5000S

Basic: It’s Best!

T44Brian was built on the C3 Audi 100 sedan. 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, UrQuattros, 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. But even I may have had enough of these automatic sedans, so I went out to find something different.

GRIFF OVERVIEW  

Personality Profile: The driving experience with a non-turbo C3 is dependent on what drivetrain it has. In North America, we never got a taste of some of the most underpowered offerings available for this chassis and were at least always guaranteed catalyst-equipped 5-cylinders and 100 horsepower. Griff is a later car with the first run of the 2.3 NF engines Audi would use all the way up to 1991 – which bumped the standard horsepower from 130 compared to the ’84’s 2.1L making 100 and the ’85-86’s 2.2L with 115. When equipped with an automatic, the power difference between the three is undetectable. When paired to a 5-speed, you finally feel a little more get up and go around town. And that makes Griff just that much more fun to drive, even if its still a relatively leisurely task to get up to highway speeds.

1987 Audi 5000S 5-Speed (Production 06/86)  2.3L I5 (NF) | 5-Speed Manual (016)  

Nautical Blue Metallic LY5Z| Quartz Grey Kensington Velour 

MSRP: $20.605 

Origin Dealer: Carrera Motors, Inc. Bend, OR (now Porsche Bend)

Dealer Delivery Date: January 30, 1987

Factory Options: Trip Information Computer

Dealer Installed Accessories: None

Member of T44Brian Since 03/03/2025

Special Plate: TYPE44

Status: Completed Restoration, Permanent Collection

Usage: Year-Round Daily Driver

Odd & Unique About This Car: With Audi aspiring to compete with Benz and BMW as the third German luxury offering here in the United States, the majority of 5000S cars sold here were configured with premium features. Since the majority of these cars were equipped with automatics, sunroofs, and stereos, you’d think they would just be standard equipment. However, this was always optional equipment on the base cars, with Audi instead opting for electronic climate control, alloy wheels, and the advanced-for-its-time AutoCheck system as competitive features compared to the other German offerings. Finding a 5-speed base car with no sunroof is a rarity – with the electronic trip computer being the only splurge.

Name Origin: German – In honor of moving towards a more manual-based fleet, we have named this car “Griff,” which translates to clutch, knob, and other very manual-esque words.

Griff was purchased new from Carrera Motors in Bend, OR, where he stayed with his original owners until at least 2012. This car seems to have many parallels to the Gray ’91 100 sedan (Greis) that he replaces – they both are Oregon based and had very meticulous owners who wrote every maintenance item down on the vehicle, down to every trip to the gas station. It’s always nice to have these records to see just how many people used to view their vehicles as investments and not just a means of transportation.

Griff changed hands a bit within Oregon for the next several years. If he looks familiar to you – he was sold on Bring a Trailer once in 2018. From Oregon he moved to Maryland where he was then resold as a “flip” car via a dealer, and then finally landed in North Port, Florida in 2019 where he stayed until my purchase. This family originally came from Kazakhstan, and he bought Griff as a sentimental car as they grew up with Audi 100s there before they left for the United States. While always garage kept, Griff didn’t see a lot of mileage while in Florida. Instead, the owner used the car as a project to keep busy, going through the car with a finer tooth comb than sometimes I do. Not only did the engine get a full top-end rebuild, the clutch and all transmission components were replaced along with exhaust, AC, brakes, and every rubber bit, mount, and seal imaginable. Some of this stuff isn’t exactly easy to find, but having connections overseas worked out in his favor as the parts are more readily available. Basically, Griff is a mechanically “new” car. And whereas some sellers might say things have been done and they are discovered to not have been, I was given the box of old parts to prove that the work was completed.

Griff has been posted and covered on the internet before in great detail – the only thing that really ever prevented me from purchasing him was the high asking price once he changed hands to this family. However, I did recognize the amount of work and care that went into this car, so I decided to actually go down to Florida and take a look myself. I also am less in a position lately to do projects due to being busier with work than ever, so if I don’t have to do a timing belt or a clutch for a bit then I’m not going to complain.

We flew down to Sarasota and enjoyed a day at the beach before going to see Griff in person about an hour south. It was love at first sight – not only do I love a 5000 in Nautical Blue, the Kensington Velour was clean, the underside and engine were in beautiful shape (Oregon cars are always top-notch in condition it seems). Now, I had sold three front-wheel drive sedans to make space for new blood in the fleet, and you’d think buying another would be just going back to my old ways- but this car is a configuration I’ve never owned before, and from the first drive around the block I definitely said to myself “Yup, I don’t miss my automatics anymore.” And that in itself was a good thing too, as I would sometimes have a small bit of regret when I’d think back to those three sedans I worked so hard to perfect. Out the window now, we’re moving on!

And yes – we drove Griff home almost non-stop for 18 hours except to refill the tank (and one Culver’s pitstop and two Buc-ee’s stops as well) after spending a night in Orlando to rest before the journey home. It was the most stress-free experience bringing a car back home to this date, and Griff proved himself to be exactly what we needed in the fleet. And speaking of an 18-hour drive home, that gives someone a lot of time to think about what parts are on the shelf back home that we can improve and already fantastic car with. Within a couple weeks we had Griff dialed in to exactly what we wanted.

I considered Griff to be my 30th birthday present – marking that we are still obsessed with old Audis after all these years, we just needed something a little different this time. If we remember, I bought my first nice Audi for my 20th birthday which seems so long ago, and I sold that ’90 100 in 2023 as the first step to downsize and better curate my collection and goals.

But then, of course, not two weeks after Griff came home, I got a surprise text from a friend that they’re moving overseas and can’t take their collection of 20 cars with them – which opened up another floodgate of opportunity to diversify the collection – so we essentially got this 5-speed 5000S an older brother 1980 5-speed 5000 (Scheffler – go here to view), making this a very Audi-focused 30th birthday. What more could I really ask for?

The C3 sedans have always been my driving signature – you always know I’m out and about and on the move when you see a 5000 pass by in Connecticut traffic. Now, we just have the next best versions of that – and with the addition of Griff, Scheffler, and the earlier addition 20v Avant Weissmar, we’ve got three new cars to work on and enjoy for the coming days, months, and years!

Notable Mods & Changes

2025: New Purchase

• Refurbished Trip Computer Switch
• New Power Antenna
• NOS Rothenburg Radio
• Replacement Driver Lower Seat Foam and Kensington Velour Fabric
• NOS Parking Brake Boot & Handle
• Genuine Audi Roof Bars
• NOS Amber Corner Lights
• NOS C-Pillar Ribbed Trims
• Respray of Hood and Trunk
• 15″ Euro-only Aero Wheel Covers
• NOS Shift Knob & Boot
• NOS Front Grille
• NOS Tow Hook Retainer
• NOS Wiper Arm Caps
• NOS Front Mudflaps
• NOS Trunk Lock Gasket
• Replacement Rear Seat Belt Guide Trims
• Genuine Audi Duo Sound Headphones
• Fog Light Prewiring with Switch
• European Rear Speaker Fade Control