I do love a good NLA find

[theschmallfella]

Two things I love, a good fleabay bargain and finding a NLA audi part for the 200. And it's even better when they come together. Such was my luck then when a few weeks ago I spotted a brand new, never fitted plastic cover for the fan/wiper bulkhead area of the 200. Anyone who knows the 100/200 (and indeed other Audi's of the era) will know that finding an intact one of these is rare, finding an intact new one is nigh on impossible. I've probably had 3 of them in total in my old bus, all of which were out of breakers and all of which were damaged to some degree. Needless to say I watched this carefully and when no one bid I snapped it up for a tenner! The fact that I had a 5 hour round trip to collect it didn't phase me at all and that's what I did a few days ago. I met a lovely old gent and his wife who made me tea and scones, and the man himself talked about the 100's he owned over the years. He's still an Audi man although like myself the daily driver is a modern one. We had a great natter and then off I went on my merry way with the preverbal hens teeth. It doesn't happen often that a genuine new part this old finds its way into the public realm, it's going to a good home as the one it's replacing has gotten a little tired at this stage. Now I just need to get my arse into the garage and keep knocking things off the long repair list to get the old bus back on the road!

Cover 1 by Luke W Cleary, on Flickr

cover 2 by Luke W Cleary, on Flickr

cover 3 by Luke W Cleary, on Flickr

[John.]

Good catch Wee Man !!

[Ringmaster]

Congratulations... never give up!

[urquattr085]

Love it

Well done that man.

[Colin Aitchison]

Nice find. Post sent from outside Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue north cost of Scotland, on holiday fishing and no fish water levels very low.

[Ringmaster]

Originally Posted by Colin Aitchison

Nice find. Post sent from outside Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue north cost of Scotland, on holiday fishing and no fish water levels very low.

Do I sense the beginnings of a competition here?

[urquattr085]

Originally Posted by Colin Aitchison

Nice find. Post sent from outside Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue north cost of Scotland, on holiday fishing and no fish water levels very low.

I once spent a very wet & windy week mapping rock outcrops around Bettyhill, not far from you Colin. Fabulous area

[theschmallfella]

Thanks all, as you can tell I'm easily pleased when it comes to all things Audi!

Any joy with the fishing Colin?

[vorsprung durch technik]

Nice story and passion shown there to pic up in person. Lovvit when something good happens.

[andya]

Earlier in the summer I spotted a listing for 2 doors (left and right) for a b2 coupe - starting bid of 99p. The title of the listing was something like '1985 Audi doors' - so this listing couldn't be seen by the majority of ebayers looking for bits for their UR's and GTs. Anyway somebody else had also spotted it and I entered into a bidding frenzy in the last minute - won the auction for £10.50!

The next weekend i borrowed my dad's Volvo d5 and made the trip an hour up the m1 from the m25 to collect them. When I got there, nice chap, the Audi's long gone, he told me it was in Spain, he sold it when he divorced out there, but he had hoarded parts back in the UK in case the car returned home. He said ' btw I've pulled a few bits from the garage and shed - if there's anything you want, just take it'. As I stepped out into the garden, it was full of parts!! It was like looking at smaugs hall of gold to an Audi enthusiast. And it wasn't just coupe stuff in there, he had 100 parts as well.

Basically took everything, squeezed everything into the back of the Volvo and even strapped stuff to the roof. Here's what I took (there's probably more but off the top of my head):
Cq gearbox & diff
2 doors
100 bumper
Coupe bumpers - front and back
Brand new Audi NLA 100 mat set
Coupe rad
100 rear light set - right and left unused still in Audi box
10v cylinder head & cam
Assortment of fuses
Coupe door cards with the pockets
Coupe rear seats
Coupe front bumper NLA lower black plastic grill sections (all 3 and in original Audi packaging
Coupe dash binnacle
Coupe fog lamps & indicators
Coupe poly superflex wishbone bushes
Coupe unused k&n air filter (now fitted to my cq)
Coupe window regs (NLA in original packaging)
Box of coupe interior switches
Now got to the nitty, gritty - there is more, small but I can't remember

Needless to say that the volvo's suspension was well and truly tested on the way home. The bumpers were basically touching the road back at home, the car was so overloaded, that the boot latch refused to un clip. I had to get on the roof, jump a few times for it to unlatch.

Anyway that's my story - a dream come true - an Aladdin's cave of parts where someone says 'take what you want'

Lesson to learn - look for eBay listings that have been poorly titled, ones that don't appear in the main searches