RE: Shed of the Week: Audi 100 Avant
Discussion
Turbobanana said:
Younger viewers may not remember the time when there wasn't and Audi, BMW or Mercedes on every corner - these used to be a rare, desirable car and were judged more on engineering prowess than equipment levels.
THIS!I remember when a chap up the road got a brand new BMW 5 series and we all rode up there on our BMXs to look at it.. he banged on the window of his house and told us to scram.
Back in the days when you had to be senior management, or minted to drive anything German and prestige.. not just renting and pretending
I had a 1990 one of these from about 94 to 98, longest I have ever owned a car. I had a rather ropey Golf GTI Mk1 with a 1900 cc engine which was fast but didn’t handle that week. We had our first child on the way and I needed a sensible, reliable and safe car. I was half looking when a colleague showed me one in the Auto Trader and remarked on how cheap it was considering the age, spec and how well it looked in the photo, miles were fairly high at 90 odd but that didn’t worry me at £2395 which was very cheap.The lad was interested but not in a position to buy so I asked if he minded me going for it, he was quite happy so I ran and made an appointment and scuttled off the minute it hit 5, I arrived to a nice house in a Stockport suburb and a very nice lady said her husband wasn’t in and gave me the keys, the phone kept ringing and she said how busy it had got with the car being for sale, I though no wonder at that price. I gave it a quick look over and her husband arrived in a new 100, it had been his co car and he had bought it off his company for his wife, then ran it for a year or so bus his wife wanted something smaller. As we were looking over the car, someone else arrived and I knew I had to strike whilst the iron was hot so on the test drive I said I would have it and could he stop at a cash till for me to get the deposit which he did, got back and the bloke waiting was crestfallen.
Anyway, got went and picked it up, got it on the second attempt as the first one didn’t happen due to snow.
Got it back and it was better than I could have hoped, full service history, recent tyres and brakes, just needed a good clean, it was ok but not to my standards.
I loved it, felt like I had “arrived”, quite an achievement (delusion ?) for two and a bit grand but it felt so executive, it was a 2.0E SE, so it had electric windows, mirrors and air con which was very fancy and stupendously cold, its like they used a unit off a chilled lorry, it noticeably dulled the performance. Seemed very luxurious at the time but looking at this one, which is the same, certainly seems less posh now, but after a ratty mk1 Golf and most other cars I had owned it was super posh.
It wasn’t fast but like a lot of Audi of the day if you floored it, the front end rose and it moved pretty well with a rather nice noise, the handling was decent enough and it had a little bit of waft to proceedings. They aren’t heavy cars either, and pretty aerodynamic so despite on paper with 113 bhp sounding like it might be a bit limp, it never felt it, my mate had an 80 2.0 which was a 4 cyl and we thought that would murder it, it didn’t. I removed the cat which was dying at one point and put a straight pipe in, which made it sound fantastic and freed up a bit of power as well.
It just seemed impossibly well made, no rust on it ever, this one doesn’t look like it has either, this was a revelation as was the lovely, swoopy dash (which they got in 1987, earlier ones look like a shoe box)
I had it quite a while by my standards, only had two issues, PAS pump which I changed, twice as Euro Car Parts sent me a duff one first time and the cage that the gear stick sat in parted company from the transmission tunnel, removed the console and welded it back down and all was well.
I loved that car, I don’t know why I sold it really, someone stoved the front wing in and I decided I wanted to change it, should have fixed it.
Nearly bought a later V6 Avant a few years later, mint but it was auto and black so felt like a hearse and was nowhere near as nice to drive, didn’t feel faster and left me cold.
This one is still a pretty useful load lugger and a bit of a classic now, from when Audis were sort of cool German Volvos, I like Audis but modern ones and the way they have gone have lost that genteel edge, look at the front of this, looks a bit friendlier and a lot less aggressive that current ones that look like the Predators mask and want to kill you, all “Get out of my f
king way peasant” where this is “Excuse me, may I pass please”
Anyway, got went and picked it up, got it on the second attempt as the first one didn’t happen due to snow.
Got it back and it was better than I could have hoped, full service history, recent tyres and brakes, just needed a good clean, it was ok but not to my standards.
I loved it, felt like I had “arrived”, quite an achievement (delusion ?) for two and a bit grand but it felt so executive, it was a 2.0E SE, so it had electric windows, mirrors and air con which was very fancy and stupendously cold, its like they used a unit off a chilled lorry, it noticeably dulled the performance. Seemed very luxurious at the time but looking at this one, which is the same, certainly seems less posh now, but after a ratty mk1 Golf and most other cars I had owned it was super posh.
It wasn’t fast but like a lot of Audi of the day if you floored it, the front end rose and it moved pretty well with a rather nice noise, the handling was decent enough and it had a little bit of waft to proceedings. They aren’t heavy cars either, and pretty aerodynamic so despite on paper with 113 bhp sounding like it might be a bit limp, it never felt it, my mate had an 80 2.0 which was a 4 cyl and we thought that would murder it, it didn’t. I removed the cat which was dying at one point and put a straight pipe in, which made it sound fantastic and freed up a bit of power as well.
It just seemed impossibly well made, no rust on it ever, this one doesn’t look like it has either, this was a revelation as was the lovely, swoopy dash (which they got in 1987, earlier ones look like a shoe box)
I had it quite a while by my standards, only had two issues, PAS pump which I changed, twice as Euro Car Parts sent me a duff one first time and the cage that the gear stick sat in parted company from the transmission tunnel, removed the console and welded it back down and all was well.
I loved that car, I don’t know why I sold it really, someone stoved the front wing in and I decided I wanted to change it, should have fixed it.
Nearly bought a later V6 Avant a few years later, mint but it was auto and black so felt like a hearse and was nowhere near as nice to drive, didn’t feel faster and left me cold.
This one is still a pretty useful load lugger and a bit of a classic now, from when Audis were sort of cool German Volvos, I like Audis but modern ones and the way they have gone have lost that genteel edge, look at the front of this, looks a bit friendlier and a lot less aggressive that current ones that look like the Predators mask and want to kill you, all “Get out of my f
king way peasant” where this is “Excuse me, may I pass please” Best shed write-up for a while and an interesting find.
I would love to see this given the full-on retro-ride treatment. Restored and modded but very subtly and to a high standard. Slight lowering, some tasteful Audi alloys, paintwork revived etc.
I would love the 80 Sport saloon of this vintage but they aren't going to be had for shed money.
Overall; nice work this week Shed.
I would love to see this given the full-on retro-ride treatment. Restored and modded but very subtly and to a high standard. Slight lowering, some tasteful Audi alloys, paintwork revived etc.
I would love the 80 Sport saloon of this vintage but they aren't going to be had for shed money.
Overall; nice work this week Shed.
Ahbefive said:
That is a total p.o.s.
Yawn.I put a bid in on a 2.2 5cyl Turbo Quattro variant last week - lost it by £50
I've been pining after an older Avant for a while now, something to tinker with and eventually bring into the 21st century by way of uprated everything. I have fond memories of seeing these on the roads as a kid, albeit rarely, and thinking they looked as cool then as they still are (to me) now - although Ahbefive will contest that I'm sure.
For the price, the rarity and quirkiness shouldn't be sniffed at, in fact.. I find myself rather tempted.
My uncle and aunt had an Audi 100 and a mk2 Golf GTI respectively.
A childhood memory is of going to visit them with my mother and asking her (before going in) why a company would make cars that looked as horrible as those two. I asked if it was some kind of irony.
I now appreciate they were both probably quite good cars, but somehow that childhood horror/dread has put me off any product of the Volkswagen group. I’ve no idea why, but those two cars filled me with dread as a child and there’s no reason why other than that I hated their styling.
Still, if I could get over that, I think this would be a really nice old car to own.
A childhood memory is of going to visit them with my mother and asking her (before going in) why a company would make cars that looked as horrible as those two. I asked if it was some kind of irony.
I now appreciate they were both probably quite good cars, but somehow that childhood horror/dread has put me off any product of the Volkswagen group. I’ve no idea why, but those two cars filled me with dread as a child and there’s no reason why other than that I hated their styling.
Still, if I could get over that, I think this would be a really nice old car to own.
They did use the 200 of this shape for Rallying for a time, remember seeing one in the snow go off the road and I thought that was the end of his stage, then it barked and all four wheels span like mad and it extricated itself from the ditch it was in and i was astounded/impressed.
Nearly bought a quattro 200, went to see it but was missing a lot of laquer and had a heady smell of burning oil, got offered a one owner early 200 Turbo a few years back, but had been stood for years. There are some videos on Youtube of highly tuned ones, all the stuff for UR's is pretty interchangeable.
Nearly bought a quattro 200, went to see it but was missing a lot of laquer and had a heady smell of burning oil, got offered a one owner early 200 Turbo a few years back, but had been stood for years. There are some videos on Youtube of highly tuned ones, all the stuff for UR's is pretty interchangeable.
As others have said, 80's VWs and Audis were nothing like the current offerings.
I had a 1989 Polo 1.3CL and it felt like it was hewn from teak. Although a four speed gearbox and brakes that weren't servo-assisted meant I don't have that fond memories of it (once went down a hill in Brizzol, saw a junction late, jumped on the brakes and sailed through the junction (fortunately about 3 in the morning)).
I had a 1989 Polo 1.3CL and it felt like it was hewn from teak. Although a four speed gearbox and brakes that weren't servo-assisted meant I don't have that fond memories of it (once went down a hill in Brizzol, saw a junction late, jumped on the brakes and sailed through the junction (fortunately about 3 in the morning)).
I looked at loads of these about 17 years ago .
Wife , kid , dog , days out and all that and I wanted an estate but not the offerings from ford and vauxhall.
All had been neglected , as is the same these days , people buy premium cars but don't bother to maintain them then suddenly a big bill looms and they try to flog them on .
Most needed clutches , had cambelt failures or headgasket s , I ended up with a volvo 740 turbo .
The second hand Audi 100s tended to be immaculate pampered machines that people kept for years and years or neglected dogs that constantly changed hands .
Wife , kid , dog , days out and all that and I wanted an estate but not the offerings from ford and vauxhall.
All had been neglected , as is the same these days , people buy premium cars but don't bother to maintain them then suddenly a big bill looms and they try to flog them on .
Most needed clutches , had cambelt failures or headgasket s , I ended up with a volvo 740 turbo .
The second hand Audi 100s tended to be immaculate pampered machines that people kept for years and years or neglected dogs that constantly changed hands .
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