UK’s rarest cars: 1981 Audi 100L Avant, the only one left

1981 Audi 100L Avant
The high-end hatchback for the more discerning well-to-do buyer

If the 1968 C1-series 100 firmly established Audi as a rival to Rover or Mercedes-Benz, the C2 of 1976-82 consolidated the German firm’s success. Today, Sharon Hall’s 100L Avant is believed to be the sole surviving roadworthy example in the UK.

Audi commenced work on the second-generation 100 in 1972 and the saloon version debuted in August 1976. The engine choices ranged from 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre four-cylinder units to a five-cylinder 2.1-litre. The latter was a first for Audi, which described it as “better than a good four, better than a poor six”.

1981 Audi 100L Avant engine
Audi took the unorthodox decision to build their cars with a five-cylinder engine

The UK was Audi’s third most important market for the C1 after Germany and the USA. The concessionaire planned to sell 10,000 C2s annually in this country, appealing to owners of the older 100 and well-heeled motorists whose role models were Jerry and Margot Leadbetter from The Good Life. Such drivers were in the Rover SD1 income bracket and the latest Audi might have been their first “foreign” executive car.

The Telegraph believed “the designers had deliberately set out to create a Mercedes image. The new car even looks like a Mercedes”; the motoring correspondent found the range had “excellent cornering and roadholding”. Motor Sport praised the steering and handling of the 1.6-litre model and found an “almost total lack of front-wheel-drive traits”.

Front of the 1981 Audi 100L
The 100L’s looks were designed to fit in with the market of Mercedes-Benz and other high-end saloons

Car was even more impressed, writing: “Audi dealers see themselves taking away Mercedes 200, BMW 520 and Volvo 244 buyers with the 100LS, but in our view they are setting their sights on the low side and not really doing credit to the design or the designers. It is far too good a car to be lumped in with that trio of rather boring and thoroughly square saloons.”

In August 1977 Audi introduced the Avant, featuring a hatchback. UK imports commenced three months later, initially only in 1.6-litre L form. The tailgate was from the smaller Volkswagen Passat and until 1975 there were plans to badge the Avant as a VW. Autocar thought it “a useful extension of the 100 range” that brought “hatchback utility” to the larger car in the manner of the hatchback-equipped Rover SD1.

In 1981, a 100L Avant cost £6,186, compared with £6,249 for the Renault 20 LS and £7,300 for the Saab 900 GLS, its main five-door, front-wheel-drive rivals. A buyer might also have considered the £6,179 Citroën CX Reflex if they did not require a tailgate, or opted for the rear-wheel-drive Rover SD1 2300 for £6,759. Audi dealers could point out the Avant’s versatility, combined with the social cachet of the four-ring badge.

The 100L was not overly luxurious – one sales feature was an internally adjustable driver’s door mirror – but its image was as highly sensible transport. The grey bodywork of Hall’s example suits it perfectly, while the interior is akin to being trapped in the soft furnishings department of Habitat circa 1980. The designers Claus Luthe and Paolo Nestler wanted the colour scheme to have a soothing effect on the interior’s occupants; they deliberately eschewed red as it created “avoidable aggression”.

The 100L's interior dashboard and gear stick
The 100L’s very grey interior was not known for its opulence

The C3 arrived in late 1982 after 988,581 units of the C2 had been produced, only 49,652 of which were the Avant. Despite the advertisements boasting the 100’s quality, the model was not immune to rust. In addition, many owners regarded the five-door C2 as a utility model, which did not help its survival rate.

Hall acquired her Audi in 2017 and finds it “very comfortable to drive and surprisingly light to steer, considering it does not have power steering”. Nor is the 1.6-litre Avant “fast or powerful but it has a lovely gentle ride, you cannot help but enjoy it”.

Hall says her 100L has impressively light steering for a car with no power steering
Hall says her 100L has impressively light handling for a car with no power steering

Her 100L Avant appeared at this year’s Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional, where she heard “various comments depending on people’s tastes. However, we only encountered one negative comment, with someone remarking, ‘It is not worth saving.’ The majority were far more positive comments, saying, ‘A very cool car’, ‘Wow, that is so rare’ and ‘Well done for saving it.’ The Audi fraternity is especially excited to see it in the metal.”

Today, the 100L Avant is a far more exclusive sight than its renowned Audi Quattro contemporary. It may not be quite as rapid, but the grey C2 is a fascinating reminder of mid-ranking executive life in the early 1980s. Above all it has, to quote Audi, “four rings in the front” – and that is all that mattered.