First Impressions

Booty · 15-11-07, 09:27 PM

Fancied a go at starting this thread so here goes.....
What particular event or incident or memory do you have that got you to love the Audi marque in the first place.
I'll get things going.
Back to 1986 when I was a young and impressionable 16 yr old who's only thoughts were beer and girls in shirt skirts, whilst being in the sixth form, I did a couple of days a week work experience at a Land Surveyors in Eccleshall by the name of John German. There were two young Chartered Surveyors in employment there at the time, Clive and Justin. Clive took me under his wing a bit and I spent many a happy hour being driven, at speed, around Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire looking at land and Country estates in his A reg Lancia Beta Volume X. Wicked little car that. Justin asked me one Monday if I fancied accompanying him to measure out some woodlands that were due to be harvested. Jumping at the chance to wear me new wax coat and hunter wellies I looked forward to the following Monday with eager anticipation. Turning up at the office I was met by one of the partners who stated ' your'e off with Justin today aren't you' 'yes' I said, ' well watch out he's got one of those Audi quattros' he proclaimed. I had not a clue about cars in those days, and as previously stated I just lived for my next under age drink and the next bit of skirt that was coming of age, so Audi quattro meant nothing to me.
I can remember walking outside with Justin and sat there at the kerb was a Champagne coloured Audi 80 quattro covered in that really red mud with just the area cleaned by the wipers mud free. It could have just come off an RAC stage. I had to get in his side due to the door handle being broken, I could get out but not in!
Anyway we shot off to the said woodlands which were on the Sandon Estate near to Rugeley. There was a two mile offroad drive along a muddy forestry track that Justin took at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour which was impressive. We parked up and went and measured all these trees and marked the ones to be felled.
On getting back to the car we jumped in and this is where things started to go wrong. He had parked on a slight embankment and this was deeply rutted by tractors and he just could not get any grip, so he pulled out this knob in the centre of the dash and these little green lights came off. He absolutely floored the car and I remember great plumes of mud coming off all four wheels as we exited the embankment sideways, at speed. Things then took a slight turn for the worse as he had picked up too much speed and a Hawthorn hedge was looming, so Justin put on full lock and applied ' a little' handbrake resulting in us going backwards through the hedge down a steep slope and coming to rest in a field. Justin selected first and we drove off looking for the gate out.
To this day no car has ever impressed me more

Coxy · 15-11-07, 11:22 PM

Oooof, that is a hard one!
I've been into cars for as long as I could walk. My dad used to take me to Bristol Street Motors in Brum back in the early 70's. The owner had a Lamborghini Miura, and he always had a few nice cars towards the rear of the showroom. By the age of 5, I could probably tell you what every make and model of car from a picture of it. Anyway, fast forward some 13 years and I pass my test, first car was a Pug 205, but yearned for some of the early cars I had seen whilst I was young. Not long after, I purchased a 1959 Hillman Super Minx convertible, but soon realised that being young and owning a classic to commute to work didn't really go hand in hand, so sold it back to the chap I bought it off. A few years later I got married, and had a kid so the chance of having a second car weren't going to happen. Then I discovered VW's (early 90's). A cheap affordable classic which was also easy to maintain, easy to work on, and cool as well. My first VW was a 1967 Beetle (best year ever!). Soon it got lowered and Empi 5 spokes for a whole new look. About a year later I set up the VW club in Telford (1995), which I still run today!! But as you grow older, and have more expendable income, you kind of want to try a few other cars and go up the ladder in VW ownership. As well as my normal job, I was also a record dealer so used the additional cash to fund car purchases. I did the Porsche thing, and then I wanted something a bit more grass roots. I remember back in 1993, that my next door neighbour who was into Saab 900 Turbo's and his best mate was into Audi's and he had an Alpine Weiss ur Quattro. The sound of the 5pot engine when he drove away could be heard for about 2-3 minutes later! It was a car I knew I had to have one day! So through evolvement through the VW scene, I decided to venture into the scene of Audi's. The first purchase was our RS2, after that I purchased a 10v Coupe and then a 90 Quattro (both B3's). There is a large VW water cooled scene for early Golf's/Polo's etc but the posh cars in the group remain devoid of mountains of scene tax so soon found myself hunting for early Audi's. By doing this, it soom became apparent that apart from Quattro's, early models were getting very thin on the ground. So the search started for early Audi's, and it still continues every day (thanks to places like ebay, Car and Classic, Autotrader!!!)
To this day, I still haven't managed to get the ur Quattro I want as everytime I muster up some cash to buy one, either something needs fixing or something else pops up which is a bargain and too good to turn down!!
Maybe soon, who knows!

Booty · 16-11-07, 08:16 AM

Wow a few motors then. I was always into MG's and had two BGT's from the age of 17. The first I restored at a cost of 5k and then wrapped it around a tree on Christmas eve 90 setting fire to my legs which hurt a bit! With the insurance i bought a black one and had it converted to a 3.9 Rover V8 which went well but did not corner too easily. Ran that for two years but going back to my first thread I really fancied an Audi. So hunting through the Trader one Friday back in 93 I spotted a D reg 2.2 GTin Metallic Black. Went, drove, fell in love and bought. I remember the day me and me dad drove the BGT to Birmingham to collect the GT and it was persisting it down, the wipers were not fast enough, the heater did not demist the windscreen and the webasto was leaking all over my Dads legs. It was time to move on and I never regretted it for one minute. I will never forget having that five banger growl under my foot for the first time. It was totally addictive and still is today. The GT moved on after three years and a succession of Cq's and 80's and 90's have followed. I nearly bought an Ur on a number of occasions and like you, one day i am sure if the cash is there I will.

Kel · 16-11-07, 05:37 PM

back in 84 (14) I used to watch the rallying and F1 with my parents like you do. I always had 2 images in my mind of two cars.

it wasnt until 90/91 when I really got in to cars that I really sussed out the car I fell for.

Now I own an example.

The 2nd image was about 86/7 of a Sierra Cosworth 3rd or RS500 rear wing as it was driving past while I starring out of the rear door windows of my dads mk5 Cortina.

Booty · 16-11-07, 07:57 PM

I learnt to drive in MK 5 Cortina 2.0S, the two door one in metallic silver with deck chair seats. Used to scare me Dad to death in it. He he.

Coxy · 16-11-07, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bootyrallyrep

I learnt to drive in MK 5 Cortina 2.0S, the two door one in metallic silver with deck chair seats. Used to scare me Dad to death in it. He he.

lucky you! I learnt to drive in my mums Chevette! Swear I'd never ever get a Vauxhall after that and 60 cars later, I've stayed true to my word!

Kel · 17-11-07, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coxy

lucky you! I learnt to drive in my mums Chevette! Swear I'd never ever get a Vauxhall after that and 60 cars later, I've stayed true to my word!

not even a HSR

Isimmo · 17-11-07, 10:14 AM

It was a Mk2 escort for me..

The first test was cancelled due to snow, so the guy took me out for an hours lesson instead...

In the snow.... Sideways...

Coxy · 17-11-07, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kel

not even a HSR

just a whole one litre short!

Was oggling a nice HSR last weekend! How my driving lessons would have been so much more fun if it had of been!

Booty · 17-11-07, 11:02 PM

i have some DVD footage of Pentti Arikkala driving Harry Carpenter around a Rally shakedown
section in an HSR. Mr Carpenter is clearly lost for words and not a happy bunny at all.

16-11-07, 08:16 AM	#3
Booty Moderator Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Deepest darkest Shropshire Posts: 5,077	Wow a few motors then. I was always into MG's and had two BGT's from the age of 17. The first I restored at a cost of 5k and then wrapped it around a tree on Christmas eve 90 setting fire to my legs which hurt a bit! With the insurance i bought a black one and had it converted to a 3.9 Rover V8 which went well but did not corner too easily. Ran that for two years but going back to my first thread I really fancied an Audi. So hunting through the Trader one Friday back in 93 I spotted a D reg 2.2 GTin Metallic Black. Went, drove, fell in love and bought. I remember the day me and me dad drove the BGT to Birmingham to collect the GT and it was persisting it down, the wipers were not fast enough, the heater did not demist the windscreen and the webasto was leaking all over my Dads legs. It was time to move on and I never regretted it for one minute. I will never forget having that five banger growl under my foot for the first time. It was totally addictive and still is today. The GT moved on after three years and a succession of Cq's and 80's and 90's have followed. I nearly bought an Ur on a number of occasions and like you, one day i am sure if the cash is there I will. __________________ 1987 Audi Coupe quattro - Clarion Tribute Car 2012 Audi A6 Allroad 2004 Mercedes SLK 350 2017 Mercedes GLA 220

16-11-07, 07:57 PM	#5
Booty Moderator Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Deepest darkest Shropshire Posts: 5,077	I learnt to drive in MK 5 Cortina 2.0S, the two door one in metallic silver with deck chair seats. Used to scare me Dad to death in it. He he. __________________ 1987 Audi Coupe quattro - Clarion Tribute Car 2012 Audi A6 Allroad 2004 Mercedes SLK 350 2017 Mercedes GLA 220

17-11-07, 10:14 AM	#8
Isimmo Super Moderator Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sissix-by-the-sea Posts: 15,218	It was a Mk2 escort for me.. The first test was cancelled due to snow, so the guy took me out for an hours lesson instead... In the snow.... Sideways... __________________ 1985 WR quattro, 1985 20vT RallyRep, 1993 MTM ABY S2 Avant. 2010 S3 Sportback.

17-11-07, 11:02 PM	#10
Booty Moderator Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Deepest darkest Shropshire Posts: 5,077	i have some DVD footage of Pentti Arikkala driving Harry Carpenter around a Rally shakedown section in an HSR. Mr Carpenter is clearly lost for words and not a happy bunny at all. __________________ 1987 Audi Coupe quattro - Clarion Tribute Car 2012 Audi A6 Allroad 2004 Mercedes SLK 350 2017 Mercedes GLA 220

15-11-07, 11:22 PM	#2
Coxy 4 Ring Mafia Classic Audi Club Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: on the side of a hill in Shropshire! Posts: 28,215	Oooof, that is a hard one! I've been into cars for as long as I could walk. My dad used to take me to Bristol Street Motors in Brum back in the early 70's. The owner had a Lamborghini Miura, and he always had a few nice cars towards the rear of the showroom. By the age of 5, I could probably tell you what every make and model of car from a picture of it. Anyway, fast forward some 13 years and I pass my test, first car was a Pug 205, but yearned for some of the early cars I had seen whilst I was young. Not long after, I purchased a 1959 Hillman Super Minx convertible, but soon realised that being young and owning a classic to commute to work didn't really go hand in hand, so sold it back to the chap I bought it off. A few years later I got married, and had a kid so the chance of having a second car weren't going to happen. Then I discovered VW's (early 90's). A cheap affordable classic which was also easy to maintain, easy to work on, and cool as well. My first VW was a 1967 Beetle (best year ever!). Soon it got lowered and Empi 5 spokes for a whole new look. About a year later I set up the VW club in Telford (1995), which I still run today!! But as you grow older, and have more expendable income, you kind of want to try a few other cars and go up the ladder in VW ownership. As well as my normal job, I was also a record dealer so used the additional cash to fund car purchases. I did the Porsche thing, and then I wanted something a bit more grass roots. I remember back in 1993, that my next door neighbour who was into Saab 900 Turbo's and his best mate was into Audi's and he had an Alpine Weiss ur Quattro. The sound of the 5pot engine when he drove away could be heard for about 2-3 minutes later! It was a car I knew I had to have one day! So through evolvement through the VW scene, I decided to venture into the scene of Audi's. The first purchase was our RS2, after that I purchased a 10v Coupe and then a 90 Quattro (both B3's). There is a large VW water cooled scene for early Golf's/Polo's etc but the posh cars in the group remain devoid of mountains of scene tax so soon found myself hunting for early Audi's. By doing this, it soom became apparent that apart from Quattro's, early models were getting very thin on the ground. So the search started for early Audi's, and it still continues every day (thanks to places like ebay, Car and Classic, Autotrader!!!) To this day, I still haven't managed to get the ur Quattro I want as everytime I muster up some cash to buy one, either something needs fixing or something else pops up which is a bargain and too good to turn down!! Maybe soon, who knows!

16-11-07, 05:37 PM	#4
Kel Grown up member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 23	back in 84 (14) I used to watch the rallying and F1 with my parents like you do. I always had 2 images in my mind of two cars. it wasnt until 90/91 when I really got in to cars that I really sussed out the car I fell for. Now I own an example. The 2nd image was about 86/7 of a Sierra Cosworth 3rd or RS500 rear wing as it was driving past while I starring out of the rear door windows of my dads mk5 Cortina.