Friday 27th February 2009

SOTW: Audi Cabriolet 2.6

This week a lot of Audi for not much money...

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This week at Shed we have mostly been thinking about Audi 80s. No particular reason but the arrival of an RS2 on our fleet has certainly sparked a renewed interest in this Teutonic Swiss Army Knife.

The 80 certainly seemed to be around for a long while and came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from McLaren-baiting estates to diesel saloons. But the most likely candidate for our weekly theoretical buy would be one of the handsome coupes that are plentiful and hard-wearing.

That is until we saw this cheeky Audi 80 Cabrio on Autotrader. Admittedly attributes such as ‘Lady Diana once drove one’ and ‘it certainly is pretty’ are not the kind of thing you want to be armed with when wading into a bar-room argument but bear with us.

The Cabrio arrived in 1992 and because of the amount of work needed to cut the roof off it outsurvived the rest of the B3 and B4 models. In fact it lived on until 2002, when the new A4 range had been around for eight years.

Regardless, thanks to the car’s simple, chunky lines it still looks good today. The galvanized bodies mean the car can last much longer than most and build quality was solid.

There was a choice of different engines and although the 133bhp 2,309cc five-cylinder arguably sounds better, the 150bhp 2.6-litre V6 was the most powerful. And we like power here at PistonHeads.

So what have we got? Well it’s never going to be the perfect candidate for a track car, but thinking outside the box for a second this ’96 Cab seems like a lot of car for less than a grand. Brand new MOT and tax, a power hood (that doesn’t work), and 132,000 miles – could be a summer bargain.

Hopefully the crack in the windscreen is not a result of the dreaded scuttle shake these cars suffered from, but if the credit crunch has hit and you still want to waft when the sun finally comes out this could be worth a look…

 

Ad reads: ‘1996 AUDI CABRIOLET 2.6 E 2dr Cabriolet, Metallic Navy Blue, V6 Petrol, Manual, Air Con, Heated seats, Leather (Cream), New MOT & Tax.electric hood needs reconnection & crack in windscreen(not in line of sight) hence half normal price!!. £999 no offers.’

[collateral]

Always liked the look of these. Got to wonder how they only got 150 horse out of 2.6L, but I guess they have more of a wafty summer thing going on. Wouldn't be surprised if getting the hood fixed costs as much as the motor itself though...

[mister.t]

We had one of these at a garage I worked at a year ago for double the price, and it sold instantly!! Everything worked mind Nice car though, seemed well screwed together, and you will struggle to see another one on your travels.

[FrankenFarter]

So the 2.8 with 174bhp isn't the most powerfull then ?

Edited by FrankenFarter on Friday 27th February 10:25

[BlueCello]

Like it My dad has an 80 estate, nothing ever goes wrong with it! Quite quick too, and it's only the 2.0.

[bradmitchell]

had one of these a few years ago - quicker than you think 150bhp will be and very smooth... cant believe you can pick one up for a grand.. It would make an excellent summer hack, if we have a good summer..!! i wouldnt bother fixing the roof, as long as you can manually raise and lower it, its a deal, its a steal...

[astrsxi77]

Earlier 5-pot coupe for me please.

[Frimley111R]

'Hood needs reconnecting' More like hood is knackered and doesn't work.

[IanMorewood]

Crack in the windscreen and none working hood mean £2000 to fix up.

[ewenm]

IanMorewood said:

Crack in the windscreen and none working hood mean £2000 to fix up.

If you wanted to, or you could just leave it.

[aarondrs]

looks a good bet to me... but then I like a gamble. Agree with comment about earlier five pot coupe though.... saw an Audi 90 20v yesterday with new stainless exhaust, sounded lovely.......

[louismchuge]

I like this! It'd certainly be a case of 'drive it until it dies' though

[fluffyducky]

Windscreen £60 through insurance... a second hand motor can't cost too much, just found a hole replacement hood for £700... how do you get to £2k?

Looks a deal.

[Big Rod]

I've been told the hoods on these are hydraulic and a lot of times bleeding the system fixes hood problems.

I was nearly given one of these gratis a short while ago, but sadly, the 'deal' fell through.

[Robatr0n]

FrankenFarter said:

So the 2.8 with 174bhp isn't the most powerfull then ?

Edited by FrankenFarter on Friday 27th February 10:25

Considering I'm almost certain that they didn't put the 2.8 in the cabriolet that would be a no.



Eta - Hmmm, according to parkers (not the best source in the world) they apparently did make a 2.8 cab. I always thought they only have the 1.8, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.6. I'll have to look into it.

Edited by Robatr0n on Friday 27th February 11:11

[aarondrs]

Robatr0n said:

FrankenFarter said:

So the 2.8 with 174bhp isn't the most powerfull then ?

Edited by FrankenFarter on Friday 27th February 10:25

Considering I'm almost certain that they didn't put the 2.8 in the cabriolet that would be a no.



Eta - Hmmm, according to parkers (not the best source in the world) they apparently did make a 2.8 cab. I always thought they only have the 1.8, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.6. I'll have to look into it.

Edited by Robatr0n on Friday 27th February 11:11

I think they did the 2.8 in/from 1998

[fathomfive]

Robatr0n said:

FrankenFarter said:

So the 2.8 with 174bhp isn't the most powerfull then ?

Edited by FrankenFarter on Friday 27th February 10:25

Considering I'm almost certain that they didn't put the 2.8 in the cabriolet that would be a no.



Eta - Hmmm, according to parkers (not the best source in the world) they apparently did make a 2.8 cab. I always thought they only have the 1.8, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.6. I'll have to look into it.

Edited by Robatr0n on Friday 27th February 11:11

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/AUDI...

Edited by fathomfive on Friday 27th February 11:18

[markvh]

A convertible from a manufacturer renowned for reliability for less than a grand sounds like a steal to me!

As someone said earlier, windscreen replacement on insurance, has a new MOT so no panic.

As long as the hood isn't torn or wafer thin it can only be motor or hydraulics.

Less than 3 months till summer.......

I bet its gone already, someone will be doubling there money in a few months time !

If only I wasn't poor...... and didn't already have a convertible !

[varsas]

Wow, that's really nice. Fixing roofs can get very expensive, if there's anything wrong with the frame the car is a write off but yeah, great, would love one of these.

[Robatr0n]

aarondrs said:

Robatr0n said:

FrankenFarter said:

So the 2.8 with 174bhp isn't the most powerfull then ?

Edited by FrankenFarter on Friday 27th February 10:25

Considering I'm almost certain that they didn't put the 2.8 in the cabriolet that would be a no.



Eta - Hmmm, according to parkers (not the best source in the world) they apparently did make a 2.8 cab. I always thought they only have the 1.8, 2.0, 2.3 and 2.6. I'll have to look into it.

Edited by Robatr0n on Friday 27th February 11:11

I think they did the 2.8 in/from 1998

Thinking about it, I'm having a dim moment this morning. I actually have the late edition alloys on my 2.0 8v which were originally on a 2.8 cab.

[pSyCoSiS]

What a hell of a lot of car for the money!

Can't even get shabby-looking E30 four-pot cabrios for that cheap!

Still looks good today, and has a bit of understated elegance....