Friday 18th July 2014

Shed Of The Week: Audi A2

Audi did the premium, efficient small car 15 years ago and Shed's found one under £1,000

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What's the first car you think of when somebody utters the immortal phrase 'ahead of its time'? If your answer was 'Austin Allegro', please browse off to another, browner website.

If however you thought of the Audi A2, welcome to normal society. This motoring cliche is the one most often associated with the radically-styled mini-MPV that would carry five bods in a surprisingly small footprint, that was hewn from aluminium to minimise weight and fuel use, and that was the first European five-door to hit the Holy Grail target of 'three litres per 100km' back at the turn of the century.

Looking pretty smart for 165K miles

That's right: this car was launched in the last century. By extension, the shape must have been penned about twenty years ago. That's a very long time, especially in motoring, but the A2's tin woodlouse look is still fresh today.

So why were less than 200,000 sold, compared to the million-plus deeply flawed A-Class Mercs that sidled onto our roads? Well, a mainstream product that's ahead of its time is fine, but not when it also comes with ahead-of-time pricing. These days, nobody would so much as blink at the idea of paying premium rates for a titchy motor, but back in 2000 the concept of a small Audi at a big price only confused people.

This one, our first A2 SOTW, is the 75hp 1.4 petrol. It's cheap because of its high mileage and flickering engine management light. This could very easily be nothing more than a failed sensor, and less than £100 to fix.

Yes the diesel would be preferable but it's £995!

The petrol A2 is not as characterful as the 1.4 TDI, which in its own rattly way was also well in the vanguard of engine design by virtue of its three-cylinderishness. You'll rarely find one of them for under £2K though.

Shed ran a very early 1.4 TDI for the best part of a year. He remembers its remarkable spaciousness and (visibility-impinging A-pillars aside) its easy, rather cool, driving experience. The functional sparseness and intelligence of its design made every trip feel special, an unusual trait for this class of vehicle.

A2s come with quirks, too, which is not something you can say about every Audi. '02 models and later switched to a new design of windscreen wiper, but the earlier ones made the whole car rock. The rear screen glass has a slightly distorting effect on anything behind, visually converting conventional motors into tall A2-alikes. Good.

Still kind of works for such an old design

Perhaps the most freakish A2 feature was its lack of conventional engine access. Contrary to popular opinion, A2 bonnets aren't sealed. You can release and remove the entire panel (which weighs just 8kg) via two catches. Routine liquid topping-up was a keyhole-surgery procedure carried out through the black 'grille' that is actually a service flap. It was a bold metaphor for fill-and-forget motoring and a strong statement of corporate confidence. Sadly, dodgy flap release cables were no means an unknown fault on A2s. Shed had one in his. He also had a speeding ticket in it, for a measly 93mph on the A303. According to Shed, it felt like 70. He swears he can still smell the traffic cop's rank breath as he leant in through the window.

There was some factory talk of a new A2 for 2012, pinching the steel monocoque from the A1. It seemed a retrograde step for such an avant-garde little car. Evidently Audi thought so too because that project was canned, along with plans to productionise 2011's electric A2 concept. Interestingly, CEO Rupert Stadler has just said that Audi plans to dominate the premium car market by 2020. BMW, Mercedes and indeed Jaguar might have something to say about that, but you suspect that the inclusion of a new and even more advanced A2 in those plans would put Audi in with a decent shout of meeting its goal. An excellent execution of an excellent concept.

Here's the ad.

SILVER Hatchback.1390 cc Petrol, Manual. SILVER, FSH PX Clearance, Drives Fine but EML Light comes on here and there hence Bargain Tax MoT Sept 14, Standard Features - PAS, Drivers airbag, ABS, Remote central locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Front electric windows, Alloy wheels, Radio/Cassette, Front head restraints, Body coloured bumpers, Passenger airbag, Traction control, Height adjustable drivers seat, Steering wheel rake adjustment, Electric door mirrors, Side airbags, Steering wheel reach adjustment, Rear headrests, Space saver spare wheel.

[LotusEspritTurbo]

Nice little car, looks good and they're reliable. Definitely worth a grand.