Chris Hafner's 1986 Audi Coupe GT
Purchased 2009
I purchased this 1986 Audi Coupe GT on Halloween Day 2009 as part of a used-car challenge for Amazon's Car Lust blog, wound up sinking a significant amount of money into it, and now use it as my daily driver. I can't say that using an older car with lots of no-longer-available parts was my smartest move, but the decision has been hugely rewarding anyway.
The used-car search that led up to my Audi purchase was pretty entertaining, but since it is only tangentially related to this Audi, I won't go into it here. You can find a description of those cars and the shopping experience here.
In any event, I emerged from the madness as the ecstatic owner of one of my most-lusted-after cars of all time, the 1986 Audi Coupe GT. And, best of all, I spent only $2,000 (a measly 80 percent of my starting budget) for a 115,000-mile Coupe GT and received as a throw-in some really nice Hakkapelitta snow tires mounted on a spare set of original Ronal rims.
But, of course, the purchase is just the beginning of the story. What I'll do here is describe what the Coupe GT was like when it was new, in its own context, fleshing that story out with how it fits into today's world. Then I'll complete the story with a more personal description of my specific car and the realities of life with an interesting beater. I spend a lot of time fawning over quirky older cars, but does it really make any sort of sense to actually buy and drive one of those cars? Does the reality live up to the fantasy?
Well, things didn't get off to a great start.
