words: Bill, photos: Keyes Audi, Kucarfa B.V.
As I prepared to fly solo on last night’s Find of the Day: Throwdown Edition, I couldn’t help but look back at last week’s Audi Club vs Audi of America episode. While our guests were winning round after round, a vocal group of viewers were proclaiming that George should have won two of the rounds: Audi dealer stock and Audi classic. Here they are:
First on the block is a 2020 Audi exclusive Mocha Latte R8 V10 from Keyes Audi. There are not a lot of cars that can pull off this color but this R8 can and does. It’s a typical dealer ad…nothing fancy nor flashy:
Granted it did go up against two other R8s but how many Mocha Lattes have you seen, especially on an R8?
The car George found for the classic round was a pristine 1964 Auto Union 1000 S Special Coupé. This car is in the Netherlands and some say that it’s the granddaddy of the A7 Sportback. Here’s the ad (translated from Dutch):
This car was found in a company hall on the industrial estate in Frankfurt in the late 1980s. This hall was rented by nine DKW enthusiasts and was filled to the ceiling with DKW parts and cars. In the meantime, some of these DKW friends had given up his hobby, so that the others could no longer afford the rent. They had to rent a smaller hall. Due to lack of space, a number of DKWs and parts had to be sold, including this Coupe. The previous owner, Mr. W., had started restoration but was not yet very advanced.
Dutch DKW fan Mr. V. bought the car, despite the advice of a friend not to. Firstly, many parts still had to be bought or made in order to be able to finish the bare body. Second, the model was completely unknown. Despite the doubt, the car was bought for DM 2,750 and brought to the Netherlands. At this price, the risk was minimal since the spare parts would yield enough to cover the costs on sale.
When the car arrived in the Netherlands, it was examined critically. The headlights came from an NSU and the grill was made of perforated plate. The Coupe was equipped with a 2-stroke racing engine. The bodywork showed that it had been driven hard. The car was full of dents and scratches. Mr. V. has not been able to determine whether this car has been a factory project or a “one-off”. The car was created at the Technical University Kaiserslautern in 1968. For the construction of the Coupe, the chassis was used from a DKW 1000 S De Luxe (model 62) year 1963.
It was not easy to restore the body to its original state. The photos showed little more than a bare body, where the flowing Coupe line was barely recognizable. Mr. V. used the front and bumper of an Audi 60, which fitted exactly. Round Hella lamps were mounted for the rear lights. These round lamps fitted the design better than the original elongated lamps. That is why recently round headlights were also mounted. Other used parts are the windscreen of a Porsche, the rear window of a Fiat 850 Sport, but mounted upside down and the fuel cap of an NSU Sport. Because the non-original parts have been carefully selected, the beautiful design of the 1.83 meter wide car is not disfigured and forms a beautiful whole.
The car was sandblasted by Mr. V. and repainted in the original red color. The original engine was also built in again, but Mr. V. did not like that. The Coupe had a top speed of 185 km / h and was much too restless for normal use. The engine idled at 3,500 rpm. With the now built-in standard engine, the car has a top speed of 125 km / h.
So should George have won those two rounds? The viewers definitely thought so. What’s your take? You can find the Mocha Latte R8 V10 HERE and the Auto Union 1000 S Special Coupé HERE. You can think of this blog post as a consolation prize, George. Enjoy your well-earned vacation.
