I often watched auctions for cars similar to ones I owned and wondered how the price got so high for a vehicle that didn't have the same thick stack of recent maintenance records my vehicle inevitably came with but was simply a stock, low-mileage vehicle. Since bringing home the 1990 Audi V8 Quattro, I now get it.
Unadulterated cars are very special things. They remind us that the original design for most vehicles was pretty damn good right out of the gate. For example, my E30 may look night and day better with a lowered suspension, but if I drove a stock example back-to-back, would I notice a significant difference in handling quality? Probably not.
The V8 Quattro is a historically finicky car. In my example, aside from a yet-undiagnosed cold start stalling issue, everything just works. And not only that, they work well. The windows, door locks, stereo - all work. The door seals and rubber insulation - all thick and bouncy, still. The leather, preserved. The power seats, still adjustable in every which way. These are features that typically give out in well-worn examples and that are costly to fix.
Still, there's one downside: you're scared to death to drive it. This time capsule is only as desirable as unmolested it remains. And while I hope that I turn a nice profit on what is likely one of the best examples left, I won't miss having a display piece that induces anxiety in traffic.
But I sure do get, now, why people love them.