Here’s yet another car from r0b0tr10t’s amazing collection of finds on the Cohort. I’ve always liked the 100LS–chalk it up to ads I clipped from ’70’s Time magazines in middle school–but until earlier this year, I never knew there was a two-door version.
It took a 1/18th-scale model to show me that it was not just the smaller Fox that came in a dueporte iteration.
Of course we all know about the sedan, that good-looking set of wheels that caused so much trouble for their unfortunate owners–at least on this side of the pond.
So, the question is, were two-door 100LSs imported to the States? We have a wide variety of readers here on CC, and I just know someone is going to have worked at a VW-Audi dealer in Schaumburg or Kirksville during the 1970s and can give us the definitive answer.
And since we’re talking about German cars I like, how about this lovely Opel Diplomat? I’ve always been a fan of these big Opels, and the Admiral/Diplomat “B” were the best and biggest models on offer at the time, running from 1969 to 1977.
The lines of these cars were so subtle, yet so classy. The alloy wheels and grille-mounted foglamps mean business, while the whitewalls and vinyl roof speak to my inner Brougham. Nice.
So nice, in fact that I had to get a model of one. I know, I know; the colors are a little wild, but hey, it was the ’70s.
Special thanks to r0b0tr10t for taking these great pictures. If you haven’t checked out the rest of his pics–on his own photostream as well as the Cohort, it’s well worth a look! Let’s sign off with this Auto Union F12 convertible, the topless, renamed version of the DKW Junior we just saw the other day. Looking lovely in red…
The Audi 100LS was most definitely available in the U.S. in two-door form, at least in its original version before the facelift.
Of course now I’ll have to admit how I know — a Stanford professor friend of our family bought one new at the recommendation of a certain car-buff high school student. It was dark blue, with whitewalls, automatic transmission, and add-on bumper overriders. Whatever history’s verdict might be, it sure was nicer to ride in and drive than the similarly two-door Rambler American she traded.
She was too kind to let me know if (when) she later had trouble with the car, but since I was to own a second-hand four door version later, I did not emerge unscathed, for sure.
What led you to think the two door Audi 100 wasn’t imported? I remember seeing them from the get-go, starting at the dealer in Towson. And a I knew some co-workers that had one in LA. Admittedly, more of them were four doors. But here’s an ad for the US that has the coupe in it:
Interesting how cars used to be advertised on price rather than on bi-weekly payments over 96 months.
An astute observation of shifting cultural priorities. Some years ago, the late auto journalist Jerry Flint complained that some GM reps he encountered were more interested in their company’s financing humbug than in the cars they were selling, unlike their foreign counterparts.
Every single ad I have from the ’70s shows only the four-door, and the actual cars had all completely dissolved by the mid-’80s in the Midwest. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen ANY 100LS in the metal.
A rare pocket of ignorance in my automotive gray cells 🙂
The fox who lived next door to me at 8th and Liberty in Erie back in 1973 had one. Damn, I can occasionally remember her.
I’ve always had a thing for that generation of the big K-A-D Opels. In my POV, this would have made a perfect basis for the Seville. And it was seriously considered for that role, but the Fisher body folks said there was no way they could build it to the precision level required.
I saw a few in Austria in 1980, but they were not common. It was the last big Opel, before the Rekord-based Commodore took over that role. It just couldn’t compete effectively against the big Benzes and the new bigger BMWs.
The Diplomat would have just been a 70’s Catera, the problem with the Opel also was that it was just not able to be equipped like a Cadillac with Cadillac equipment and trim in any reasonable way. The Seville was perfect they way it came.
My boyfriend’s two door 100LS was the color of the 1/18 ,model pictured. The interior of the car was lovely, but he did have a lot of problems with it. The Audi was eventually traded in on a Cutlass Supreme.
Like on all of the 60s Mercedes including the Pagoda, I prefer the 1st gen Audi 100 with the round US-style sealed beam headlamps. I remember seeing a coupe a couple of times but they were very rare. Pretty car.
Someone who lived down the street from my place of employment (circa 1975) had a bright red 100LS coupe. Many mornings I saw it with the hood raised.
If only we had gotten the Audi 100 coupe!
I like painted steel wheels, for it’s an easy way to improve appearance w/o resorting to custom rims.
I believe the 100’s reputation is why its U.S.-market successor was called the 5000 instead. If at 1st you don’t succeed, change your name before trying again. Were “lazy American owners” to blame, or were Europeans merely more stoic & tolerant?
Pity, because as with other European cars, it has undoubted appeal.
And remember, they changed the 5000 name back to 100 a few years after the “unintended acceleration” fiasco. And then a few years later, they changed the name to A6, but this was a worldwide change.
Speaking of which, was unintended acceleration a peculiarly American problem? This could make sense if the cause was the transmission, for Americans prefer auto-boxes; otherwise I’d be suspicious.
One thing I’ve learned is, if car companies can have slippery ethics, so also can media companies & law practices. Ethical problems are not restricted to one class of people.
“Unintended acceleration” wasn’t a “problem” for anyone anywhere. It was caused by stomping the wrong pedal.
That may be, but I’m still curious if it was claimed by anyone outside America. I know well that Americans use courts to solve every real or imagined problem in life. Even in our early history, there were many legal disputes over land titles & later, railroad rights-of-way (thus Lincoln’s early career). This is why new appliances are emblazoned with warnings about the bleedin’ obvious: It’s the American Way.
Just theorizing… unintended acceleration is basically impossible if you have a stick-shift. As far as I know, automatic transmissions are widespread only in the US and Canada (and maybe Mexico? Australia?). So whatever causes UA (be it a genuine glitch–which it never is–or operator error) has far fewer opportunities to occur outside the US/Canada.
There’s a strong relationship between UA and pedal placement, at least for brief surges like the Audi 5000. (I doubt this is true for cases where people claim their car barrels ahead at 100 mph on the freeway for miles.) For example, GM vehicles, which have a particularly wide gap between the accelerator and brake, have almost no reports of UA.
Nonetheless, it’s a good question: I don’t know whether UA is a phenomenon elsewhere, but I doubt it. Not because Americans are particularly irresponsible drivers (a separate question), but simply because of the prevalence of automatic transmissions.
Apparently designing the platform for the Quattro AWD system caused both pedals to shift over from their normal assumed positions.
XJ Cherokees of the same era had a similar shift for their 4WD hardware and came with a shift lock that required you to depress the brake pedal before you could shift out of park.
Sounds reasonable to me. Another thing to consider, has there ever been a car that could not be immobilized by its power brakes? I have trouble believing these long-duration runaway stories since the brake would be a natural panic response, not to mention the ignition switch.
Reading the Wikipedia article, FWIW, there are some cases that truly may not be driver-induced; the Grand Cherokee carwash type is one. With the prevalance of auto electronics now, Tin Whiskers is another possiblity; it is a known problem in the electronics industry, see
http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker
This site even has a featured white-paper about an accelerator-pedal problem on Camrys. Tin Whiskers have been attributed to lead-free solder.
I rode a CR250 motocross bike that had unintended acceleration issues – it would get stuck on full throttle. We figured out that tiny particles of grit were preventing the slide from dropping when it was being sucked against the body of the carb. No problem in theory – pull the clutch and hit the kill switch. But in the fury of a full-throttle moment on a 250 motocrosser, it sometimes wasn’t that simple. Hairy stuff.
In about 1990 I had a 1 litre Austin Metro. I was on the motorway in freezing weather and the throttle stuck wide open in top gear – I guess it froze. Even with about 48 hp to contend with it was not easy slowing from 80mph without frying the brakes and or the transmission.
The 2 door Audi was about in the UK but the Opel was much rarer.I like the Opel,not that bothered about the Audi
The big Opels are so intriguing to me. A very appealing combination of Buick, Pontiac, and… Benz. Especially the V8 versions.
The big Opels appeal to me the same way David.They were much harder to come by than the Vauxhall Cresta and the only one I can remember seeing is a big 6 cylinder American looking LHD sedan in the early 70s.It was owned by an airman in the RAF who had relatives in my street
I don’t think there were 2 door 100s in the British Isles, though I’ve seen a 2 door Audi 80 – probably a left hooker. The 2 door cars were entry-level models and didn’t suit Audis’ aspirations to become a premium brand. I think there was a “hot” 2 door Audi 80 , before VW borrowed its’ engine for the first Golf GTI.
Opel made some really good cars in the 70s – shame it all went pear-shaped.
You’re probably right Uncle,Audis tended to look a lot alike until you put them together.I definitely saw a dark green Audi 2 door in the late 70s in Preston Lancashire.Can’t remember if it was a left hooker or not
I like the big Opel very Holden like but probably better built for high speed driving. Those Audis didnt last long anywhere like the early Golfs plagued with problems of course that was all seen as typical VW and most smart people just avoided them and bought something they trusted. 2 doors nar didnt even know they existed.
I wonder if the design of these Opels was influenced by some design elements coming from Down Under at Holden? They look a lot like the Holden HK (Belmont, Premier, Kingswood) and HT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_HK
I think the Opel slightly precedes the HK, but I agree the similarities are striking
There is an Opel Diplomat like this one running around Miami, or at least there was until a couple of years ago, I saw it on the road twice and one time I caught it in a parking lot. It was silver with a black top and a brownish red corduroy type interior. I never got to find out who owned it, it had to be an interesting story.
The nose of that Opel was lifted straight off a 1965 Riviera.
Americans would recognize lots of styling cues on both Opels and Holdens of the 1960’s and ’70’s. The rare coupe version of the Diplomat A was essentially a scaled-down ’63 Pontiac Grand Prix with a contemporary Chevy nose tacked on. The sedan was a dead ringer for a 1964-65 Chevelle.
Holdens of the ’70’s looked a lot like ’71 Impala sedans with ’70 Monte Carlo noses, while the original Monaro would look right at home in any Chevy or Pontiac showroom. And everyone remembers the mini-Corvette, the Opel GT.
In my small North Carolina hometown, a single lady a few streets over from me drove a two door Audi – green with I think, a black vinyl top. It was a very nice looking car, like the one below, just in dark green.
Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC
My parents actually bought a 1973 100LS (four door) brand new. Although I was only 4 years old, I can still vividly remember when it overheated and my pregnant mother and I had to cross Route 9 on foot to get help. I tell my parents to this day they should’ve bought a Datsun 510 instead.