After taking delivery of the Fox in October 1974, I looked for any halfway reasonable excuse to get behind the wheel and explore its virtues. Naturally, it didn’t have the low-end torque reserve of the ’69 Mustang, or its effortless acceleration at speed, but I reveled in the Audi’s responsive handling and its sure-footed front wheel drive as winter approached. And while the departed F-100’s long throw three-on-the-tree standard shift couldn’t be hurried, the Fox’s floor-shift four-speed manual was a marvel of precision in comparison.
All this came along with much-improved fuel economy, of course. During my first year of ownership, I averaged just over 28-MPG in mostly suburban driving, probably twice what I had achieved in the Mustang. My all-time record fuel economy was 41-MPG, achieved on I-81 South, heading back to NJ on a long weekend break from Syracuse University (where I had elected to add a year’s worth of courses in basic engineering, product liability, and other design-related areas not addressed during my years at Art Center).
Just a bit OCD, but here’s the 41-MPG proof. There was a tailwind on I-81 that day.
On the coldest Central New York winter days, I sometimes wished I had settled for the Audi’s standard-equipment cloth upholstery instead of its extra-cost “leatherette” (vinyl to those unfamiliar with ‘70s car-marketing-speak), but on the whole, the Fox’s interior was pleasant. Small niceties such as adjustable seat-backs and the combined inertia-reel seat-belts and shoulder harnesses were real revelations after living with the Mustang’s essentially fixed seat-backs and its clumsy separate seat-belt and shoulder harness assemblies (which, aside from being a PITA to use, effectively prevented access to any of the dash-mounted controls).
I never looked quite that, er…dashing behind the wheel. In this case, the artist chose to render the cloth upholstery, not the Fox’s extra-cost leatherette.
Naturally, I had to personalize my new car, but the only additions to the Fox were a Realistic AM-FM cassette stereo which I added to the dealer-installed under-dash radio box, a Royal Norwegian Automobile Club badge mounted on the Audi’s taillight panel (where it would theoretically be safe in case of a low-speed rear-end crash like the one which had “redesigned” the Mustang), and finally, in keeping with the times, a CB radio (which came in handy during the frequent I-80/I-81 runs to and from Syracuse).
The Royal Norwegian Auto Club badge would be a source of merriment later on.
The Fox accumulated more than 35,000 essentially trouble-free miles during the first two years of ownership. During that time, my biggest out-of-pocket expenses included two replacement hub caps and attaching clips ($19.20), an antenna ($13.60), a piece of trim molding ($5.22), a pair of snow tires ($61.11, including mounting and balancing), a pair of wiper blades ($4.30), and a replacement center dash vent assembly ($7.36). The most expensive scheduled maintenance came at 30,000 miles (actually 30,807) in August 1976. This included new front brake pads and wear sensors as well as a replacement tailpipe and resonator, in addition to the normally-required service, adding up to $193.36.
Captured at rest. The design still looks clean and purposeful to me, even fifty years (!) later.
I loved the car, but one Achilles heel that became more apparent as the mileage increased was the need to top up the engine oil between regular changes. Looking back, starting at about the 30,000-mile mark, the Fox’s oil consumption went from roughly 5,000 miles/quart to about 1,500 miles/quart by the time the odometer read 70k. With the benefit of hindsight, replacement valve-stem seals would likely have solved the problem, but I soon learned to check the oil whenever filling the gas tank, considering this to be a relatively minor annoyance and cheap to deal with, at only about $1.25/quart.
The Fox served me well before and during my time at Syracuse, where it was subjected to (bitter) cold starts and relatively short trips, some of the most difficult conditions for any car to endure. Not only did it survive this abuse, it became my daily-driver commuter car when I finally landed a job in the auto industry.
When I got my ’75 Fox, it’s 1.6L engine was pumping about a quart of oil into the airbox every 100 miles. Replaced the engine with a really good used 1.8L from a ’83 Rabbit GTI, and never looked back. That was a fun car! Only problem encountered with the swap was the occasional broken CV joints, which clearly was not designed for GTI power. Mine had the cloth seats,and I am glad it did.
We had a 1970 Audi 100LS with cloth interior and a 1976 100LS with vinyl interior both purchased brand new.
The 1970 cloth rotted in the sunlight and literally shredded into threads by the time it was about 5 years old. The 1976s vinyl held up!
Had a 100LS come into the junk yard I worked in during the summer of 1982. Looked only a little worn on the outside and had a clean interior. Ran pretty good to. Problem was it had no floor, the entire thing was rotted out – I mean gone. It was too bad as I marveled at the overall technology under the hood, advanced suspension and brakes.
Bought used
I owned two German made cars back in the 1970s.
One was a 1970 VW Beetle and the other was a rare 1970 AUDI Super 90
They were both Junk !!
Not only is the design still clean and purposeful, but to me at least it still looks modern and stylish. Now think back to a 1924 Model T, a 50 year old car when this Fox was new. It too was clean and purposeful, I suppose, but certainly looked like an antique … in fact it probably looked like an antique by the late 40’s.
A friend of mine in Los Angeles in the late ’70s had a Super 90 wagon. I never got a ride in it, but he liked it.
I used to keep a gas mileage log like that. Now I use a spreadsheet.
At the time, I found the design of the Scirocco and Rabbit, very appealing. The Fox and Dasher came across as more sterile, and cheaper-looking, from my POV. For all of us, there is a fine line, in what we find attractive in car styling. I found the stock wheels Audi and VW used during this era, especially budget-looking. A variation on this wheel design associated with the Scirocco, would have greatly improved the exterior appearance of the Fox IMO. Lending a sportier, and more upscale image.
Those exact wheels were available as a dealer installed accessory, and were fitted as standard on the ‘Silver Fox’ edition:
Right. Too bad the stock wheels, which were on 95% of the Foxes I saw, looked as cheap as Pinto wheels. Unfortunate, that’s how I remember them. Cheapest looking wheels.
We all remember the ‘Silver Fox’ edition! Not.
I do. The commercials and print ads were plentiful.
My point was, the stock version should have had far more attractive wheels for a sport sedan. It looked cheap in base form. The Vega had better looking stock wheels. The early Foxes, looked low budget, with the wheels most of them came with.
As “Sliver Fox’ was likely capitalizing on the then immense popularity of Charlie Rich. I was subscribed to MT and R&T then. Silver Fox ads were not common.
Ask most Americans in 1973/1974 about the ‘Silver Fox’, and the majority would cite very popular country singer at the time, Charlie Fox.
The wheels the Scirocco you depicted became known as “man hole covers” and were used extensively on later Fox’s and early Audi 4000’s
I subscribed to MT and R&T then. Silver Fox ads were not common. My point was, the stock version should have had far more attractive wheels for a sport sedan. It looked cheap in base form. The Vega had better looking stock wheels.
As “Sliver Fox’ was likely capitalizing on the then immense popularity of Charlie Rich.
Yes, later Foxes and 4000s looked better, because they more popularly used the more attractive wheels.
Great to hear some more about this Fox. Coincidentally, this morning I was doing some research for another CC article, and had the Sept. 1973 copy of Road & Track out, where they tested the Fox. Not surprisingly, they were enthusiastic, but one quote caught my eye, where they called it the “BMW 1600 of the 1970s.” That’s a good point – it had the alluring qualities of costlier European sports sedans, but at a relatively affordable price.
Also, I remember my father kept a fuel economy log just like yours in the 1970s and ’80s – he kept a notebook with s slide rule in his car, and calculated the mpg before he drove off from the gas station.
LOL! I read that same review yesterday too, as I’m planning to run it soon here. And we both picked up and used that line about the BMW.
That’s amusing! That was an interesting Road Test.
One of the most significant and influential cars of the period. Remarkably light, thus excellent performance and fuel economy. Stellar space utilization. Top notch handling and other dynamic qualities. It was the new BMW 1600/2002 of its time, given its lower price and comparable dynamics.
A grad student had one that parked across the street from where I lived in Iowa City at the time; it was my first one seen in the flesh. I used to gawk at it and struggle with the injustice of not being able to have one too. It was the car I most desired that year (1973).
I love the mileage log–and your mpg was very impressive!
I rode in two of these. My father had an architect friend with an Audi 80 (in Greece), nice car–and he managed to put me and his five kids in it once.
Later, in the early 80s, on Long Island, a buddy of mine had a 77 or 78 Fox. It had the fuel-injection, and compared to most the malaise mobiles I rode in, or drove, it was fun!
However, it also used a LOT of oil, he said he added some every fill-up.
“a pair of snow tires ($61.11, including mounting and balancing)”
I can’t remember why it took us all well into the 1980s before we collectively realized that it would be better to have snow tires on all 4 wheels.
I was going to comment on this exact point!
Yes…I think this was common back in the day to only put the snow tires on the driven wheels. Funny how long it took the driving public to figure out that having the same tires on all 4 wheels was a better idea.
I remember that these sold quite well in the midwestern US. Unfortunately, most buyers did not seem to go back for another.
In probably 1984, a fellow law student asked me if she should keep her late 70’s Fox. She was recently divorced and had gotten the car through that process. Her ex had worked for a VW-Audi dealership, and had put a fair amount of work into it recently. She let me drive it, and I remember being amazed at what a great road car it was – it was really sure-footed at highway speeds. I advised her to trade it, if only because of older Fox’ reputation for requiring frequent cash injections. But I could see why she wanted to keep it.
Loved my 74 Fox. Bought new at Parktown Porsche Audi near St. Louis, Mo. My first new car and first FWD car. Great in snow. never got stuck. it was the 4dr Saloon body style. Handled well on winding suburban and rural Ozark roads. Had the cloth interior, which wore fairly well, Aside from routine maintenance had no issues. Traded it in on my 2nd Audi, A 4000 (80) 4dr saloon, in early 1980, the 4000was a larger but still lithe and handles even better. I was a 20 something architect so the Audis were part of the Yuppie image I apparently cast.
The 80 4000, which failed to convey
Remember a lot a these; silver, brown seemed to be the two most sighted colors.
You aren’t wrong, here’s my 1980 4000 in brown with a silver ’84 across the street in the same pic…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1980-audi-4000-the-boy-embraces-his-heritage/
So yours burned oil too, friends had one nice enough car but while good on gas it burned lots of oil, in the end it had to go and a Sentra/Pulsar took its place.
Glorious cars, even 13 years after ’74. At that time, one friend had a Fox, the other, a Passat (Dasher), and I drove both a lot. And after years of riding in boaty, bog-ordinary 6-cyl Oz cars, squishy and asthmatic Japanese cars, and, when newly licensed, diving many of both, the Fox felt absurdly superior. Hell, they felt better than plenty of ’86 cars! Sharp steering, proper supportive seats, arrow stability and most remarkably, a facility to cruise at top speed (100mph or so) with it feeling no different to 60. Wow, these Euro cars really are something! I too liked and still like those sharp and airy looks. Too think that a foul (though infuriatingly unbreakable) Datsun 610 was a same-size competitor.
However, it must be confessed, the things had Alopecia of the Everything – that is, everything at some point fell off. They had such a name from new in these parts, and at 12 or 13 years, age DID weary them, I suppose. Sometimes, it felt like driving a wonderful, beautiful piece of glass: “Big bump, oh shit!” and off would come a bumper, or a carburettor, or a dislodged passenger. They really should have called them the VW Pissoff and the Audi Fail, because, respectively, most parts of the former did just that, and of the latter, ditto accordingly. And I could never quite understand quite a few engineering decisions – though I think they were really all to do with new, lightweight material use – especially why the radiator was so very tiny and thus left such a miniscule margin of error for catastrophic overheating.
Still got a huge soft spot for how I remember them, and for what they represented. Just not for what they actually did over time for most consumers, which was to reinforce every generalized “weakling Euro” cliche.
I was always a big car fan from the start. But after reading the road test of the Audi Fox in Car and Driver I became quite smitten by this rather small car. It seemed so practical and efficient and the testers raved about the handling. They weren’t very common even when they were new. For years I would look through Craigs List in the hopes of finding one. Now after hearing about their problems, I’m glad that I never found one. My perfect, “little car” experience involved my ’90 Honda Civic Si, one of my favorite cars. It just did everything well.