Project 3: 1990 Audi Coupe Quattro

Nolstagic and rare. They only offered a little over 1700 of these babies in the USA. These things are AWD tanks with their unique 5 cylinder engines. For a 1990 car they were leading the competiton in technology with options such as electric adjustable, memory and heated seats, auto-dimming mirrors, defrosting key holes and mirrors. I looked for one of these cars for six months every week on eBay, Autotrader, Craigslist and Forums. I finally found one owned by an Audi certified mechanic in Lake Tahoe. It had over 250,000 miles on it, but was drove well and had great service records. I met the guy half way and drove it back home. The car was in mechanically good condition, but aesthetically in shambles. I tore the car completely apart down to the shell. I sourced parts from Germany and through forums and ultimately restored/updated the interior and exterior with better condition parts. Every little nook and crevice was cleaned. All bulbs were replaced. All joints were lubricated.

As for upgrades since it was tried and true and I loved my short shifter in my S4 I got another short shifter from JHM Motorsports. The rest of the parts I got through 034motorsports who specialize on these chassis. Javad, the owner is great to work with and a fellow enthusiast and a wealth of knowledge.

In the end the car was in much, much better condition than when I purchased it, but I'm use to having pristine condition cars that were fast and this one still needed a lot of work, especially body work and gofast parts. Due to other projects and space I sold the car. I had it for less than a year and put less than 1500 miles on it. Check out my for sale post here. For Sale: 1990 Audi Coupe Quattro

These cars do require a lot of maintenance and upkeep and have a slew of common issues. Here are some good resources for parts, questions, specifications and history:

AudiFans
MotorGeek
20v

I enjoyed the huge cult following and uniqueness of the car and thinking about buying another one that has been fully restored.

To see more pictures of the project check out my project galleries under 1990 Audi Coupe Quattro.