Re: Visual experiences

[Scott Fisher <sefisher@cisco.com>]

Kneale Brownson writes:

> Hidden away behind the dealership is a Coupe GT.  Believe it or not, this
> is the first time I've had a chance to walk around and examine one of these
> up close.   I've seen lots of 80-90 two-doors, but never a Coupe GT except
> in photos.  Is this what an Ur-Quattro looks like?  

Almost (if you're talking about a 1982-87.5 Coupe GT, the angular
Giugiaro design rather than the early-1990s rounded Coupe).  The ur-Q
also has fender flares -- think of the difference between a Porsche 924
and a Porsche 944.  Bumpers on the ur-Q are also different.  Though the
differences are subtle, taken as a whole they are remarkable.  I really
enjoy the look of my '83 Coupe GT, but the ur-Q makes me hyperventilate.

> Since only one of the rear doors on my '86 4kcsq is marginally operational,
> viewing the GT makes me think I should sheet-metal over those doors,  get
> some Coupe front seats to give access to the rear seat and find a way to
> incorporate the rear hatch.  

It's actually not a hatch, it's a very short/very deep trunk lid.  Oddly
enough, contemporary road tests cite the Coupe's trunk at 14 cubic ft,
versus the 4k's 11 cubic ft.  And of course, the Coupe's doors are
longer than the front doors of a 4k...  I will say we can get a huge
amount of stuff into the Coupe's trunk, which makes it a marvelous
highway touring car.  That and the 14-gallon (U.S.) gas tank make it the
ideal vacation vehicle for this particular family of five.  Because best
of all, when you get where you're going (if where you're going has
twisty roads), it's an Audi.  We put about a thousand miles on our Coupe
last month, loved every minute of it.

> The only panel below the windows that doesn't
> have a lot of rust on mine is the right front fender.  It's kind of
> interesting that my 4k has so much body rust (even holes in much of the
> rear tin), while my wife's has only a couple surface rust spots.  They're
> both closing in of 175k miles. 

Well, then, the "right" thing to do is to buy a Coupe GT and transplant
your 4kcsq's driveline into it.  You'll need to swap over sections of
the floor pan to do it right, of course, but you haven't yet learned the
best feature of the Coupe GT -- it is *the* enthusiast bargain of the
century, at least as far as I'm concerned.  For some reasons (which I
don't know, but I have my suspicions), they are very cheap to pick up,
but they provide wonderful handling, distinctive styling, and all the
usual Audi virtues, at a bargain price.

--Scott Fisher
  1983 Audi Coupe GT
  various Italian things that I alternately love and hate