Re: Ginster Monsters

[ScharfR@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-05-31 08:15:15 EDT, tnas@dtpdirect.nl writes:

>>On page 94 there's a picture of a train full of yellow Audi 80s, with a
>>caption saying, translated from German: 'By special order, 30 yellow Audi
>>80s for the USA' The picture shows only 80 sedans, as far as I can see. It
>>seems that this colour was indeed available from the factory.
>>On 
>

To which, on 96-05-31 12:47:33 EDT, PDQSHIP@aol.com replied:

>Ginster Yellow CQ's came to US of A, 4 as show cars - NY,CHI, LA, DET (no
>airbags), 5 as press cars (airbag retrofit).....  So far the consesus is
that
>Ginsters reside: 1 is in MN, a couple in CO, 1 out east, 2 in NW region, 1
in
>MI (now at Shaumburg audi - IL with blown engine).....  That only leaves a
>couple unaccounted for....

"tnas" is correct except in that he identified the Ginster cars as 80 models.
 (It would be natural for a German press report to mis-identify the cars,
because the B-Class Audis were designated 80s in Germany at that time while
Audi in the U.S. continued with the 90 designation.)  The train load would
actually have been 90s (and maybe a few Coupe quattros).

"PDQSHIP" underestimates the count on Ginster yellow cars substantially.  I
have personally seen more than a dozen in one sighting while in the
Wilmington DE area (one of Audi's ports of entry at the time) on other
business.  The total, over two years time, was on the order of 100+ cars,
including Coupe quattros and 90s.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ginster was hugely unpopular at the time
in the U.S., lots of dealer resistance.  I believe that Porsche used (equally
 unsuccessfully) a similar color a year or two earlier.  Ginster was also
available in the German program for a few years - also hugely unpopular.  In
Germany all post office vehicles - and they have tens of thousands of cheepo
Polos - are painted in a vibrant yellow.  Yellow cars, as a result, are very
down-scale in image.