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Foxy Lady: 1975 Audi 80 L

041516 Barn Finds - 1975 Audi 80L - 1

This 1975 Audi 80 L isn’t in the United States, unfortunately; I would be very tempted to buy it if it were. I’m a sucker for two-door Audis. This one is just north of Poland in Alytaus, Lithuania, so shipping costs will have to be figured in. But, if a person from Europe or Great Britain were looking for one, that would make the final price a bit more reasonable.

041516 Barn Finds - 1975 Audi 80L - 2

The Audi 80 (B1) was made from 1972 to 1978 and these little two-door body style versions are almost unheard of in the US. Obviously, the wheels are different here and you can see some weird, wrinkling thing happening on the driver’s door bottom. But, despite that, this car looks good for what it is. And, the seller says that the car comes with “2 sets of wheels (ATS cup R15 and AUDI original wheels R13).” Excellent! I like the era of this Audi, the round headlight version is my favorite.

041516 Barn Finds - 1975 Audi 80L - 3

I wonder if the seller is thinking of pulling a trailer or something? People usually slam/bag their cars these days, not jack them up in the back! This car, as you all most likely know, is a “Fox”; and not in like an ’80s Valley Girl “fox” sort of way, but as in the name of the body in the North American and Australian cars. I’m sure that a good majority of you are dead-set against these cars because of the stigma against the “fox body” Audis and VWs, either because of personal experience or because of what you may have heard of the troubles that some owners may have had with them.

I have never personally owned a fox-body Audi or VW so I can’t say from experience whether they’re good or bad. And, like anything, even with horrible cars there are those who have had nothing but perfect ownership experiences so nothing is 100%. I like, and buy, cars that I like the looks of more so than whether they’re reliable or whether they have a good or bad reputation or not. Cars are drivable art to me, if I love the look of something I overlook the idiosyncrasies and troubles that may occur periodically.

041516 Barn Finds - 1975 Audi 80L - 4

I have an Audi TT coupe (ALMS edition) with red leather so I’m a huge fan of Audis, and of colorful interiors. This interior isn’t red, or leather, but at least it’s not black or gray and it’s always nice to see some actual color on a vehicle; unlike most of today’s cars. Even the trunk looks good on this car.

041516 Barn Finds - 1975 Audi 80L - 5

This is a 1.5L 4-cylinder with about 70-80 hp; not a lot but the car weighs less than a ton. The seller says that this is a one-owner car, but I’m guessing that means before they bought it? The engine sure looks clean to me, as does the entire car. They do mention that it has some scratches and some rust. This car is found on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $5,700. If it was in the US it would probably be gone, but the shipping costs are undoubtedly scaring a lot of buyers off. Are you in the camp that likes Audis of this era or are you dead-set against the Fox Body cars?

Comments

  1. Avatar rdc

    the Audi fox was sold in teh US for 1973 to ?? It;s cousin the VW Dasher was sold from 1974 to about 1979 and then changed name to the Passat. I had a Dasher. It was the worst car i ever owned.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar James

    Im a fan of the older Audi’s and my daily is a 1997 1.9tdi A4 avant quattro so yea I would love something like this.
    I have owned an 80 this style but sadly the 2 door was never brought into the UK as if it was I would be looking for one.
    Im currently chasing a B2 coupe that’s sitting in a drive way local to me looking sorry for its self. If I finally get the owner to see sense ill update on this.

    Like 1
  3. Avatar Ticketgeorge

    75 Audi Fox.
    My first car.
    A simpler time.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar wera9666

    Owned an Audi Fox as a young dude. Drove her hard but she was good to me. Loved that car and have fond memories. Later owned a VW Fox and it was (by a long shot) the sh#+@$est car I’ve ever owned…and I’ve owned some bad ones.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Blyndgesser

      Aside from a few minor parts the Brazilian VW Fox is unrelated to this car.

      Like 0
  5. Avatar boxdin

    Worked at the dealer when these came out. Its predecesor the Stupid 90, er Super 90 was the worst handling new car I have ever driven, spinning for no reason esp when wet. The 2 dr is good looking as is the 2 dr wagon vw style.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Rob

    I’ve had a a Fox 2 dr and two Dasher Diesel wagons. All were great cars, but that Diesel engine was a bit fragile for the Colorado mountains…

    Like 0
    • Avatar rdc

      My 74 Dasher 2door with automatic and air was the worst car we ever owned. Poor drivability mainly. VW used a carb then NOT FI. Very noisy at highway speeds due to high RPMs. Mistake was getting an automatic trany. We should have never traded in the 71 Cutlass. Fear of the gas crisis.

      Like 0
  7. Avatar jpvogl

    Good friend of mine had one of these new in the late 70’s; nice looking car but a maintenance pig. I remember back in the day reading stories that many of these Foxes lost the stylized Fox-head logo during the unloading process as they came off the ship from Germany; longshoremen would pilfer them to make necklaces for their girlfriends, wives, or both!

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  8. Avatar Richard Aufderheide

    I had a factory orange-red 74 Audi all thru high school and college. Car was AMAZING it was small, nimble and looked cool… Although I thought the later 4 headlamp set up (GTI) looked cooler.. ( remember this was when all my friends had big RWD Olds 88’s or Rivieras. The Audi with the FWD was a mule thru snow (and a few cornfields). I looked sleek… I remember driving thru backwoods of Kentucky.. Stopped for gas… Attendant came out to look at it… Asked “that some kind of James Bond car?”😃
    Only issues I ever had was a constant drain on the battery(it’s)…. Could never locate drain… But got very adept at pushing forward at drivers door then hopping in and popping clutch. Other annoying issue was carb. It would stall when coming to stop unless I reved engine. Got carb rebuilt at VW shop… Ran fine for a few months.. Then the same. Finally got a NEW CARB had it professionally tuned and placed… Ran great for a few months and same. (Yes I checked, changed, and installed a second in line gas filter)
    Have been looking for a midlife crisis replacement…. But hard (impossible) to find. A dealer has a solid low mile green one in St. Louis…. But it’s an automatic 😩….. Been wondering if I could get a junk 4 speed dasher and do conversion from auto to manual. Question is can it be done.. And who can do it?

    Like 0
    • Avatar rdc

      I think 4-speed is the Key. :) Never get an automatic Fox or Dasher :)

      Like 0
      • Avatar Rando

        Amen to that. The day I made the first payment on mine, the auto trans dropped. After that, it was always something with that car. Electrical, head gasket, HVAC, brakes, It was a FUN car when it ran. But way to unreliable. See all the bad reports on these. I probably had EVERY problem listed. It did good in a T-bone crash, though. I drove on. The other car was caved in.

        Like 0
  9. Avatar John

    My sister had one. It had electrical issues that made Lucas parts seem durable. It would have snow melt off the hood and run down through the windshield side of the hood, settling in the fuse box where it would re-freeze overnight making the car into a total ice-cube. It was extremely light weight and fun to drive, but the sheet metal felt about the same strength as an aluminum coke can. Hers was stolen. It was the best day of her life. Too bad — it was a cute little car.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Matt C

    Alytaus and Marijampole are the two major centers in Lithuania for refurbishing European insurance losses for resale in E. Europe and Russia, so some due diligence would be called for. There are giant “car market” lots where there are literally thousands of rebuilt/repainted cars for sale. They are a good place to get a wholesale price, as once the cars are moved to Kaunas or Vilnius the price goes up. It is rather rare to find anything other than late-model cars coming out of the body shops, so this is a little unusual. It certainly looks like it got the standard fluff and buff treatment. I bought a tired Lancia Delta Integrale to rally when I was stationed there and when I tried to take my numbers off after a race the paint came with them! I find the price a bit optimistic, but can’t say I follow this market closely (does anyone?) so it’s just a gut reaction.

    Like 0

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