1987.5 vs. Special Build

[Wayne Reser]

Huw makes a good point, trying to differentiate between lingo and actual
nomenclature can be nearly impossible sometimes.  And, in this case Audi DID
have nomenclature called "Special Build".  When I bought my Coupe back in
'88...yes,14 years, one owner :-)...there was a printed notation on the
window sticker identifying the car as a 1987 Coupe GT Special Build.  I kept
the sticker in a filing cabinet with the 1987 promotional brochure, but I
have had  no success locating it for scanning. Maybe it will turn up, unless
of course, it fell victim to one of my wife's famous file cabinet purges!
In any event the term "Special Build" is not a legend; unless it was just a
clever hoax by some poor, demented window sticker typist to cause endless
discussions among future Audifiles about what was actually meant by the
magic words..."Special Build"!

Wayne Reser
'87.5 Coupe GT Special Build (or whatever)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Huw Powell" <human747 at attbi.com>
To: <David.Ullrich at ferguson.com>
Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: 1987.5 vs. Special Build



> Really? Special Build is what I had always heard it was called.
> It's even called that on some pretty nice web pages:
> Mike Tipton's web page: http://igdc.com/ejfluhr/audi/Coupes.html ;
> Grand Touring Audi: http://www.metrocomputing.net/gtworld/cars/coupegt.htm
;
> a Motor Cities web page:
http://www.motorcities.com/contents/00HSD251835985.html;
> Fellow lister Wayne Reser calls his a Special Build:
http://www.audifans.com/registry/view.php?action=viewCar&carid=783
> When I brought it in the first time, the service writer ran over to a
co-worker and said something like: "Hey, have you ever seen a Special Build
before, there's one in Bay 2." He didn't even call it a Coupe GT Special
Build, just a Special Build. So it appears I'm not the ONLY person who calls
it a Special Build, heck even my dealer calls it that. But I DO want to call
it by the correct name. I always thought that "Special Build" was what Audi
called it in the USA. Is that wrong? Where did all these other people get
the idea
> to call it that? They all couldn't have made it up and come up with the
same thing, could they?

Well...

First, some of these pages pre-date my having a clue about all this, so
I would defer to them on a casual level.  The trouble is, we are all
reading each other and picking up "lingo" as we go, to try to ID things
clearly to each other.  Witness the several often completely different
phrase used to describe some parts of the cars.

here's a quote from the second web site above:

"Then, in "Late 87" (july and on) Audi produced what came to be known as
the "Special Build Coupe GT."

I think that is a telling phrase - "came to be known" says to me that it
is what we out here in the world started calling the car to separate it
from the 2.2 liter version.  And while I may be happy with "1987.5",
that is a rather USA-specific distinction, judging by some of the other
feedback on this thread.

So it is certainly a harmless description, and used enough to be useful.

The only question lingering in my mind is... did Audi ever have
nomenclature for this version of the Coupe GT?  Internal codes or
external sales names for it?  Is it mentioned in owners manuals or
advertising material? It would be nice to get to the bottom of this,
wouldn't it?

(Example: the description "Ur Quattro" or "UrQ" is an after the fact
designation that has taken hold and is pretty well defined and useful.
No point in arguing with it just because Audi didn't call the car by
that name)

You'd expect it to be - it may be, as someone said, just "a few extra
horsepower," but in a small hp platform like this, that engine change is
good for about 15% more power and 20% more torque.

--
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/