California Car: 1982 Audi 4000 S Diesel 5-Speed

I just checked through the archives, and it looks like I’ve written about every Audi 4000 shown here on Barn Finds, and also every Audi diesel, which happened to all be Audi 5000s. That’s crazy, even for a major four-ring fan like myself. This 1982 Audi 4000 S Diesel is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they’re asking $6,200. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Sam61 for the tip!

I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about these 1980s Audis for me. I love the Audi 80, or the Audi 4000 as they were called here in North America, for the better part of the 1980s. It’s a perfect size, before everything got so bloated, Audis included. The melted-bar-of-soap era hit Audi hard, and I very much prefer the crisp edges of this car as opposed to the later 1990s and 2000s cars. Speaking of melted bars of soap, here’s my 2002 Audi TT ALMS with a tick over 25,000 miles and never driven in the winter.

With just over 50 horsepower, I hope that’s a very light trailer they’re hauling, unless it’s just for a bike rack. The seller says this is a California car, but I can see some scary spots around the car, specifically over the left rear wheel arch, and on some of the underside photos. Kudos to the seller for including so many photos, though; that’s typically a good sign. The underside appears to have had a bit of a rattle-can restoration, and there’s a visible rust hole, unless I’m just seeing things.

The Audi 80 was known as the 4000 here in North America, and this is a B2, which is a generation of cars made between 1978 and 1986. 87-year-old Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro not only has a great name, but he also designed literally dozens of very tailored and gorgeous cars. Italian cars weigh heavily on his impressive list, but vehicles from AMC to Ford and Volkswagen are also well-represented. And with VW comes Audi. The seller has this car listed as having a 5-speed manual, but all of the information I can find lists the diesel model as only coming with a 4-speed manual. That being said, Audiworld, my go-to source for Audi information, doesn’t list any spec information at all for this car, but they list a diesel S model, and the 4000 S was available with a 5-speed. I’m hoping one of you will know. The non-airbag steering wheel is great, but there are a few cracks in the dash and some other issues inside.

Blue velour seats may be at the bottom of my wish list (red would be #1), but at least they appear to be in good condition, aside from some fading after 44 trips around the sun. No power windows is a shocker to see, although not really for the 1980s, even in a European car. It wasn’t locked in yet, and you’d never find fabric in an Audi today. As with most (but not all) vehicles, it’s leather or nothing. The trunk is fairly small, and I’d want to take a peek under that rubber mat.

Here’s where the magic happens: VW Group’s EA827 1.6-liter SOHC inline-four diesel with 52 horsepower and 72 lb-ft of torque. Pulling stumps may not be on your to-do list here, but power is sent through a 4-speed or 5-speed manual to the front wheels for a 0-60 time of around what it takes to write out the entire novel War and Peace in cursive writing. I don’t care how fast it is, I love its unusualness, its crisp design, its manual transmission, and, of course, its chugging diesel engine. The seller says it’s been mechanically restored, and you can drive it anywhere while getting 50 mpg. That seems about 10-15 mpg high to me, but this ad lists 52 mpg highway. This car has new tires, all new brakes, a new suspension, a new exhaust, new struts, a new cooling system, a new timing kit, and all new fluids. It sure sounds like it’s ready to go. Have any of you owned an Audi diesel from this era?