Accident damaged 4kq - Advice and Opinions welcomed

[Motor Sport Visions Photography]

My first Audi was a brand new Commemorative Build 1987 4000csq. I
*loved* that car. And then my ex-wife got hit, very hard, in the right
rear quarter. We had the car for maybe 3-4 months. Cost ~5-6k to fix, of
course not a total back then (they were ~17k new). The car was never the
same after it was repaired, despite being done by the Santa Cruz Porsche
Audi dealer who had a body shop at the time that was supposed to be
excellent. Wound up trading it for a new '88 80q.

Anyway, that was 4kq #1. 4kq #2 was a silver '85 my ex and I bought soon
after that was her daily driver for a time. Didn't handle like the '87
commemorative build, but was a nice car. 4kq#3 was in the life rebuild
years after I met Lena (my wife today). I had been "q-less" for a year
or so and couldn't handle it anymore. We found a nice white '85 and
enjoyed it for a time, later sold to q-lister Michael Williams when our
growing family dictated a 5ktq would be a better option.

Fast forward to today. When TVFH (the ovloV from hell, aka our recently
and thankfully departed '94 850 turbo wagon) lost a valve earlier this
year I knew a good friend who was moving to Hawaii had a couple quattros
too many. My wife and I realized that with my new commute to Watsonville
that we absolutely must have two running cars, and had no idea how long
it would take to get TVFH resolved (there were some, uh, negotiations
involved). My friend sold us his somewhat less than perfect looking, but
low miles and excellent running, 1986 silver 4kq for $1500.00. It had
~144k miles, a whole bunch of new parts in the ~10k miles they owned it
(including a clutch, H&R Springs, Bilstein Sports, AVS Intermediates,
and a bunch of other stuff). Ahhhh, the thrill is back. This 4kq is one
incredible handling car. My favorite of our trio of Audis to drive for
sure, and was his too (he had a very modded '91 200q 20v Avant, a '94
90q that went to HI, and a very decent '88 5ktq that stayed behind in CA.)

Moral of the story, Chuck, is this. If the car can be fixed and still be
the same, do it. A nice 4kq is becoming more and more of a real
treasure. If it can't be fixed and be the same as before (at least drive
the same I mean), move on and start searching for another.

And Doyt, they're out there and compliment the big type 44s well, grab another!

Can you tell I have a soft spot for 4kqs? (I still want an Ur-Q someday though...)

Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com