steroids – but today’s example upped the power a full 200 more than stock to 550. Similarly, I have one of the 333 8X A1 quattro MTM models produced a few years ago, and while it doesn’t share the monster performance of the RS3 it’s sure an appealing package. Which would you love to have here on this Tuner Tuesday?
The same dealer who brought us the cool 2002tii Touring and M3 convertible has another European-specification treat that they’re taunting us with. This time it’s an original Audi Quattro, bucking the trend of these cars heading back to Europe. An early 1982 example, it’s painted Alpine White like the factory rally cars were and features the early WR 2.1 liter inline-5 turbochanged motor and 6″ Ronals. Unlike U.S. spec cars, European models got the full-fat 200 horsepower, bringing performance more in line with equal priced contemporaries from Porsche. There are some other neat things to see – for example, it’s a non-sunroof example – fairly rare among a group of cars that’s already quite dear, and of course sports the better looking European bumpers with integrated headlight washers and foglights. With only 85,000 miles on the clock and in mostly original condition, does this one check the right box(flare)?
