I once owned an Audi while stationed in Hanau, Germany. It was a late '70s A100 and it was not a phenomenal machine.
The A100 taught me how to replace a water pump and eventually all of the hoses that carried coolant. I could never get lost in that dingy yellow claptrap, as I could always follow the trail of radiator fluid and oil home. The A100 did more for my German vocabulary than a hammer smacked on my finger.
During the carmaker's dark days of the '80s it looked like Audi would go the way of the electric car circa 1920. (It was even featured on "60 Minutes." Here's a tip to the auto industry: never invite Mike Wallace into your office.)
But then the company began to turn things around. Not overnight, but it started with the A4's arrival in America.
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