Deep in the middle of the recession and not fully recovered from Audi’s 60 Minutes debacle, the very expensive B3 Coupe Quattro sold slowly. A total of approximately 1,700 of them were imported between late 1989 and 1991 at over $30,000 each. Considering the cost, the performance was rather soft; the heavy Coupe sported only 164 horsepower and though it was smooth and reasonably quick on the highway, off-the-line performance was lackluster at best. Still, though the internet fora would have you believe otherwise, performance between the U.S.-spec Coupe and original Quattro was pretty similar.
Options on the Coupe were limited to the Cold Weather package, 8-way power seats, and Pearlescent White Metallic paint – two of which are seen here on this ’91. ’91s also had the upgraded glass moonroof rather than the early steel panel, though they lost the infamous “Bag of Snakes†tubular header early models carried. ’91s also gained rear sway bars and are the rarest of the bunch, with only 364 sold in the model year and a further 58 traded as leftovers. Today’s car comes to us in the unusual combination of Bamboo Metallic and Travertine leather, but it’s a solid-looking survivor: