Audi 80 Saved from the scrapheap...

[anonymous-user]

From the era when Audis were still desirable. I had an 80 2.0E like yours. It was automatic and the slowest thing I’ve owned but it was so well made. Unlike the tat they put out today.

I went on to own an A8 4.2 Quattro sport after that. Again, such a lovely, stylish car that was great to drive and went really well. Loads of clever features too like the solar sun roof that ran the car’s fans whilst parked in hot weather.

I’ve not owned an Audi in almost 17 years since and have no desire to.

[soad]

My uncle had one of these, back in the day.

[NoAdverseDevelopments]

Perfect low cost runaround that, excellent save.

"My parents had one of the first, 1987 1.8S-90hp carb and no pas!"

I bought one of those off eBay as a winter hack back in '05! Ran it for 2 years smashing it through snowbanks and just not caring if it broke, easy as it only cost me £52.12. Was a tank of a car and really well built, sadly died after the front subframe snapped in half jumping a humpback bridge

[oobster]

Similar to others, I love threads like this.

Any plans to take it to show to the FIL in the home once it's all up-and-running/MOT'd?

[AI1694]

I really like it, fair play OP.

Just wondering, what’s the interior build quality and feel like compared to BMWs and Mercs of the same era?

[2gins]

I had one of these in the early 2000s, the photos take me right back. It was a great car. 40 mpg all day long and surprisingly torquey for a 1.6, bullet proof reliability and not really that slow either. Well maybe. My benchmark was a 1.3 Escort

Crashed it once, pulling out of a minor road turning right having mis-interpreted a headlight flash from an oncomer from the right. Rover 75 coming the other way, just didn't see him at all (saccade?) and nailed him right in the rear wing. Big dent, bumper partly off. The 80? Small ding above the n/s light cluster and cracked indicator lens. Tanks!

[Mr Tidy]

Another brilliant Readers Car thread - top marks to the OP for saving it.

From an era when Audis actually looked good! That should work really well as a comfy daily.

[Gallons Per Mile]

NoAdverseDevelopments said:

...jumping a humpback bridge

We've all been there! I did something similar in a Mk4 Fiesta with a Puma engine.... It cut out after the suspension bottomed out on re-entry and I coasted to a halt. Luckily after leaving it a minute it restarted and carried on as if nothing had happened!

[counterofbeans]

wormus said:

From the era when Audis were still desirable.Unlike the tat they put out today.

Off topic perhaps but which manufacturer could you NOT currently say that about i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc. just as bad!

Porsche as well.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

counterofbeans said:

wormus said:

From the era when Audis were still desirable.Unlike the tat they put out today.

Off topic perhaps but which manufacturer could you NOT currently say that about i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc. just as bad!

Porsche as well.

Lexus, even though they are ugly as sin. At the extreme end Rolls have transformed beyond belief too. Think back to the 90's, living off past glories.

[counterofbeans]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Lexus

No.

[colin_p]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I wonder why there are so many widely revered W124's still on the road, but not these, with the same love?

Same era, same ideals.

Legend has it that the Audi's with Procon 10 were written off in abundance as they were too expensive to repair, even in relatively minor shunts.

As far as I remember, Procon 10 mainly consisted of some heavy duty steel cables wrapped round the engine block and then back to the steering wheel. In a shunt the engine acted like a pendulum pulling the steering wheel out of harms reach. As a result even for a minor bump it meant an engine out job.

I also remember the Procon 10 system being, at the time, the best safety system on any car, in the pre-airbag era.

I stand to be corrected though by those who know more, my knowledge on it are just vague recollections.




OP;

Cracking car, really really nice. I reckon (with modern engines etc) that would sell today. A classy understated beautiful looking thing.

[drewwa]

According to the brochure that came in the service history, the car does indeed have the procon-ten system. SInce it's my step-father's car I know it's not been in a serious knock (just car park scraps and the odd ding). I haven't had a proper look under the bonnet to check, but it should be fairly obvious.

Found this image on google.



Some info on that here > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten and quite a nice old video (1990) about it here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX_CFlFZ0w

I've just been in contact with the editor of Audi Driver magazine who has asked to do a feature on the car. Stay tuned for details.

Cheers,

Drew.

[colin_p]

drewwa said:

According to the brochure that came in the service history, the car does indeed have the procon-ten system. SInce it's my step-father's car I know it's not been in a serious knock (just car park scraps and the odd ding). I haven't had a proper look under the bonnet to check, but it should be fairly obvious.

Found this image on google.

Some info on that here > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten and quite a nice old video (1990) about it here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX_CFlFZ0w

I've just been in contact with the editor of Audi Driver magazine who has asked to do a feature on the car. Stay tuned for details.

Cheers,

Drew.

I wasn't imagining it then!

Having watched it, I also remember that TV advert as well, thanks for posting it up.

[C350]

Some people have removed the procon 10 to stop the car being written off by a small incident, it obviously saves weight too.

There’s a few threads discussing it on s2forum

[MrBig]

drewwa said:

According to the brochure that came in the service history, the car does indeed have the procon-ten system. SInce it's my step-father's car I know it's not been in a serious knock (just car park scraps and the odd ding). I haven't had a proper look under the bonnet to check, but it should be fairly obvious.

Found this image on google.



Some info on that here > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procon-ten and quite a nice old video (1990) about it here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JX_CFlFZ0w

I've just been in contact with the editor of Audi Driver magazine who has asked to do a feature on the car. Stay tuned for details.

Cheers,

Drew.

Love the car, and that picture has just blown my mind! I always thought Procon-Ten was driven by small explosive charges, but its actually mechanical? I have been educated!

[gforceg]

Nice car and a great catch stopping it being trashed. I remember the ProconTen cars had a sticker proclaiming as mush in the rear side windows. No evidence of that?

[NoAdverseDevelopments]

Gallons Per Mile said:

NoAdverseDevelopments said:

...jumping a humpback bridge

We've all been there! I did something similar in a Mk4 Fiesta with a Puma engine.... It cut out after the suspension bottomed out on re-entry and I coasted to a halt. Luckily after leaving it a minute it restarted and carried on as if nothing had happened!

It was the second car I'd killed, on the exact same bridge The other was a Rover 213 my nan gave my mum, I borrowed it and hit the bridge too fast for it's capabilities. On landing the whole of the rear boot fell out as it was mainly rust. The bridge in question is the one coming off Llangattock mountain as you enter the top of the village if anyone knows the Crickhowell area.

[anonymous-user]

counterofbeans said:

Off topic perhaps but which manufacturer could you NOT currently say that about i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar etc. just as bad!

Porsche as well.

Well quite. Although I'd argue Jaguar weren't of the same standard in the rust proofing dept. Same with motorbikes - the Hondas from the early 90s were made by engineers, not accountants. Now it's all about the badge and the monthlies. Disposable ste for idiots who know no better.

[Crosswise]

Well done for saving this, they do seem to be quite disposable compared to many other cars of the same era, there aren't many left now.

I've owned a 92 2.8 quattro since 2005, they are really great cars, I won't ever sell mine.

It would be well worth replacing the ignition switch, they are cheap and common across loads of VAG vehicles. If not it will continue to cause you problems until it completely fails.

The door cards and the headlining suffer from the foam backing disintegrating leading to the saggy appearance. Replacing it with new foam is the only way to solve it. I'll be honest, it's a horrible job removing all the old foam which will have turned to orange goo and sticks to everything.

5cyl 80s were a rarity by the time the B4 came out. Ignoring the (R)S2 the 2.0 16v was promoted as a more powerful alternative, the 5cly now only offered as the 10v NG engine, the 7A 170hp 20v finished with the B3 90. In the UK the B4 was always fuel injected, it's what the E stands for, Einspritzung.

The front brakes can easily be upgraded to the Girling G60 calipers if you're looking for better braking performance .They were fitted to some 2.6 and all 2.8 cars, you need the hubs, carriers, calipers and discs from memory.

Here are a couple of pictures of mine, currently undergoing a lengthy and expensive build into an RS2 Saloon.

DSC_0455 by Matt4475, on Flickr

DSC_2436 by Matt4475, on Flickr

I agree the steering wheel is one of the nicest on any car, no airbag wheel could look that good. I've got a 94 RS2 non airbag wheel which took me years to find, it's very similar really.

Untitled by Matt4475, on Flickr

Edited by Crosswise on Saturday 2nd February 03:53