Shed of the Week: Audi A6

Why a bare bones Audi A6 could be more interesting than it looks at first glance

Got your holidays booked yet? That Donald Trump is a character isn't he? Nice weather for the time of year though. How's your auntie? Eeh, my back's killing me.

Bored yet? Good. Because that will make this week's Shed seem interesting.

Medium Audi saloon

It's an Audi. Here's the ad.

No, no, that won't do. There needs to be a bit more than that.

Oh all right then, it's an Audi A6. Here's the ad.

No, still no good.

We're actually doing this car a huge disservice. This is not just any old Audi A6. The fact that it is an old Audi A6 means that it isn't any old Audi A6.

It may seem from the last paragraph that Shed has finally succumbed to the effects of long-term carbon monoxide build up, but please stick with him on this one.

Though you might not believe it now, given the low profile position the A6 currently occupies in the market, there was a lot of excitement here when the A6 came out in 1994. The C4-designated A6 turned up in the UK before anywhere else because we'd run out of RHD versions of the excellent 100 it was replacing, and our Shed is interesting precisely because it is not interesting.

Simple, unglamorous, gets the job done

As a mid-size German exec, the new A6 was hungrily seized upon by midsized British execs. Most of those sweaty motorway-meanderers would have demanded a spec level befitting their perceived importance, so at least halfway through the brochure. Most fleet managers would have gone along with that too, not because they liked the jumped-up scrotes they were supplying cars to, but because reasonably equipped cars had higher resale values than bare-bones ones.

Unusual, then, to see a basement spec A6. Going off on a totally unsubstantiated tangent, that could mean it was purchased from new by a private individual, some steel-specs wearing grey-haired aesthete unmoved by the temptations of advertising or air-con and looking instead for the purest A6 experience.

Well, it's a theory isn't it? Under the relentlessly stern bonnet we have the 1.8-litre 20V four, a workmanlike unit with nothing to offer other than an ample sufficiency of get-you-there competence. One of a few five-valve-head engines Audi was playing around with at the time (you could also get an A6 with a 2.8 30V V6), the 1.8 gave you all you needed and nothing you didn't. Also used in the Passat, it did gain a bit of a name for snapping its (plastic) inlet manifold flap operating rod and (plastic) water pump impeller. Early owners also needed to keep a close eye on the cambelt, and drainage issues could sabotage ECUs, but none of this should be news to VW group owners and you'd like to think that all the offending parts will have been replaced by more enduring ones by now.

Audi interiors have come a little way...

On the good side there's rather less of that complicated electronickery and absolutely none of that turbo tomfoolery to worry about. And just look at those wonderfully well-ordered spec figures: 123hp, 124lb ft, 124mph.

See that rust in the engine compartment? No, neither can Shed. It's a cliche that bears repeating: modern cars may be built more efficiently and more accurately, but older cars from premium marques were built to last.

This one has all the papers including a far from stale MOT. It's got the air of a car that you'd buy for a laugh and keep for a lifetime. As an ironic but at the same time immediately useable barge for the Le Mans/Goodwood season you could do a hell of a lot worse.

Here, finally, is the ad.

Audi A6 1.8, 1996, C4 100 shape

Purchased in 2012 and hasn't missed a beat from day one, comes with;
Service history, papers, receipts, etc
Two keys, owners manuals, etc
Michelin tyres all round
Everything works as it should

Clean car for its age(in/out/underneath), has been touched up below the filler flap(light scuff/scrape). Has a couple of marks on the rear bumper also. General age related marks. Four previous owners, done 114000 miles, does the airport run with ease.

MOT October 2016