SOTW: Audi Coupe GT

Rally pedigree (sort of) and oodles of 1980s cool. What more could you want for less than a grand?

Shed has nothing if not an ambitious character. This week the news that the new Audi RS5 coupe is to make its motor show debut exactly 30 years after the original AWD Audi coupe - the Ur Quattro - burst onto the scene has got us hankering for a slice of boxy and quintessentially 1980s goodness.

Trouble is, the roadgoing version of the car that forever changed the face of rallying requires pockets rather deeper than those which Shed possesses. In fact, the cheapest Quattro we could find with tax and ticket in the PistonHeads classifieds was up for £4700, and that came with a rather dubious 'rally' rear wing attached (take a look at the big-winged Quattro here - if you dare...).

So we set our sights a little lower and came up with this, a surprisingly tidy-looking 1989 Coupe GT on an F-plate and yours for just £795. Now, removing the turbocharger and four-wheel drive hardware might sound like taking everything that's good from a Quattro and, er, throwing it away, but there's still something ineffably cool about the resulting 'Quattro-lite'.

For a start, the only significant visual identifier (apart from the badge at the back) that the GT isn't the real deal is the absence of the sharply creased flared wheelarches. The result is that, both inside and out, you have the same distinctive boxy lines that became so familiar nearly wiping out the kneecaps of rally fans across the world in the early 1980s. What's not to like about that?

Under the bonnet of many GTs lies a warbling five-pot 2.0-, 2.2- or 2.3-litre motor so you won't even have to sacrifice that distinctive soundtrack.

Sadly this car is one of the later 1.8s that took their 1781cc eight-valve four-pot engines from the Golf GTi, so it loses a bit of character and performance. Even so, with a slender 980kg kerb weight and a still-reasonable 108bhp and 122lb ft of torque, the most effete of all Audi GTs is still capable of a sub-10secs 0-60mph run and can hit 116mph flat out. If you want to live out those Walter Rohrl fantasies on a shoestring there really is little out there to compare with one of these.

This particular one seems to be a clean, honest example with no major faults, a full year's MOT and tax until the end of March. It even appears to have been photographed at last year's Rolls-Royce PH Sunday Service, so you know the vendor has taste when it comes to choosing his Sunday morning motoring activities...

Advert is reproduced below:

Audi Coupe GT 1.8 (1989)
94,000 miles £795

Audi Coupe GT 1800.
1989 F Registration.
Lago Blue/Green Metallic.
12 Months MOT.
Tax end of March '10

I bought this in February 2009 to drive to Le Mans and use at weekends, I've only done around 2500 miles in the Audi myself, 850 of those going to Le Mans and back!

It passed the MOT last week, all it needed was a N/S front brake hose and some welding on both rear sills, this has all been sorted. So it comes with a full 12 month MOT.

Just before I bought it, it had a mini-restoration which included: New clutch, Cambelt, full service, Front discs and pads, exhaust system, water pump and V belts, coolant hoses, camcover gasket, front wheel bearing. Ive had to do very little myself, as it's proved to be very reliable.

The engine is the 1.8 4cyl injection that is also found in the Golf GTI 8V models, so really easy to work on and get parts for. It pulls really well and starts first time.

The interior is very clean, with very little wear to the seats. It has a Kenwood CD player with aux MP3 input. This will need connecting to the aerial though.

Bad points:
The car is 21 years old, so it does have some!
The VDO temp gauge doesn't work (the oil and battery gauges are fine)
The 1st speed on the ventiliation fan doesn't work, however 2 & 3 speeds are fine.

The speedo reads 69,800 but the car had a speedo change by Audi in 1994 at 23,649 This is confirmed with a dealer stamp in the service book.

The car is in good condition considering it's over 20 years old, but don't expect a concourse show winner! There are some scratches/scuffs/dings here and there, the drivers door's had a repair to the bottom and the respray could be better. There are some rust bubbles on the rear arches,bottom of passenger door and on the sunroof panel.

It comes with a folder full of reciepts from 1989, which confirm the mileage and services throughout its life.