Quattro!

[The Pirate]

Recently acquired a 1989 Audi 80 quattro.  Black, 5-cylinder, 5-speed manual, locking rear differential, 197K miles.  It belonged to a co-worker of mine, and he was ready to move on.  Traded him some high end bicycle parts that I had acquired over the years, but will never use.

The car needs a few things (alternator belt, slight seep from valve cover gasket), but runs fantastically, and (I don't want to jinx myself here) most of the electronics work.  Albany got a foot of wet heavy snow the other day, and roads were a mess.  This car just drove like I was on bare pavement.  It was incredible.  And I get a huge smile on my face whenever I goose the throttle and the 5-pot starts wailing.  Has an exhaust leak, so it's loud.  The engine sounds great uncorked (burbles and backfires easily), but I'll get that fixed soon.

Crappy night time pics, I'll get some better ones up soon.

Factory BBS wheels with Audi center caps.  Also got a set of 17" ASA AR1s with Continental summer tires.





Note the Euro spec spoiler.



Pretty clean interior.



Button for locking diff, which works, I used it to power out of plowed-in street parking the other day.  Several others had been shoveling their cars for a while, and this thing just ripped through ease.  

[CJ]

Looks awesome!

[Rupert]

Nice! That's always been one of my favorite little sedans. I'm a bit jealous. What are you going to do with the Mazda?


(And quattro always has a small q).

[The Pirate]

Nice! That's always been one of my favorite little sedans. I'm a bit jealous. What are you going to do with the Mazda?


(And quattro always has a small q).

Mazda is staying.  The Audi runs great, but I don't yet trust it for long trips, the cruise doesn't work, and the A/C is removed.

Cut me some slack with the q, I'm new to the 4 rings club. 

[Rupert]

Oo, two car man. You know what makes a great third car? An old MG.

Have you thought about trading the Mazda for a pickup?

[The Pirate]

Oo, two car man. You know what makes a great third car? An old MG.

Have you thought about trading the Mazda for a pickup?

Thought about it, but the Mazda isn't worth enough to get me anything decent, and I don't want any payments.  And two cars is enough, I nearly shit myself when I realized that both of the cars were less than a quarter tank and gas prices here are $3.60/gallon.

[The Pirate]

Looks awesome!

Danke!

[Rupert]

Thought about it, but the Mazda isn't worth enough to get me anything decent, and I don't want any payments.  And two cars is enough, I nearly shit myself when I realized that both of the cars were less than a quarter tank and gas prices here are $3.60/gallon.

Ha, I know the feeling. It's worse when both cars have 20 gallon tanks!

[El Barto]

Nice.  

Your car handled yesterdays snow better than mine.    Does it have snow tires or all seasons?

[The Pirate]

Nice.   

Your car handled yesterdays snow better than mine.    Does it have snow tires or all seasons?

Yeah, bit a surprise that snowfall was.  I thought we were going to see a few inches.  We've had quite the winter this year.  I'm running snow tires on both cars.

[Laconian]

It looks pretty clean, but I have to admit .. I'm pretty surprised that was ever considered luxurious back in its day.

[Mustangfan2003]

Looks nice, I knew someone with one of these.  So how much does a car like that sell for these days anyway?

[Rupert]

It looks pretty clean, but I have to admit .. I'm pretty surprised that was ever considered luxurious back in its day.

You pay for quality?

If it had leather seats, I bet it would seem a lot more luxurious.

[dazzleman]

Sweet!  Have fun with it, man.  Drive it when you come down to the auto show, if you've done the needed repairs by then.

[The Pirate]

Looks nice, I knew someone with one of these.  So how much does a car like that sell for these days anyway?

Anywhere from $900 to $2300 seems to be the going rate.  I bartered for this one. 

It looks pretty clean, but I have to admit .. I'm pretty surprised that was ever considered luxurious back in its day.

The 80 was the low-end Audi.  This particular one is optioned up (base was FWD/4-cyl).  It compares favorably to a similar era Mercedes 190 or E30 3-series, I think.  I agree, it's certainly not luxurious, but it's a fairly modern interior.  Great seats though, more comfortable than the seats in the Mazda.

[The Pirate]

And luxurious interiors notwithstanding, the thing that really impresses me about this car how solid it is.  No creaks or rattles on the road, no bump steer, etc.  From a perspective of cruising and driving on poorly maintained roads, it drives better than my Mazda.  Vault-like, which was the defining feature of German cars back then.

Sweet!  Have fun with it, man.  Drive it when you come down to the auto show, if you've done the needed repairs by then.

That's the tentative plan.  You better hope I have the exhaust fixed before I roll in.  This thing roars (5-cylinder, it sounds like a baby Dodge Viper ).

[Laconian]

When I rented a Volvo I thought that the engine sounded like a growling lapdog.

[Raza]

Very cool.  Nice grab.

[heelntoe]

Sweet catch, Jamal! With a bit of TLC, she'll be in great condition.

[The Pirate]

Very cool.  Nice grab.

I now know the allure of German cars.

When I rented a Volvo I thought that the engine sounded like a growling lapdog.

Mine's louder, but pretty close to this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMLHJGHyKAI&feature=related

[Mustangfan2003]

BTW welcome to the German car owners club. 

[CALL_911]

Ooooooh, I am very jealous.

German cars FTMFW, going back to Japanese cars hurts.

[omicron]

Excellent! I've always liked those.

[Colin]

Excellent! I've always liked those.

Ditto.

A friend of mine had a 90 Quattro of that vintage, and it was a lovely car.

Despite their galvanised body, you don't see many on the roads of Europe any more. Guess the mechanicals all wore out.

[thewizard16]

Looks great! Congrats once again on the new car.

[Galaxy]

It looks pretty clean, but I have to admit .. I'm pretty surprised that was ever considered luxurious back in its day.

Imo the problem is the grey interior. Imo the black Audi 80 interior looked better







The green dash that Audi sometimes used was worse. Could be had with green seats, and green paint.





Audi did some wierd stuff in the 80s.





In many ways they were very advanced cars.

[Galaxy]

  I agree, it's certainly not luxurious, but it's a fairly modern interior. 

You need to fondle your car!  The 80s dash top is soft touch, and the cloth used was also a much higher grade then you normally find in cars.


Btw, have you tried to get anything into the trunk?  I'd like to ask the designers what they were thinking with that.

[Galaxy]

Despite their galvanised body, you don't see many on the roads of Europe any more. Guess the mechanicals all wore out.

I would be interested to know how the galvanised Audis worked in a real (salty) car life.

[dazzleman]

And luxurious interiors notwithstanding, the thing that really impresses me about this car how solid it is.  No creaks or rattles on the road, no bump steer, etc.  From a perspective of cruising and driving on poorly maintained roads, it drives better than my Mazda.  Vault-like, which was the defining feature of German cars back then.

That's the tentative plan.  You better hope I have the exhaust fixed before I roll in.  This thing roars (5-cylinder, it sounds like a baby Dodge Viper ).

Eh, after Nick showed up a couple of times in a car that sounded like an airplane, I'm not too worried what your car sounds like.  

[omicron]

The green dash that Audi sometimes used was worse. Could be had with green seats, and green paint.

Oh my. How awfully marvellous!

In many ways they were very advanced cars.

Stereos in '80s cars are hilariously brilliant - gigantic units with thousands of tuning knobs, dials and switches.

1985 Mazda 929:



1984 Ford Fairlane: