(First posted 6/16/2013) This car officially starts the period of my life where one car at a time just wasn’t enough…Like those who say they need a reliable commuter for the week, a truck for yard duty on the weekends or to tow the boat, and another car for “fun”, I suppose I sort of fit that mold. Except I somehow rationalized the need for one two door coupe for the week and then…uh, another two door coupe for whatever else presented itself…
Anyway, I was still happily driving the Buick LeSabre T-Type chronicled last week when I decided to take a look at a car I have always wanted one of, a 1984 Audi Coupe GT. Based on the chassis of the Audi 4000 (my second car) with the drive train from the Audi 5000, and the basis for the well-respected Audi Quattro (Ur-Quattro as it is commonly known), I had always found these to be extremely handsome.
Ultimately, the one that I bought was located in Concord, a city to the north east of the San Francisco Bay. This was back when I thought nothing of traveling 60 miles to look at a car. It also turned out to be one of several cars that I probably should not have bought, if for no other reason than I really did not need it and it just became an additional expense in the end. It would be the first of several “learning experiences” in hindsight, but I never had any real regrets during my ownership.
The car was being sold by a somewhat sketchy repair shop and there were about three people involved on the selling side of the deal which is definitely something I would not involve myself with anymore these days. I drove the car and everything actually seemed fine except the A/C. The seller(s) agreed to fix that and I came back a couple of days later with my money and left with the car, now with functioning A/C.
The Coupe GT was introduced here in 1981, very slightly updated for 1983 with a chin spoiler, black painted bumpers and 14” Ronal alloys, and in 1985 they got the smoothed-out body, integrated bumpers and nicer dashboard and steering wheel just like the 4000 line at the same time. Mechanically there were no major changes throughout the years, except the last of the line, which are known as 1987.5’s in which the engine had a bit more power; however it was still the same basic engine architecture.
In the U.S., these were only ever available as front wheel drive with a five cylinder engine, either with 5-speed manual or an automatic transmission. Interiors were cloth (plaid in the very early ones), vinyl that seems to wear as well as MB-Tex, or leather as an option in the later years (’85-’87.5). The rated power of the 2144cc engine in 1984 was 100hp, with 112lb.ft. of torque. The weight was just over 2500lbs, which made the performance acceptable.
Since the body shell is almost identical to that of the Ur-Quattro (except for the flared wheel arches and the body color bumpers), these are often confused with them however they had neither a turbocharger not the all-wheel drive system of the Ur-Q in the U.S. Some other markets did have a normally aspirated all-wheel drive version of the Coupe GT available however.
The interior was a very nice place to be (for the day), controls were well laid out, seats were very comfortable, and the back seat was much larger than it appears at first glance. Many people figure these are hatchbacks, however that is not the case, the rear glass stays in place, the trunk lid is short and deep and is hinged just below the window. There is no external trunk release, opening it is achieved via a knob on the driver side door jamb. The trunk itself is quite large and very deep, the spare is mounted upright on the left side and the fuel tank, as in the 4000, stands up behind the rear seat.
Mine was white with a tan vinyl interior. Sunroof, power windows and locks were all standard. The front spoiler was most likely off a different one and had been repainted body color, that paint had pretty much fallen off it as you can see in the somewhat fuzzy picture, which is the only surviving shot that I have of it. The rest of the car seemed solid. For driving around town this was great; I enjoyed it and while basically similar (two door coupe) to my Buick, this was in many ways obviously very different. A stick shift makes any car feel different, but it was also fairly light and handled tighter than the Buick even though it had quite a few more miles on it.
I do recall taking this one to Lake Tahoe over a New Year’s with some friends. It turned out a little spooky as we discovered that when four people were in the car and you went over a dip or the road rose and fell, when you were at maximum compression, the floor would make a popping noise just behind the front seat. The noise was very much like those little pressed tin toy frogs from the 60’s and 70’s that had a little metal tab underneath, when you squeezed the tab it made a small “pop” noise that would drive your parents crazy…
We actually stopped the car and looked underneath and felt around the floorboards but everything seemed fine. I still have no idea what it was; the car did not have any visible rust and was not an accident reconstruction, however it did have that weird structural deficiency. It drove fine the whole time, just the sound was unnerving, we wondered if the car was going to break in half!
As far as noises go, for some reason when test-driving it I never tried reverse. Well, reverse worked but made a loud clicking noise as you were moving backwards that varied in intensity with your speed. It always worked and I never looked into it, but it was just a characteristic of this particular car.
Another issue that this one had was that the door seals were in pretty bad shape to the point where some of the material was missing. At highway speeds a good amount of air would leak in, I figured I could replace them, however they were prohibitively expensive at the dealer (for me at the time anyway) and internet resources were still a few years away. So I just lived with it, at least it was California, not overly cold and even in Lake Tahoe it was OK as long as I blasted the heat. I’ve found German cars in general (OK, water cooled ones, anyway) to have excellent heaters, often like having a little pellet stove behind the dash.
I still like these cars very much and was glad to have had the opportunity to own one. Having since driven the Ur-Quattro and even having driven an actual SportQuattro (short wheelbase, very lightweight Kevlar body, 300hp, only slightly more than 200 built for Group B Rally homologation purposes) in France, has only confirmed my belief that these were well-sorted, comfortable, grand touring cars that looked great and ran economically without being ostentatious or overly costly to maintain and repair as long as one was aware that regular maintenance is key to European car ownership. (One day I will have to do a report on how I came to drive that SportQuattro and give my impressions…)
So do I really regret owning it? I guess not in principle, but it would have been better if I had waited for a more perfect one and/or had the budget to take care of some small annoyances. In the end I sold it for pretty much what I had in it to a guy who had moved to San Francisco with an Alfa Romeo Milano that had over a quarter of a million miles on it!
Alfa Milano with quarter-million miles?? Now that’s a story! Love these Audis. If they had some attributes (durability, parts availability) of a contemporaneous Mercedes they would make a nice daily driver, especially with Quattro-look flares and larger wheels/tires. But I’ve had enough bad experience with older VAG products, plus a 2001 VW in the garage, so I won’t look for more trouble.
Put me down as another person who thought the Coupe GT/ur-Quattro was a hatchback back in the day. Makes it all the more perplexing why the first Quattros sold to the public weren’t wagons a la Subaru/AMC Eagle for marketing reasons.
In regard to the Quattro (not the coupe that this article was about), Audi built them to show what they could do performance wise. It was a relatively cheap development process – they used the underpinnings of the VW Iltis (kind of a 4WD successor to the thing built for German military duty) under a coupe body (largely adapted from the 80) and the Turbo engine from the 5000T. Pricewise it compared with the Porsche 911 of the say. Performance-wise it was a also similar, but throw some snow or rain into the mix and it was untouchable. The Quattro was handbuild on a separate assembly line, in total about 11,000 were sold over an about 10year run which is still many more than they thought would sell when they started. At the time Audi did not even have a station wagon in their lineup, the closest thing was a 100 5door hatchback.
Nice cars; they had a rep for pretty much the best steering and handling for a FWD car at the time.
Way out of my league price wise then and now.They looked a lot better than the sedan or wagon.Just as every Charger was a hemi,every Audi was a 4WD when you asked what it was!
This will surprise most of you, but I had a major crush on these in 1985. I finally decided that there was no way to surmount the huge price premium over the VW GTI, particularly when both engines put out roughly the same power. A Coupe GT (which I always thought was a stupid name) was exceedingly rare in the midwest. I can imagine that I would have several tales of woe and ill-treatment had I actually bought one. They are still beautiful, though.
Thanks for sharing your story, now I can live one of these vicariously. 🙂
Yeah, they did cost a lot more than a GTI. Very different driving experience too, you sat much more laid back in the Coupe. The Coupe wasn’t exactly plentiful in California either, I recall in high school (1986) a girl got a new anniversary model for her birthday. White with the red leather interior, very nice. Hers was the only one, but there were several GTI’s on campus as well.
Overall these were probably similar reliability-wise compared to the VW, it is simply astounding how similar (if not the same) a lot of the bits are between Audi’s and VW’s of this vintage.
A co worker had an early 5 speed Coupe, we had a little informal “drag race”. I had a passenger that added about 200 lbs extra to my ’77 5 speed Rabbit, we were pretty much a dead heat, like the cars were bolted together.
Your Mk2 GTI would have been able to outrun the GT. But these Coupes really were good looking cars, I always admired these Audis.
I’m wondering if the popping sound when fully loaded could have been the exhaust hitting the floor pan, if it was routed a little too closely or if the little rubber hangers stretch out over time this can happen.
I just recently learned about Giugiaro’s proposal for the second generation Volkswagen Scirocco. I think it’s safe to say we know what inspired the Audi Coupe’s design.
Yeah, that could be it. My research indicates that the Scirocco proposal eventually became the Isuzu Impulse (after some re-drawing/smoothing) after VW turned it down in favor of their in-house design.
You are referring to the 1979 Italdesign Asso di Fiore. This was the third and final of the “card” cars that Giuguaro came up with during the 1970’s. It was commissioned as a possible replacement for the 117 Coupe, and utilized the GM T-car platform. It’s nearly identical to the production Piazza/Impulse of 1981.
This is the 1976 BMW Karmann Asso Di Quadri by Italdesign
And this is the 1973 Audi Asso di Picche by Italdesign
The interior design sure is original, you can’t dispute that!
Kind of has a French flavor to it to me.
The cylindrical dash pods is something I’ve never seen before ever.
I hate to see one-off’s like that get restored unless it’s absolutely gonesville.
Thanks much for the additional pic cliguy! Quite a car.
Man, that ’73 Asso Di Picche is some kinda sexy!
No surprise – being from the house of Ital Design, co-founded and co-headed by design genius Giorgetto Guigiaro, one of the masterminds behind the Miura masterpiece.
It looks very Bertone-like. Which is no shock as Guigiaro was in their employ prior to carrozzeria Ital Design
Thanks for the pic – a new one on me!
The interior was literally bonkers for 1973 as well; it seems the leather and tufting was oxblood red originally and may have been “restored” into marigold since then judging from online pictures:
I had one for a couple years. It was an ’86, Charcoal Metallic with gray leather, 5- speed, and the digital dash. I bought it in ’92 (with 130K from the original owner) as a summer driver.
The only problems I had with it were a leaking exhaust manifold (common with Audi I-5s), outer CV joints, and the idle control motor.
I liked this car enough that I would have kept it indefinitely, had it not been for the dude who looked me in the eye before pulling out from the stop sign in front of me. He was carrying a used SBC in the back of his truck which was promptly deposited in the middle of the road.
I was going to rebuild it, but the insurance company wrote me a check for $300 more than I paid for it. I watched it leave on a flatbed.
I seem to remember my uncles 85 gti making that pop sound in the summer of 90 while entering a quick right, left off ramp coming off a highway. It surprised him too as he stopped and took a look and found nothing wrong. As I was the one sitting with my feet in that perticular footwell he thought I had done somthing after I had pulled the grab handle from the other side the week earlier. But like the grab handle it was not my fault but the shoddy build quality from vw.
Love the lines, like a big Scirocco. Test drove a few used ones. Remember the cooling fan always coming on, loud and seemed to vibrate. Seats were awesome. With the north-south engine mounting felt more nose heavy than my Scirocco. Loved the warm silver and bright red exterior colors. Preferred the early US bumpers for some reason.
The 5+5 was pretty much the same car. Nothing says 80s like one of these Audis. Thanks Jim!
I read some place that the Sport Quattro’s front wheels lift at (very) high speeds. Even if you haven’t experienced this, I look forward to your story on that one. And I enjoyed this one.
This is one of those cars that I didn’t really like then, but really like now. I personally don’t like engines with an odd number of cylinders, but that is a personal problem.
I absolutely love the body of these though, especially with the fender flares.
These cars are awesome! You cant go wrong with a rally-looking 2-door fastback. Ive come across a few of these here and there and would love a turbo 5cyl with 5spd and awd…although from what Im reading, that combo might not exist in the U.S. AND it would probably be a nightmare to keep it running. I liked these when I saw them in the 80s, but really could’ve cared less about Audis at all up until the TT came out. Now, with the TT-RS, the 5 series coupes, A3s hatchbacks, all the hi-po Avants, and the R8 Id say if I hit the lotto an Audi would be the first foreign marque I would flock right to! The Sport Quattro concept promises a turbo 5 banger, awd and that gorgeous fasthatch roofline. Now, if only they pull their heads out of their asses and leave the hybrid filth out of it….
The picture of the red 84 CGT in this article with the snowboards on the roof was taken in Truckee. How do I know? It’s my car, I took the picture.
Bought it in ’96, still own it. Drove it to work today actually. Its a VERY different car these days then it was back then.
The addition of a chipped MC1 turbo motor from an ’87 5KQ w/a urS6 K24 turbo really woke it up (230hp at 13psi), as did the Quaife limited slip diif (designed for 944 Porsche, fits CGT too), and Wilwood/Brembo 11″ front brakes (designed for MK1 VW) & VW Gti 16V rear disc brakes, Euro headlights/taillights, Recaro seats, ’87 dashboard, and Kamei X1 body kit round out the total package.
I love my ’84 and will most likely own it until I die.
Jason, do you still have your red 84? I have a white 84 that I drive on a daily basis. I get approached in parking lots by people looking to buy it, or notes left on the windscreen. But I am having a terrible time getting parts for my sweet sweet car that I also want to drive until I die. How’s your situation for parts? Thanks.
Oh yes, I still have my CGT turbo. Drove it to work yesterday actually. Love that damn car! Although I now also have a ’12 TT RS as well, which is an absolute riot to drive!, the CGT still feel so much more connected to the driver (kinda analog vs digital). Parts are harder to come by, but I’ve got a decent stash and the internet made finding things easier a well.
These were sweetttt!!
Had a very early (’85?) Quattro FOUR door in my body shop a few months ago
for some rust repair fabrication; my specialty.
I bet being a 4dr., it was one of the rarest cars to pass through my rust mill.
Just guesing, but I sure don’t remember seeing a 4dr., ever.
Definitely saw coupes around though, but they were more 4000 based models.
This one seemed more Golf, or Rabbit than Audi, bodywize.
The doors, door handles, windshield, and probably the basic body shell was a Rabbit I believe.
I should learn more about it.
It sure was nothing like the 4000 models pictured above.
Was very interesting to have in the shop. Thanks for the read!
https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/1987-Audi-4000-CS-Quatro-For-Sale.jpg
I remember seeing a few of these back in the day, not all that uncommon, especially in SoCal.
I’m shocked that these aren’t hatchbacks! I’ve admired them since new, yet never realized this…
There’s a red 85 GT on my local CL right now that’s really tempting me. I don’t think I could bring myself to Rally X it though.
Just the picture, But there is an article that explains the one off build of a 4 door salon Ur Quattro. I owned 2 4000s, an 80 and an 86. Both 4 doors, But have always loved to own a coupeGT Great cars, had a modicum of issues, and I would love to find one today. Only ones I know available are not close enough to make a purchase worth it. Either to pricey or to worn out.