Monday Motoring Classic: Audi 80

Vorsprung Durch Technik. Three little words that mean a lot… and if you were wondering what they do mean, the answer is: Moving forwards through technology. A little less evocative, perhaps, but no less appropriate for the car that transformed the image of Audi.

Prior to the Audi 80’s appearance, Audi was something of a niche brand. A slightly posher Volkswagen, that had similar qualities and brand values to its parent, but a fairly vague identity. There were a few notable exceptions, the Audi Quattro and the Audi 100 Coupe being the more exotic.

The Aud 80 B3, as it was known internally due to being based on the Volkswagen Group's third generation B-platform, was a car of many innovations.

It was designed to be supremely aerodynamic, with flush-fitting glass and similarly flush trim seals around the bonnet, grille, headlights and mirrors, while the entire bodyshell had bathtub-like curves to help with air displacement. The 80 was smooth, refined, and at the same time immediately handsome.

It was also the first car to have fully zinc-coated, galvanised bodywork giving it a big head start in the fight against corrosion. It’s not unusual, even now – a whole 25 years since it went out of production – to find Audi 80s in almost immaculate, rot-free bodily condition.

And viewed as a classic, that’s a very good thing indeed, especially as the simple mechanical layout makes the Audi 80 a very straightforward and inexpensive car to maintain.

It also featured Audi’s much-lauded Procon-Ten safety system. This was a crash structure that, in the event of a frontal impact, caused the inner wings to collapse and pull the bulkhead and steering column forwards away from the driver, rather than intrude into the cabin. It was a remarkable and beautifully though-out piece of safety design, though its future relevance was somewhat offset by the mass take-up and subsequent mandate to fit airbags to all new cars.

Mechanically, it was standard Volkswagen Group fare, with 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrol engines and a 1.6 (later turbo) diesel.

The five-cylinder Audi 90 came along in 1987 with the in-line five from the Quattro to add a bit of performance flavour, along with the 140PS 80 16v, which gave a more sporting flavour to the four-cylinder line-up.

From 1989 to 1991, the Audi 90 also got the first 20-valve engine in an Audi since the Quattro, with 170PS and a choice of 2WD Sport or 4WD Sport Quattro trim levels.

In 1988, Audi broadened the 80 line-up with the introduction of a two-door, known simply as the Audi Coupe. It introduced new front and rear suspension layouts, with sharper turn-in and a firmer ride.

In 1991, the Audi 80 B3 was replaced by the Audi 80 B4. A car that was outwardly similar, but built upon the next incarnation of the B-Type platform and featuring the steering and suspension set-ups that had debuted in the Coupe.

At the same time, they chopped the roof off, and the Audi Cabriolet found its own controversial place in British history after Diana, Princess of Wales, snubbed British rivals and was regularly papped behind the wheel of one.

Much of the body styling was still the same, with the main bodyshell, glass, doors and dashboard being carried over from the B3, so in many respects the B4 was more a facelift. It did bring in a new corporate grille, however, the basic design of which can still be seen in the Audis of today.

The Audi 80 was a fine car. Beautifully constructed, over-engineered, reliable and sturdy. But, much more than that, it was a game changer for Audi. It arrived bang in the middle of the upwardly mobile Eighties and shifted the focus of the brand from dull but dependable towards avant-garde and aspirational.

It had the solid, sturdy feel of a Mercedes coupled to the modern dynamism of a BMW, and turned Audi into a brand that could more than hold its own in the executive car market.

The Audi 80 B3, then, was the key to Audi’s future. A future that, today, sees the brand as one of the most aspirational, desirable and design-led car marques out there. Find a classic Audi for sale.