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.
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?
It’s always a bit of fun to see a GCFSB alumni pop up again; back in September of 2013 this particular Quattro appeared on these pages. Now, typically when we relist a car we’ve previously featured, we’ll do a “revisit”. But I’m not going to do that with this car for one simple reason; the change in price. You see, the current seller bought this car almost exactly two years ago to the day. I remember looking longingly at the listing and thinking that if I was in a slightly different place, this car had the prospect of being an incredible deal. Not only were few 1985 model Quattros imported, but to me they’re the best looking of the bunch and offer the upgrades of the later Type 85 chassis; better electronics, an updated dash and some trim bits and of course the classic 8″ Ronals. There were a lot of positives, including a respray, working air conditioning and recent maintenance. Despite that, it traded hands at $15,000 – a bargain for a legendary car in good shape with low miles. Well, if you missed the boat then, tickets for this ride have gotten slightly more expensive….as in, just over 5 times more expensive:
I know, I know – another Audi B2 post. But hey, we hear about every single variant of 911 all the time too, and since I love the GTs I think they deserve to be showcased. There weren’t many special editions of the GT produced, but in 1986 Audi made an entire run of “Commemorative Design” cars. The 4000CS, 4000CS quattro, Coupe GT and 5000 models all got special upgrades and each were slightly different. The closest were the 4000 quattro and Coupe GT, which shared paint colors and interiors. The exteriors were either Graphite Metallic or Alpine White, but inside they shared the same lipstick red “Mouton” leather. While the quattro got the slightly uprated JT code 115 horsepower inline-5, the GT relied on the “KX” code motor with 110 ponies. The difference lay in the exhaust manifold; the GT unit was a 5-1 cast manifold, while the quattro had a beefier 5-3-1 exit, along with a larger diameter exhaust. However, the lighter GT was quicker than the all wheel drive variant; and thanks to the nature of the GT versus the quattro market, more of the special 1986 models have survived. The ’86 CE models also received the notorious digital dash, and if you selected Alpine White, they had color matched wheels, mirrors and rear spoiler. The color combination really makes the sharp Giugiaro lines stand out:
About a month has passed since my introduction piece on the new-to-me 1987.5 Audi Coupe GT “Special Build”, and since then a fair amount of work has occurred. There have been a few successes and a few setbacks; as with any project, some things were unexpected and have complicated matters slightly, but then this is a car that has been sitting outside for over a decade non-running – it was never going to be a cake walk. Still, I’m quite a few steps closer to it being a viable car again, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to update the readership as to just how well it is (or, isn’t) going.
While on paper it doesn’t really offer any advantages over the three distinct packages that came to the United States, the Audi B2 Coupe quattro still catches the eye of many early chassis fans here. The why is simple; it combines the best elements of the Type 85s into one distinct package. You got the rally-bred all-wheel drive system featured in the Quattro and 80/90 (4000), coupled with the narrow body of the GT. While effectively underneath it’s the same as the 4000S/CS quattro from the same period, it’s somehow slightly better at the same time. In my eyes, the Coupe styling is more attractive than the sedan it was based upon. You got the exotic feel of the turbocharged Quattro without the bills associated with it though, and while keeping those older forced-fed wonders going today can be difficult, there are still good condition Coupes available that offer most of the feel of the legend without the expense of buying into an original. Few come to the market quite as nice as this Graphite Metallic with Mouton red interior from Spain:
