We’ve all been there: a car that deserves to be saved, and we’re the only ones around to protect it. I’ve fallen victim to this scenario, and I ended up bringing home vehicles I treated like a lost puppy, even though I had no real interest in owning it. The Audi Fox shown here is the sort of vehicle that a Volkswagen/Audi enthusiast can certainly justify saving, even with limited parts support and even less interest in this obscure model from the broader car community. Still, if it helps keep a car from going to the scrap pile, do you have an obligation to preserve it? Find this clean 1977 Audi Fox here on craigslist for $2,000.
Basically the Audi 80’s grandpa, the Fox was one of Audi’s first entries into the U.S. market when it was beginning to gain notoriety as a builder of steady highway cruisers. I don’t think Audi experienced any great success in convincing legions of Mercedes-Benz W123 buyers to stop supporting their durable steed or the Volkswagen faithful to spend more on what was essentially a lightly-disguised VW, but enough of them survive that some car shoppers had to see the appeal. The seller notes that this Fox was owned by an “aircraft mechanic and pilot,” a bit of history he attributes with why the Fox has survived.
That’s a fair point: you show me a car in the junkyard with old Department of Defense stickers on the bumper, and nine times out of 10, you can tell it was once a very nice specimen of some obscure model that the previous owner kept caring for until his heirs dumped it. Going back to that sense of obligation we can feel as automotive enthusiasts, you’re not only saving an obscure car, but you’re respecting the work the previous owner did in keeping it alive. It seems a shame to just abandon their hard work and dump a car like this at the salvage yard. From the side, it’s not terrible looking, either.
Sadly, these were not sporting machines, with a humble 1.6L engine churning out a wheezy 78 horsepower and 84 lb.-ft. of torque, channleed in this instance through a 3-speed automatic. It does come with mechanical fuel injection and front wheel drive, so it was a fairly sophisticated machine by the standards of the late 70s, especially from a small brand like Audi. The interior is wild and in stunning condition; it’s likely the car’s best selling point. The seller claims he’ll dig it out for serious buyers, but isn’t interested in talking with anyone who plans to destroy it or part it out – there it is again, that sense of obligation! Thanks to Barn Finds reader Zappenduster for the tip.
My first beater with a heater was a 76 Audi Fox. Got it for free at the first auto shop I worked. Replaced the blown engine and installed Audi Coupe GT front seats (same floor pan) and drove it for 5 years before selling to a good friend in New Hampshire. There wasn’t a straight panel on it but remarkably it had zero rust for a car in PA. Never got old merging into traffic. People would see a POS merging and they use made way.
Here is your opportunity to buy this car and be liberated from car payments or not caring if you get dents and scratches. Trust me it feels great!
VW acquired NSU around 1968 to get access to an engineering team that could do front wheel drive and liquid cooled engines. Given that it created the Golf, Passat, Audi 80 (which is what the Fox was sold as in Europe) and also the smaller Polo/Audi 50 it must have been one of the most successful acquisitions of all times.
The father of this car was the VW K70 which was the NSU K70 up until shortly before its launch when VW in a last ditch effort changed all the badging to VW. At least for the Dasher/Fox (Passat/80) and other newer generation VW vehicles Volkswagen did rein in NSU engineers so they became less complex, easier to build and easier to maintain. Just one example, the K70 had a separate valve cover for each valve!
Indeed, and it’s more accurate to say the B1-platform VW Passat/Dasher was more of a cheapened Audi 80/Fox than to say the Fox was “essentially a lightly-disguised VW”. Those and every later longitudinal-engined FWD VW model really originated with Audi engineering adapted into VW models, in a lineage going all the way back to that NSU K70.
My family once had an ’81 Audi 5000 that succumbed to a black-ice incident. Scouting the used car market for a replacement, I spotted an ’84 VW Quantum in nice shape, which wasn’t a model on Dad’s radar at all, but the test drive impressed him enough that he bought it. Under the hood, it looked almost exactly like our old 5000, longitudinal 5-cylinder engine with Auto Union rings stamped into the valve cover, offset radiator, and all. The Quantum was the US version of the B2-platform Passat derived from the B2 Audi 80 (aka 4000 in the US) and drove just like an Audi because, under the skin, it basically was.
It’s commonly thrown around that air-cooled Porsche are really VW’s. Fair enough, well, water-cooled VW’s are really Audi’s.
It looks wonderful. Always loved this Audi fox cars. I would mind having it . Who ever gets it , has saved a piece of Audi history !
My brother bought an early Audi 5000 (used) and in short order the auto transaxle failed. I replaced it with one from a wrecking yard and that one lasted about 6 months, in the end starting to display the same symptoms as the first one. The final drive on these is sandwiched between the engine and transmission, requiring three concentric shafts and the necessary seals. Those seals fail and the final drive fluid and trans ATF start to mix.
Before it got too bad I tried to unload it to a used car dealer, who told me, and I quote “I don’t trade for Audis or Yugos’s, ever”
On recounting my experience with a friend who loves German cars, Mercedes in particular, he related that he bought an Audi Fox, similar vintage to this one new, and it was a total nightmare. He now makes his living servicing and restoring 190 SL’s and even the occasional 300 SL.
Run away from this Fox.
That final-drive differential sandwiched as a separate unit between the engine and transmission is how Audi was able to develop their original Quattro AWD system at reasonable expense, as it was fairly easy to modify that diff to add a secondary output shaft to the rear while otherwise using the exact same engines and transmissions as their FWD models.
I didn’t meant to sound TOO negative about Audi’s, though I for one would likely never own one. I did take apart the old transaxle to see how it worked and as a lover of automotive tech, I was quite impressed by the use of a hollow final drive pinion gear for the front final drive which had the turbine shaft running through it, that shaft also being hollow as the AT oil pump drive shaft ran inside of it.
And yes, I can see how the Quattro would be possible for little extra expense, no transfer case required, just a center diff at the back of the transmisson and rear driveshaft and rear final drive.
OMG, this one reminds me of the 73 Audi LS100 I owned in the late 80’s. Same automatic and interior. Was very comfortable to sit in. Which was about all I could do with it since it was such a POS that seldom ran.
Had a ’72 100LS – WILL NEVER CONSIDER ANY AUDI AGAIN!!
Brakeservo,
You are missing out, there are some very cool Audi rides out there.
Been using a base q5 for years. They did get that one right.
I purchased a 77 in 86 from a lady and it only had 48 thousand miles on it. After owing it for a month I found out why the mileage was so low. BIGGEST POS I ever bought!!! Never again AUDI is definitely off my list for good.
my first new car was a ’71 100LS.
(HS GF dad was an audi dealer;)
ran and drove fine.
1971 list price $4500.
after the 100LS i had ’76 fox wagon.
also drove and ran fine.
I had a 72 100LS and it was nice car. I did buy it with a blown engine and then had to rebuild the used replacement I bought. My second car was a 73 Fox which I bought from the original owner with 100K in 1980. I put shocks, tires, and a paint job on the car and eventually replaced the cylinder head due to the VW/Audi valve guide issue. In general it was a decent car, but is was a 4 speed. Bought a Saab 99 in 1981 and never really looked back, no more Audis since then.
My uncle bought one of these Fox’s, brand new. He was so proud! A German engineered car! Much better than his archaic Olds Cutlass! 3 years later, he dumped it, at a loss, and ran back to GM. He said it was the worst car he ever owned. When it wasn’t in the shop? It was rusting in the driveway.