RE: Treser Quattro: You Know You Want To

RE: Treser Quattro: You Know You Want To

Tuesday 26th September 2017

Treser Quattro: You Know You Want To

What happens when the man who project managed the Quattro gets hold of one? 80s tuner special!



Although it may hopefully be more familiar amongst PHers, Walter Treser is not a name as widely known as it ought to be. For those of you with foggy memories, a quick recap then.

Something of an engineering icon, Treser personally project managed the development of the Quattro, following his tenure as head of Audi's Advanced Special Vehicles division. Having moved on to head up Audi Sport in 1980, his contribution to its rally program then laid the foundations on which that car's legacy would be built.


Having left Audi in 1982, he would move to Opel nine years later and bring the championship winning Calibra to touring cars. But it's what Walter got up to in the intervening years that interests us today.

Following his departure from Audi, he turned his attention to creating his own brand, founding Treser Automobiltechnic und Design. With the likes of AMG and Alpina in his sights, he was ready to show Germany's premier tuners how it was done, and the Audi Quattro was the perfect place to start.

Treser's fettling raised the power of the 2,144cc five-cylinder engine from 202 to 253hp thanks largely to a custom cylinder head, camshaft and exhaust system, as well as higher capacity fuel injection and a much, much bigger intercooler. Suspension was lowered with new springs, extended wheel arches housed those oh-so-80s wheels, and new bumpers front and rear were joined by a wraparound wing. The price for all of that came to a grand total of £25,600 in 1984, the equivalent of £57,500 in today's money - or bang in between an S5 and RS5...


For that outlay, 0-60 was taken care of in just 6.6 seconds (compared to circa 7.0 in the standard car) and 0-100mph could be done in 17.5. A road test from the time marvelled that "even on wet roads the Treser Quattro can be accelerated stunningly quickly. It must be about the only car on the roads today which can produce virtually the same acceleration figures in wet or dry conditions." Because Quattro, right?

Despite the many nips and tucks, the finished product was far from Frankenstein's Audi. As you'd expect from a man so intimately involved in the development of the original car, Treser knew what he wanted to improve and what could be left alone - hence the engine's unmolested bottom end and the standard brakes and dampers. In this way, we can think of the Treser as the money no object vision that one Audi's most influential engineers had for the Quattro.

The particular example we have here was converted from new in 1984, has covered only 36,000 miles since, and looks to have been impeccably maintained. Whether that, and the car's remarkable heritage, make it worth the £43,000 being asked though, well, we'll leave it up to you to decide.


TRESER QUATTRO
Price:
£43,000
Why you should: 80s icon tuned by a man who knows about them
Why you shouldn't: Does an Audi Quattro need messing with?

See the original advert here.







[Source: Motorsport]

 

Author
Discussion

Raudus42

Original Poster:

163 posts

132 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Seeing as a standard model made £72k+ at auction last week, I'd say this is a bargain and a half!

https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/audi-quattro-...

I wouldn't consider this as 'messed with'...it's improved. Do you call AMG Mercs and Alpina BMWs messed with?

Edited by Raudus42 on Tuesday 26th September 15:31

cookie1600

2,094 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
I'll take a convertible please:







Wide body UR?






erics

2,659 posts

210 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
it's wearing Michelin TRX, therefore, it's worth all the money in the world! smile

Nors

1,291 posts

154 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
I've been in that A reg car. I know who used to own it. Only RHD, made for the Motor Show in 1983.

Personally, I don't like it with the roof up.

Nors

1,291 posts

154 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Raudus42 said:
Seeing as a standard model made £72k+ at auction last week, I'd say this is a bargain and a half!

https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/audi-quattro-...

I wouldn't consider this as 'messed with'...it's improved. Do you call AMG Mercs and Alpina BMWs messed with?

Edited by Raudus42 on Tuesday 26th September 15:31
Saw that one. Not even a full service history! Quite surprised it made that.

Nors

1,291 posts

154 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
erics said:
it's wearing Michelin TRX, therefore, it's worth all the money in the world! smile
Think they were metric sizes if IIRC.

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

82 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
The history behind it, and the fact that it's not some Halfords special from the early 00's makes it way worth the price to me.

Nors

1,291 posts

154 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
aaron_2000 said:
The history behind it, and the fact that it's not some Halfords special from the early 00's makes it way worth the price to me.
I think it's worth at least that all day also.

Legacywr

12,016 posts

187 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Seller's a chancer, and, I believe they've had that car for sale for ages, unless I'm mistaken?

Tresers have never been popular sellers, due to their awkward looks.

Edited to add, I loved my 20V when I had it 20 years ago smile

Edited by Legacywr on Tuesday 26th September 16:29

F1GTRUeno

6,335 posts

217 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Before my time and yet I find 80's tuner specials impossibly cool, possibly because they're really the opposite when you look at them.

The urQuattro will always be cool no matter what form it takes though.

V8 TEJ

375 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
The wide arch ones look like Reiger GTS kits biggrin

RushDom

230 posts

93 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Funnily enough, I came across two Tresser Quattro convertibles in the main St Ives car park whilst holidaying in Cornwall this summer. I presume they were part of some German classic car tour as we kept seeing them at various other places throughout the week...plenty of other nice metal, including numerous ur Quattros and a nice looking E Type.

I thought seeing one would be rare enough, let alone two in the same place!



BFleming

3,589 posts

142 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Lots of Treser info here. Bonkers, all of it!
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/10/wild-wack...

cookie1600

2,094 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Legacywr said:
Seller's a chancer, and, I believe they've had that car for sale for ages, unless I'm mistaken?

Tresers have never been popular sellers, due to their awkward looks.
Pretty cheap 7 years ago (don't know if it's the same one):

http://www.classic-audi.co.uk/forum/showthread.php...

Or 6 years ago?

https://www.handh.co.uk/buy/1984-audi-quattro-tres...



Edited by cookie1600 on Tuesday 26th September 17:29

stevem3akm

1 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Having worked on the convertible's and seen how they're put together I think I would only consider the coupes

cookie1600

2,094 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
RushDom said:
I thought seeing one would be rare enough, let alone two in the same place!
Awkward with the roof up (but practical), gorgeous with the roof down IMHO

cookie1600

2,094 posts

160 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Looks like he had a go at a Polo too:








JS1500

579 posts

176 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
I used to park next to one of these regularly in Aberdeen circa 2003-05, red widebody convertible. It was certainly eye-catching!

Yertis

18,015 posts

265 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
I'm impressed it made four stars for the quality of its chrome.

MDMA .

8,849 posts

100 months

Tuesday 26th September 2017
quotequote all
Legacywr said:
Seller's a chancer, and, I believe they've had that car for sale for ages, unless I'm mistaken?
Churning out average, overpriced cars for years now ( although majority of stock never seems to move ).