From time to time I try to scan for you articles of interesting cars, and here’s one.
In my book, George Follmer needs no introduction. But for those of you who are unaware of the man, it’s all written in the article- and the Audi is (very) special too. This is taken from R&T’s July 1979 issue:
I wonder if anyone had ever bought one of these (too afraid to ask how many survived).
Gotta love the 70’s and 60’s, where some Euro sports cars and American muscle cars had such atrocious handling and some chassis were so primitive, they were thought of as the norm for some manufacturers.
Handling got a lot more serious and refined in the 80’s and 90’s.
The Audi Fox seemed more like a VW Dasher, than the Audi 4000(great car), which replaced it, in terms of handling and spartan luxury.
That body roll is just WOW !! That test driver must feel like he’s on a pirate ship. Lol
Thanks, for my daily Malaise Era automotive gem, Yohai… That Audi Fox opened my eyes better than a cup of Maxwell House coffee. 😉
The Audi Fox and VW Dasher are twins, apart from grill, bumpers and trim. Best handling car on 3 wheels! I do like the seats and steering wheel. That spoiler is pretty tacky and those foglights are not great looking as well. I guess Mr. Follmer was careful to stay legal by not lowering it (and protect that spoiler). I too wonder if any cars still exist with these long out of production aftermarket accessories.
Don’t know why this double posted. I tried twice and WP said “503 service unavailable” but posted anyway.
I wonder that also, Conti.
Aftermarket accessories like air dams and rear ducktail spoilers are just as much rare as the cars they once graced.
That front spoiler looks to be either a Kamei, Vestatec or FOHA.
Well, Fox and Dasher are twins with the exception of the back area of the body and chassis. The oddity there is the fuel tank placement. Somehow the Fox has a metal, vertical fuel tank behind the backseat, whereas the Dasher has the normal flat plastic tank under the backseat. For that reason there’s no real estate version of the Fox, that was technically just a rebadged Dasher. The vertical tank think soldiered on up until the introduction of Audi 80 B4 around 1991.
Very cool article! The Scheel seats are beautiful…I don’t think Scheel-Mann has retail distribution in the US any more…I always thought they looked better than Recaro, but a chubby guy like me doesn’t really fit well in ANY seat with pronounced bolsters.
And to think, 13 inch Pirelli tires were a performance upgrade…
The cover shot reminds me of a similar shot one or more of the buff mags published of the 85 VW Golf GTI. They said that it looked funny up on three wheels and all, but it sure went around the pylons fast that way.
No experience with a Fulmer Fox, but I knew two people who owned three Foxes back in the late 70s. Each of the three was a disaster for its owner. Wait, I just remembered a fourth, which I was allowed to drive in the early 80s. The owner was asking my opinion on whether to keep or get rid of it. Her soon-to-be ex-husband worked at a VW-Audi dealership, but figuring that he would not be willing to maintain the car for her, I advised her to dump it. But after driving it, I could understand why it appealed to folks.
Friends had one it was ok to drive but began burning a lot of oil the price of an engine rebuild was beyond their means so they bailed out and into a Nissan Pulsar. Not as fun to drive but the parts are a LOT cheaper.
Probably needed valve seals. The original’s (black) would turn rock hard. The green replacements were an easy fix with compressed air holding up the valves.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an Audi Fox, they do seem like a rarity and I’ve only seen a few of these cars around in my lifetime.
Perhaps the pre Miata . Great handling but low power.
Foxes and Dashers from the 70s have pretty much disappeared. I had a 74 Fox that was a ball to drive but kind of iffy to own. EVERY 10K miles the switch that was supposed to turn the engine cooling fan on and off, quit. REALLY, every 10K miles, like clockwork. One night, after driving through a very deep puddle in the rain, I “foolishly” used the emergency brake…and it seized/rusted on. And like nearly every other 1st generation Fox with a manual transmission, the clutch failed at 40K miles.
But it was a ball to drive.
I also drove a blue 74 Fox for I am guessing a half year. I was 21 and it was a company car that I was given. Don’t remember much about the car. Just different than the 72 VW wagon I had before it as a company car. I actually liked the new 74 Duster I was given with the 225 slant six. All autos so the Duster was the better car when it came to speed and room.
Can’t recall ever seeing another one during the time I had it or all the years after that.
I read the road test of the Fox GTI in the 78 Car and Driver mag and I was smitten. I had always liked and owned big American cars but I was also a motorcycle enthusiast and could appreciate efficiency. I have been looking for one of these casually ever since. Whenever I am hobby car- less I will peruse CL looking for one of these or a BMW Bavaria. It hasn’t worked out for me yet. The 4000 was kind of a junior version of the 5000 and lost the friskiness of the old Fox. I believe that there was a two door wagon version of the Fox also. The Fox name was moved to the VW marque near the end of it’s run since it was the Dasher’s platform mate. There was a VW Fox wagon available also.
When the Ford Fox platform debuted I had hope for the Futura platform. It never quite lived up to it’s promise though it sired the famous Fox Mustang lineage. The best of this breed was probably the V8 powered LTD version with it’s Bob Bonderant connection. Or you could go uptown with the Continental. I will continue my quest.
Most of these things died in the Carter administration.
Roger, so true.
Matter of fact, last time I saw one was around 1978-79… It was a burgundy Audi Fox coupe… Owned by our neighbors, three houses down the street.
I think they ended up traded it in for a Fiat Strada. I dunno, too long ago to recall.
Ha Ha, out of the frying pan and into the fire.