Vehicle Description
1986 Audi Sport Quattro
VIN: WAUZZZ85ZEA905058
The most exciting and collectible Audi of all time
Extremely well-preserved and maintained example
One of only 10 examples made for the U.S. market - one of 164
street examples worldwide
Extensive mechanical servicing and concours preparation performed
by Canepa
300+ horsepower, 240lb/ft+ of torque from its 2.1-liter
turbocharged engine
Brought to the U.S. to promote Pikes Peak in 1986, then federalized
for U.S. road use
Audi's famous homologation street car for Group B racing
In 1982, the World Rally Championship introduced Group B racing,
allowing manufacturers to create modified sports cars to enter the
worldwide rally circuit. The most famous, Group B attributed to
sparking the creation of some of the most powerful and fastest
rally cars ever built, with some cars seemingly defying physics and
producing power levels into the stratosphere. Group B also required
that at least 200 road going units, or homologation cars, to be
produced in order for that model to participate in rallying. When
Audi introduced the Sport Quattro, it changed the rally landscape
forever.
This exceptional example was produced at the Audi factory on June
19th, 1985. This is one of the rarest versions of the road-going
Sport Quattros, as it is one of the original 10 examples destined
for the U.S. market out of all 164 street cars delivered of the
total of 214 cars produced. These 10 cars were imported and
federalized by the Porsche/Audi factory. Ten Sport Quattros were
brought over to the 1986 Pikes Peak Hill Climb to promote the Sport
Quattros. Audi looked for high-profile individuals in order to sell
the cars here in the U.S. Once the hill climb race was over, the 10
cars were federalized to meet U.S. specifications and then sold to
individuals that Audi deemed special enough to own the Group B
homologation car. The first owner of this car kept it close to two
years and had the car serviced at the same dealership in Dublin,
Ohio, with its last noted service in the owner's manual showing
15,881 miles.
The car would go into hiding for almost 16 years, making its return
to the public at The Auto Collection in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004,
showing only 19,000 miles according to prior sources. In October of
2004, Gary Gaska, a longtime resident of Oregon, purchased the car
and made it a part of his small car collection. His collection,
while small, consisted of two cars that he enjoyed and took care of
with the utmost enthusiasm and respect. The Sport Quattro was his
pride and joy, keeping it stored indoors during his ownership as
evidence of how well preserved this car is today.
In 2012 Gary was attending the Pebble Beach Concours and was
spotted by someone, eventually asking if he could buy the car from
him. The Sport Quattro was not for sale, but the same person kept
pursuing Gary, checking in on him and the car and waiting for the
right moment. Finally, after months of talking, Gary was convinced
and paired with an offer he couldn't refuse, and the determined
individual became the third owner of this Sport Quattro.
The search for this Sport Quattro by the current owner was not done
quickly by any means. He went far out of his way looking for a
perfect example that was extremely original and unmolested, an
extremely rare state for Sport Quattros. After finding and
examining 5 different examples of Sport Quattros, he determined
that this was the finest example that he had ever seen. Well cared
for, extremely original and in excellent condition, it checked all
the boxes for what he considered the perfect Sport Quattro. After
he acquired the car, he had the car evaluated to see what work
might be needed. He had the fluids changed and minimal work was
needed to start driving the car often and drove it for a few years.
After being in his collection for some time, he decided that a
visit to Canepa was in the Sport Quattro's next major step for the
ultimate mechanical refresh and preservation restoration.
When the Audi arrived at Canepa, he worked closely with Bruce
Canepa to ensure that the vision he had was correctly conveyed. The
priority was to keep everything as original as possible, from
surfaces to parts to even the smallest finishes. With that in mind,
the project began and would turn this Sport Quattro from a great
example into perhaps one the finest in existence today.
The Quattro was first given a comprehensive and lengthy mechanical
inspection, checking and testing each system ensuring that it was
operating in the way the Audi factory would have intended. During
the federalization process, some extra components were added to the
car to ensure that the car passed emissions. This "piggyback"
system was not allowing the Audi to reach its full potential and
was promptly removed, with the intent to return the car back to
original specifications. During mechanical inspection, it was
decided to remove the engine from the car and give the inline-5
turbocharged engine a full rebuild with new parts to boost power a
bit. This lengthy process involved new pistons, a very slight
overbore, along with a full rebuild the entire engine that yielded
a Sport Quattro engine full of power and eager to rev.
With the engine out of the car, Canepa took the opportunity to give
the Sport Quattro an extremely detailed and sympathetic concours
preparation and detailing inside and out. After spending over 3
days removing every single bit of grime from underneath the car,
all of the original factory Audi finishes were revealed. Original
plating, paint finishes and hardware gleamed with a shine that only
comes from original factory spec coatings and finishes. This only
added to the fact of how well taken care of this car was with
33,200 miles at the time. Everything else on the car was detailed
with the same attention to detail. The all-original interior was
delicately cleaned in order to preserve the factory materials, and
the exterior paint was polished to such a perfect finish that it
may have been better than when it left the factory in 1985. The
spare wheel and tire were cleaned, noting that the tire on the
wheel was original and had never been removed from the rim. With
the entire car now perfectly detailed, the freshly-rebuilt engine
was mated back to the car and assembled together. With everything
finished and buttoned up, it was given a proper testing which
included a trip to Canepa's dyno. With Canepa's work completed to
the tune of over $140,000, the mechanically perfect and
cosmetically concours-detailed Sport Quattro was now ready to be
enjoyed by its owner.
Enjoying the Sport Quattro was an easy task for the collector,
citing that after the work Canepa had done that it was running the
best it had ever has. He drove the car close to 1,000 miles over a
year and enjoying the fruits of the labor put into the car, before
making the hard decision of letting it leave his collection.
Becoming more involved with his vintage Porsche collection with
more cars on the way, the Audi Sport Quattro was the outlier in his
collection and knew that a Group B collector would enjoy this car
in their collection.
Now offered at Canepa, this properly sorted 1985 Audi Sport Quattro
is a true piece of legend. Being one of the original 10 cars
imported to the U.S. market, with only 3 owners and having a
comprehensive mechanical overhaul and cosmetic refreshing, it is
the cream of the crop of Sport Quattros. Able to be enjoyed in the
way that it was meant to be, this Sport Quattro will reward its
next owner in its pure driving experience, direct lineage to Group
B rallying, while k...for more information please contact the
seller.
