100 Wagon

Put Those Parts to Use!

We started with FWD Automatic 100s, and we’ll end with one, too.

No matter what, I’m always going to look for cars, work on cars, and be at events that involve cars. I do try and practice restraint with this: I can’t buy every single car that comes up for sale. And actually, I pass on a lot of Audis given that we always have a vision of how things should look, and if it doesn’t fit in that vision, it doesn’t come home. This time, we weren’t looking: we were content with a 7-car fleet and had just wrapped up an intensive restoration, only to get an email about a car that really pulls at my heartstrings. An ‘89 100 Wagon is by no means a desirable spec in the Audiverse, but I’m sitting on so many parts that I figured I’d come up with a good excuse to use them.

WAGNIS OVERVIEW

1989 Audi 100 Wagon (Production 5/89) 2.3L I5 (NF) | 3-Speed Auto (087)

Alpine White L90E | Graphite Leather Comfort Seats

MSRP:

Dealer:

Dealer Delivery Date:

Factory Options: Automatic Transmission, Power Seats, Leather Upholstery, Roof Rails, Cold Weather Package

Dealer Installed Accessories: Plush Floor Mats, Front Plate Bracket

Member of T44Brian since 6/15/2026

Special Plate:

Status: Undergoing Restoration

Usage: Seasonal Daily Driver

Personality Profile: After daily-driving 20v Avants now for almost several years now, getting back into anything less responsive can be somewhat disappointing. A 2.3 NF engine with a 5-speed is a little more lively, but you’ll struggle to feel like you’re going anywhere fast with the 3-speed. On the days when the knees and back hurt, it might be nice to have a leisurely automatic vehicle to enjoy. Otherwise, he’s here more as a museum piece.

Odd & Unique About This Car: 1989 was the only year you could get a refreshed C3 wagon in FWD with the base non-turbo engine. Wagons went exclusively to quatto turbo in the US in 1990 and for the remainder of the C3 run. Audi started selling the revised 1989 100/200 cars in 1988; and they thankfully separated numbers from the remaining outgoing ‘88 5000 models. Combining 1988 and 1989 data shows a total of 13,105 100/200 vehicles sold. An internal memo from 1990 explained the 1989 100 Wagon and its base sedan counterpart, the 100E, each accounted for less than 5% each of sales volume and therefore would be axed. This translates to an estimated 650-700 100 Wagons were sold in the US. Not quite as low as some other offerings, but given the wagons usually lived rough lives, not many have survived. Like the 1984-88 wagon offerings, roof rails were still an option for ‘89, as was an automatic transmission. Some other optional equipment offerings would disappear for 1990 in an effort to streamline and push sales during a tough time for Audi in the US.

Name Origin: Wagnis translates in German roughly to “Hazardous/Risky Business” which is exactly how I feel taking a gamble on a consignment car from Bring A Trailer.

Though the ‘89 100 Wagons were offered as true-base models, it’s rare to see them without power leather seats and roof rails (still optional for ‘89).

T44Brian was built on the C3, FWD Audi 100. Before the Radwood era (and then in conjunction with the Pandemic a little later) started to make ’80s and ’90s cars out-of-reach to the common enthusiast, the days of the reasonably priced and/or common $500 cash & carry used car was still very alive and well. Needless to say that there were always outlier examples – special run cars like the 20v sedan and Avant, Ur-Quattros, and even the nicely sorted B2 and B3 4000/20v 90 quattros would command respectable prices. One car that was always guaranteed to be cheap was either the front wheel drive ’84-’88 5000S or ’89-91 100 Sedans when equipped with the enthusiast-despised automatics. Audi’s bread-and-butter cars never got much love from the diehard quattro guys, and they still don’t even to this day. But it is these cheap and overlooked examples that I cut my teeth on as a teenager that eventually lead to what T44Brian has become today.

Unfortunately the similarly slow, non-quattro wagons (Avants, yes, but let me remind you that Audi never marketed this era as “Avant“ so I will usually be a bitch and correct people) are grouped in this category. The good news is that when these are wagons, it doesn’t matter to me.

My first Wagon/Avant/Longroof/etc was a 1989 Audi 100 Wagon, in Lago Blue with basically every option available (sans sport seats). This was in 2017, so around that time I wouldn’t have considered myself wealthy enough to procure a 20v Avant or something more racy, so

Notable Mods & Changes:

2026: New Vehicle Purchase

  • Replacement Cargo Cover
  • 15” Steel Wheels with Euro Aero Covers
  • Zebrano Climate Panel Face & Ashtray
  • Euro-only Audi Beta Cassette Radio
  • B4 Audi-logo Shift Knob Upgrade
  • Bumper Tow Hook Retainer
  • New Front Corner Amber Lights
  • NOS Black Floor Mats
  • Upgraded Instrument Panel Bulbs
  • NOS Center Resonator
  • New Coolant Reservoir
  • Various Engine Trim/Plastics/Clips
  • Refurbished Chrome Window Scraper Trim
  • New Left/Right Mirror Glass
  • Knew Knock Sensor, Oil Pressure Sensor, Ignition Tune Up
  • Replacement Door Sill Trims & Running Strips
  • Refurbished Rear Door Ashtrays
  • New Front Speakers