Unusual Powerplants And Rally Pedigrees: 1986 Audi 4000CS Quattro vs 1984 Mazda RX-7

Good morning, and welcome to the middle of the week! Today’s challengers both share just a bit of DNA with everybody’s favorite bonkers race cars, the FIA Group B rally cars. But before we get to them, let’s see what you did with our two Canadian clunkers:

It’s the X-Trail by a country mile. Or country kilometer, because Canada. It’s not often a non-running car beats a running one, and I don’t think it’s ever happened by this wide of a margin. As it happens, I agree; the Mercedes is cool, but something about little 4x4s really appeals to me, so I’d prefer to revive the Nissan.

Now then: Chances are good that I don’t have to tell you what Group B was. For a few glorious years in the 1980s, rally racing featured some of the fastest, wildest, most dangerous machines around, until the speeds and the death toll both got too high to allow the madness to continue. Audi ushered in this era with their Quattro all-wheel-drive system, and won pretty much everything that Lancia and Peugeot didn’t. Mazda’s RX-7 Group B effort was only rear-wheel-drive, but it managed a few decent runs, and made quite a showing in IMSA sports car racing in the 1980s as well.

Our Audi featured today has the Quattro drivetrain, but lacks the fire-breathing turbocharged engine of its Group B sibling. And our RX-7 is, in fact, rotary-powered, which I felt I owed you after Friday’s LS swap. Let’s take a look.

1986 Audi 4000CS Quattro – $4,800

Engine/drivetrain: 2.2 liter overhead cam inline 5, five-speed manual, AWD

Location: Walnut Creek, CA

Odometer reading: 179,000 miles

Runs/drives? Yep

I remember reading somewhere that to demonstrate the prototype Quattro’s capabilities, Audi engineers drove it up a ski slope. I tried to find confirmation of this tidbit for this article, but I couldn’t track it down again, and I can’t remember where I read it. So it will have to remain hearsay. It is a cool story, though. And the Quattro’s prowess on gravel and snow is legendary. The original Quattro was a two-door coupe, but starting in 1984 the system was made available on Audi’s small 80 sedan, sold as the 4000 in the US.

The original Quattro system used an open gear differential between the front and rear axles, instead of the Torsen diff or viscous coupling that’s more common these days. The center diff can be locked by a knob on the center console, visible in the photo above. Position 1 locks the center diff; position 2 also locks the rear diff, which means you pretty much have to high-center the entire car to get it stuck. Early Quattros were only available with five-speed manual transmissions.

Powering all this mechanical wizardry is Audi’s inline five, in this case naturally aspirated, and shoehorned into the 4000’s nose at an awkward angle. That’s the radiator sitting next to the engine. The seller says this five runs great, and just had a tune-up.

It’s largely rust-free, which is a rare treat for a 4000, and it’s stock, which is getting to be even rarer. These cars were cheap for a long time, and too many of them suffered absurd modifications at the hands of backyard mechanics who fancied themselves “tuners.” This is one of the nicest 4000 Quattros I’ve seen for sale in a while, and yes, I do keep an eye out for them. I’d love to have one of these.

1984 Mazda RX-7 – $4,200

Engine/drivetrain: 1.2 or 1.3 liter two-rotor Wankel, five-speed manual, RWD

Location: Sacramento, CA

Odometer reading: 200,000 miles

Runs/drives? Sure does

After years of experimenting with rotaries in family cars, pickup trucks, and even a bus, Mazda finally figured out that the little spinning triangles truly belonged in sports cars. The RX-7 was introduced in 1978, and it was a big hit, especially here in the US. I can’t tell exactly which model this is; I’m sure some eagle-eyed readers will be able to tell, but I believe this one has either a carbureted 12A (GS or GSL model) or fuel-injected 13B (GSL-SE model) rotary engine.

This is another terse ad; all we’re told is that it runs well, and has new tires and current tags. It’s in decent cosmetic shape, with a little peeling clearcoat and some minor dings. The inside looks nice, but the stereo is missing. All the better to hear that rotary soundtrack, I suppose.

These early RX-7s were cheap for a long time as well, but are starting to attract some collector attention. This one feels a little expensive to me, but maybe that’s just because I remember when they were $1500 all over the place. It does have a shit-ton of miles for a rotary, and who knows how well it has been cared for?  If you aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of rotaries, as I am not, it might be best to find an expert to check it out.

I know some of you have been disappointed by the prices of some of our recent cars, but the simple fact is that “cheap” cars are getting  more expensive. If I tried to stick to the original $2500 price cap, we’d be looking at a lot of crusty Malibus and clapped-out PT Cruisers. These two are both priced higher than I’d like to see, and probably higher than I’d be willing to pay, but they don’t seem too far out of line. Besides, it’s not like either of these is available in any old used car lot these days. If you want one, this is what they cost. So which one will it be?

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)