Friday 17th June 2011

SOTW: Audi V8

Vorsprung Durch Barge, anyone?

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Today's Shed of the Week hails from an era when Audi was most definitely still the third-choice prestige German marque. As such, anybody picking the first V8 to wear the four-ringed badge was making a brave and unusual choice.

The same applies today, really. Audi V8s weren't exactly the most popular motors when new and now, compared with the ubiquity in the cheaper end of the classified listings of S-class Mercedes or BMW 7ers of the same vintage, the Audi V8 is getting rather like the tooth of a hen.

So unusual is the flagship Audi these days that this particular car (so claims the seller) is one of only four 4.2s left on the road (presumably in the UK).

This SOTW is a chance to bag yourself a real automotive rarity, then. So what do you get for your 895 pounds sterling? Well, you get four-wheel drive (natch), a 276bhp 4.2-litre V8 (earlier 3.6s have to cope with a piffling 247bhp), a 155mph top speed (presuming not too many horse s have fled the engine during its 19-year life) and 0-62mph in 7.7secs (the 4-speed ZF auto cuts this down from 6.8secs).

In the case of this car you also get Oettinger factory-fit alloys, beige leather, a current ticket, the top-end Audi sound system, and a reasonable-sounding 140,000 miles of life beneath its wheels.

We'd take that mileage with the teensiest pinch of salt, however, as the vendor admits that the odometer isn't in what you would call full working condition. There are other problems, too. There's 'minor damage to the front valance', from the sound of it the lacquer has departed from the bootlid, and you will have to fork out for tax.

But hey, the chap's open to offers...

Mucho thanks to Andy Lees (bigcahoona) for pointing this our way...

Advert is reproduced below

1992 AUDI V8 4.2 V8 4dr Auto Saloon £895

140,000 miles, Audi Quattro V8 4. 2, very rare car (only 4 left on the road with the 4.2 engine), outstanding drive, current MOT, tax can be arranged at buyer's cost, Oettinger factory fit alloys, ultra low profile tyres, deep metallic green, galvanised so no rust, beige leather trim in very good condition, Sony audio with full Audi duo sound system, recently completed 500 mile round trip and car drove beautifully, electric sunroof. Price very much reflects condition. Minor damage to front valance, boot lid has lost its shine, 3 dash intruments have stopped working including odometer. In summary, a great car with fantastic road presence, Quattro 4 wheel drive, 285 bhp, attracts attention wherever she goes. I am open to sensible offers close to the asking price but want the car to go to a good home. With a little work, she will be an outstanding buy. Reluctant sale due to change in family circumstances. Please call 0116 2401844 or 07955 263175 anytime. £895 ONO.

[johnpeat]

On the face of it, a lovely shed - the paintwork is piffling when you consider the potential problems in the oily bits tho, so I'd look harder at those than the valance or bootlid

He says 3 instruments aren't working but doesn't say if the speedo is one of them (it's the only instrument which would mean an MOT failure?) This is probably pre-electronic instruments and so a replacement shouldn't be too much of a challenge tho (I assuming parts from same-period Audis would fit??)

Either way GOT to be worth a peek.

Edited by johnpeat on Friday 17th June 01:36

[johnpeat]

Twoshoe said:

How does he know there are only 4 left in the UK?

I believe you can make a Freedom of Information request to the DVLA BUT it needs to be quite specific.

e.g. You can't "How many Fords are taxed" or "How many MGs" - that's way to vague - but you can ask "How many Audis with an engine cap. in excess of 4l - first registered between 1988 and 1993 - are currently taxed for the road".

Car Clubs use this sort of approach a fair bit - at least that's what I'm led to believe by people from those clubs!

He could just have guessed

[johnpeat]

steveb8189 said:

sounds reasonable if this is anything to go by...

http://howmanyleft.co.uk/?q=audi%20a8&p=2

That's interesting - so this then...

http://howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/audi_v8_auto

[johnpeat]

greggers said:

You wouldn't fail an MOT with a non-working speedo... The only thing that gets the wheels moving are the brake rollers.

Would a car turning up 2-years-in-a-row with the (exact) same miles provoke a reaction?

"I trailer it everywhere"

[johnpeat]

ScoobieWRX said:

Very odd really becuase you need to know how fast you're going to keep within the speed limits. Surely that's a matter of safety and should be part of the MOT.

The whole issue of whether a speedo is legally required seems a bit hazy - you certainly have to have one in a new car and one marked in MPH is required for the SVA I believe - but even the Police (AskthePolice) website is cagey about whether it has to be working (normally they quote a specific law)

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q601.htm

Some people would argue that a faulty speedo would invalidate your insurance (car not roadworthy) but the 'it stopped working earlier today officer' excuse would appear to cover that (at the expense of perverting the course of justice!!)...

Might not work so well if your last 3 MOTs all had the same mileages...

[johnpeat]

Goodfella 555 said:

I know what you mean though, sometimes your head overtakes your heart and you decide that 3 weeks abroad each year, a wardrobe rammed with nice garments and a nice house have to take priority - I'm deservedly going to get banned from this website for posting this comment!

You can take a 3 week holiday, fill a wardrobe with nice clothes and buy a nice house for £895 less haggle+£110 tax)!?

Well done...

[johnpeat]

Dagnut said:

Wouldn't bother servicing it....run it into the ground..for 895 even if you got 300 off the breakers for it your only down 600 quid...sheds are exactly that sheds..they aren't meant to be restored to former glory but driven into the ground and given the burial they deserve

That, that and thrice that...

There are 2 types of people in the world.

The first sees a car and makes a list of the work needed to make it 'right' - this will include some oily bits, some derusting/paintwork fixes, some interior tidying etc. - they'll factor it in and buy the car and do the work.

The second are the smart ones - they buy cars from the first

Let's be honest here - a new lightbulb for this will probably cost more than your next shed

[johnpeat]

AlexiusG55 said:

But you don't need a speedo to know how fast you're going- a GPS (or smartphone) can tell you that, as can the tachometer in a manual car.

Smartphones and GPSs don't work in tunnels, city centres etc.

A Tachometer requires maths (that's most of the country out) and not every car has one.

I suspect the reason the speedo isn't in the MOT is purely a practical one - checking it works and is accurate would take too long and push-up the cost of the test.

[johnpeat]

fluffnik said:

We only need to know our speed's numerical value to comply with a bad arbitrary law...

Whilst I agree wholeheartedly, would you really fancy having 'speeding' be judged purely by the opinion of the zealous, narrow-minded pricks who make up most Police Traffic departments???

They already use a variety of minor traffic infringements as a veiled excuse to search cars/people for drugs and other stuff like that - imagine if they had power just to determine that you'd gone 'a bit too fast' and their word was unarguable *image of Judge Dredd*

[johnpeat]

ureile said:

Pre-electronic instruments in a 1992 A8? I would´t be too sure about it.

No sign of electronic ODO - chances are it's not a coded dash and it looks pretty much the same as a 100/200 dash of the same era so...

[quote]And watch out for the spare part situation on these either. Some body parts
are no longer available, no kidding.

You wouldn't need them - it's a shed, you drive it until it stops, it's not a restoration project

[johnpeat]

Mark M said:

Apparently all the German ones are going into the eastern bloc.

That makes it sound like they've all been called and are moving slowly there, without drivers or apparent propulsion...

It's also the German version of "they're all owned by drug dealers and s" I suspect...

Didn't the Eastern Bloc sort-of cease-to-exist some time ago?

[johnpeat]

mrpenks said:

This is astonishing for so little outlay. Does anyone know what sort of mileage this engine can cope with before needing major work?

As with any car that entirely depends on how well it's been maintained - and there's a LOT of it to maintain.

Let's be honest tho - it's £900, will use fuel like it's going out of fashion and it's gearbox is probably the weakspot anyway (as it's effectively irreplacable).

Upside to that is that if the engine did let go, you'd have a gearbox to sell - and if you can afford to fuel it, you can afford to lose a few quid on it too

[johnpeat]

carinaman said:

Perhaps I am confusing SOTW with the concept of bangernomics?

They're certainly not related...

Bangernomics is running a car as cheaply as possible by shunning trivia like rust and non-working accessories - taking advantage of the longevity, reliability and low running costs of certain models...

SOTW is about finding something interesting which you could drive right now - and perhaps for a while, for less than £1000.

It's not about restoration or preservation - not about finding the best example of the marque/model, the criteria are simply that the car is interesting, has tax (or cash left-over to tax it) and ticket.

That's why this was a great SOTW - a 4.2V8 German Luxobarge for under £1000, how can that not be interesting?

Hell, I can't afford £1000 for my daily driver, let along a plaything, but I can appreciate the IDEA! If I came into cash, the first thing I'd do is start buying moody old motors and blogging the experience - would be amazing!!!

[johnpeat]

One other thing which needs addressing about SoTW are the claims people make about "breaking it and selling the bits"...

Whilst it's quite possible to do this, it's a LOT harder than people make out and a lot of the time all you do is end up with a load of junk lying around the place (even whole cars!!)

I've done this - a mate almost made a full-time living from it for a while - but the reality is nowhere near as easy as "making money from hard-to-find car parts" sounds...

There's the issue of finding the people looking for said item - not always as easy as it sounds and you can burn a LOT of time (and listing fees etc.) finding that out.

Instead of buyers you'll find yourself mired with endless stupid questions, insulting offers, people who think heavy items will teleport to their homes 'for free', people calling-up for free advice and expecting brand-new self-fitting things to appear magically!

Second-hand parts prices and availability must be affected more by the fact that too many buyers are morons than by any other single factor