A Driving History 13: The Audi 80

She was a good car.  I bought her sight unseen or test driven in Cairns for $6990, total cost for sundry fees about $7200.

Powered by a delightful 2.8 V6 with power everything, I was very surprised at the interior space in the car, especially head room.  Only the stereo sucked.

I drove her for about 6 months, all up.  And like the VS Commodore wagon (see part 12) it was in my life just long enough to see me move from Charters Towers to where I live now.  A move that, given everything The Wife and I have gone through since the move, was probably a mistake.

One thing I did do with it was transport about 5 cats 500km.  You know what cats are like in the car, I was worried that I'd have to put up with them howling and carrying on for the entire 6 hours. That didn't happen.  They were agitated for the first half hour or so.  But after that, they must have got bored, because they all went to sleep, waking only to see why I was stopping the car- for food, fuel or bathroom.  Of course, they were very happy to be out of the car and the cage when we arrived at the new home.

It was a pleasure to drive on the road, however.  The front wheel drive gave it enough traction, and it had a bit of kick to it, despite the weight of the car.

Then, one day in May, I was on my way to work.  I use a side road from the main highway because the road is in better nick than the highway itself, but coming to the main highway, there was a yield sign.  As I approached I saw a car, bit of a ways back, coming up to the intersection.

Knowing how fast I go when I use the highway, I made the decision to stop and wait for it.  Sadly, the Rav4 behind me decided not to stop and promptly plowed into the back of my car.

While waiting for the cops and the tow truck to come, she did at least have the good grace to apologize.  Insurance details were exchanged and so the brief life the Audi had with me came to an end.

It was shipped to a local bodyshop where the insurance gurus decided that it was a write off.

They gave me $7500 for it.  I actually made $300.

A few months later, I saw a guy uptown.  He also owned an Audi 80.  Apparently his son crashed the front of it, and knowing mine was rear ended, (one of the joys- and I use that term loosely- of small town living) he wanted to know what happened to my car as the front end was fine. Because the insurance company bought the wreck, I told him he'd have to start tracing it from the body shop.

I don't think he ever did find out what happened to it.  I haven't seen his silver Audi uptown for a long time.

Not much of a story, but then I didn't have the car that long.

Coming soon:  A Driving History 14: the 89 Honda Prelude- and that will bring us up to date.