1987 Audi UR Quattro – Project Profile

There are project cars that require thousands of pounds of investment, a workshop chock full of expensive tools, and spannering knowledge on par with an F1 mechanic, and although these types of endeavours are incredibly worthwhile and rewarding there are other, lesser involved projects that can still provide a hefty boost of accomplishment and smug mode engagement when complete without the need for a remortgage on your house just to finish. Projects like this 1987 Audi Ur Quattro, for instance.

Yes, the initial purchase price might be a little higher than a down at heel Moggie or slightly tired Triumph but a lot of the leg work has already been done with this particular car and the potential for a healthy return on investment is rather high here with decent examples of these first gen, 10-valve turbo Quattros easily fetching over £40,000. These cars are becoming thin on the ground now and so demand, and indeed interest remain high, pushing prices of clean examples skyward.

You can read all about Audi and its mission with the Quattro in both our Forty Years of Quattro and The Homologators magazine features so we won’t retread old ground here but suffice to say the Quattro, whether it be the rally icon or the road going version, was a legend in its own lifetime and has since gone on to be rightly recognised as one of the greatest cars ever built. Period.

What is it?

This particular Audi Ur Quattro is a 1987 model with the 10-valve 2.1-litre inline-five engine and five-speed manual gearbox. Thanks to a big fat Garrett turbocharger pushing peak power to just shy of 200 ponies it’s perfectly capable of getting you off the line and to 60mph in a smidge over 7 seconds and then on to a top speed of nearly 140mph. Tidy. But although speed and power are always desirable it’s the way these cars handled that really tickled the collective pickle. Audi’s revolutionary all-wheel drive system really was a game changer and the car’s renowned roadholding ability resonated with petrolheads the world over.

As touched upon earlier, this Quattro (with the same owner since ’95) has had quite the pretty penny spent on it already with over £10,000 having been invested recently in the car’s mechanicals. Work by Valoroso in 2020 included a new cambelt, exhaust manifold and water pump as well as refurbishment and repairs to the rad and cylinder head alongside new camshaft and crankshaft oil seals. Good news. So what’s left to do then?

Why is it a project? 

Let’s start with the MOT. It doesn’t have one and it hasn’t had a test since 2007, which it failed. A quick nosey on the DVLA website shows the reasons for the failure and at first glance the rather long list may appear somewhat foreboding to the untrained eye but most, if not all of the issues listed are fairly minor, at least as far as ease and cost to fix are concerned. What it also means is that the car has been off the road for quite some time but then judging by the full service and repairs listed above a lot of the issues incumbent to getting the Audi back on the road where it belongs after such an extended period of inactivity will have already been addressed. The main areas that will need attention going forward are the brakes and the bodywork.

What should you look for?

Not only is this an auction listing, which means there is a professionally penned write-up and hundreds of accompanying photographs, but also, rather handily, Valoroso has prepared a thorough document outlining what else needs to be done following its recent work under the bonnet. All of this is included in the listing, allowing you to make a well informed decision before hitting that bid now button.

What should you do with it? 

With its beautiful Lago Metallic Green paintwork and a lot of the heavy lifting already done in terms of restoration/recommissioning work the smart money would be on continuing with the renovations to get this back to its best: a tidy, original Audi Ur Quattro. There’s no need for roll cages and race harnesses here. Do the right thing and rescue this deserving Audi, putting it back on tarmac and turning heads wherever it goes.

Yes, there’s still quite a bit to do but it is all doable without the need for the aforementioned skill set and depth of pocket. Do us a favour – just close your eyes and imagine, when it’s all finished, cutting about in one of the best and most revered cars to ever come out of any factory, ever, let alone Audi’s. Now open them and get bidding.