Future Classic: Audi Super 90 and 80/Fox

Long before Subaru brainstormers decided to drop the concept of love into their marketing portfolio, audi super 90 was already there.

“The Audi Super 90 is all about love” Howi wrote in a comment bring a trailerThe Super 90 turned heads wherever we took it. People stopped me on the street and asked, “What kind of car is that?” Always followed by “That’s beautiful”. ”

Beauty in the automotive world is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, and the virtues of the Super 90 — compact and upright stance, funky dash behind the thinnest two-spoke steering wheel, front-wheel drive. The platform — 60 years ago it was rather unique and defined the car’s understated German character.

But you can’t really appreciate the Super 90 without bringing the Audi Fox (known as the 80 in some markets) into the conversation.

5 years ago of Curbside Classic the website wrote Fox said: Audi has made no attempt to add sex appeal to his 80/Fox lineup of sedans and station wagons to rival sporty coupes and convertibles. mercedes Like the SL, the Volvo P1800 and the next generation 80 Coupe GT. A quarter century would pass before Audi showed the world his TT. ”

Why are these Audi’s future classics?

In the ’60s, Audi was desperate to establish a brand presence in the United States, and in the late ’10s came the Super 90. Another force was at work here. In 1964 Volkswagen acquired his 50% ownership of the Audi brand. This included a new factory in Ingolstadt, Bavaria and the rights to the first developed new 4-stroke engine design. Mercedes-Benz. The motor in the Super 90 (Audi felt that “super” was equated with “luxury” rather than speed) played an important role at the time, with a longitudinally mounted 1.8-liter overhead The Value Job put out 89 horsepower (“90” is horsepower) at 5,200 rpm and 147 ft-lbs of torque.

Since the car was front-wheel drive, it was left to the engineers at partner Porsche to tinker with the design of the manual gearbox to match the powertrain specifications. Most owners declared the 4-speed box a delight.

This car hit the market in 1967. It’s a cliché these days to describe an object like this as overkill, but that was it. It laid the groundwork for the Audi 100LS, a larger, more ‘adult’ sedan launched in 1968. VW initially resisted the idea of ​​100, but it turned into an outright success.

But the real successor to the Super 90 was the original 80, called the Fox in North America in 1973.

After the Beetle, the Fox was arguably one of the most important cars in Volkswagen’s modern history. This was the model for the new front-wheel drive, liquid-cooled models that appeared in the mid-1970s. saloon, coupe, GTI A variant, and a wagon, or, in Audi’s words, an ‘Avant’.trivia fans too recall That Fox became the basis for the Volkswagen Passat. First introduced in Europe and in the US as the Dasher in 1974, the Passat was basically an 80 with a modified fastback body style.

The Fox’s body was light, under 1,900 pounds, and as nimble as its GTi successor. In America, it was enthusiastically welcomed by automotive professionals and enthusiasts.

What’s the ideal example?

This is a hard problem because even finding a clean example is tedious. Recent, A well-maintained 1974 sedan example sold for $12,000 The BaT equipped with a 1.5-liter in-line 4-cylinder engine was installed at the end of last year. Both the Fox and Super 90 are extremely rare in the US, so your options may be fairly limited. In other words, if it’s on the market, it’s probably best to simply look for the best you can find.

Are there any good alternatives to this pair of Audis?

All things considered, the ’70s decade was full of stylish, sporty coupes and sedans. Some of them had sleek designs, some had sexy borderlines, and had solid powertrains.

We, BMW 3 Series In a recent post, VW Corradobut the 3, introduced in the US in 1977, remains a classic that continues to innovate.

of Honda Prelude Short-lived in the United States, it lasted several generations in other markets, from 1978 until the introduction of the Integra in 2001. Twisted bits and catchphrase “Throw It A Curve”.

Another classic of wings is the 1976 Dodge Aspen, motor trends Car of the Year.

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