Retrospective: My First Tailored Car

Like a deer in lights – that was probably the best way to describe my state of mind in 2009 when I’d been prepared to order an Audi exclusive S5 Coupé. Audi’s V8 coupe marked the four rings’ return to a two-door gran turismo, one Volkswagen Group design boss Walter De Silva to this day claims was his favorite design of all time.

Back then, I was editor of the Audi-focused blog Fourtitude.com (merged into its sister website VWvortex long ago by its current publishers), and my focus was the Audi brand specifically. Our publication was granted an Audi each year on long-term loan in order to generate year-round content and see duty at car shows. After seeing the always unique lineups at auto shows in Geneva, Paris and Frankfurt, I’d pitched Audi to consider granting me access to Audi exclusive tailoring for the car. They agreed and sent me an order guide. Now, it was time to pick that color and frankly I was at a loss. There were just so many choices.

As I weighed my options, I’d decided to stick to known Audi colors, and had two opposing concepts forming in my head. One option looked backward to something classic, and the other looked forward towards modernism and Audi’s future.

Option #1 leaned the GT nature of the then-new S5 had me thinking of the recently retired Goodwood Green. That slightly darker take on classic British Racing Green had shown up on cars like the TT 3.2 VR6, B5 RS 4 in Europe and B6 S4 here in the USA. I envisioned it with tan leather (or brown if they’d let me dip into custom leather colors) and wood or aluminum trim. Creating a rendering in photoshop, I remember it looking like a baby Bentley Continental GT, a car that had also recently come to the fore thanks to the Volkswagen Group.

Option #2 went a totally different direction. The also-recently-introduced mid-engined R8 Coupé had a very distinct light blue metallic paint that mimicked the Le Mans concept on which the R8 was based. Jet Blue (1Y1Y) looked even better in the renderings. I went further in my pursuit of a tailored spec by choosing the stock Pearl Silver Silk Nappa Leather that was also a launch options for the S5. Combined with carbon fiber, the cockpit was fresh and modern with a high-tech feel that suited the Audi well.

Looking back at it, the pricing for Audi exclusive paint in those years was incredibly reasonable. On the car’s build sheet, the Jet Blue Metallic paint is listed at $1,300 and another $1,200 Audi exclusive order fee. That’s only $2,500 for special paint in that model year.

In my year of time with that car (VIN WAURV78TX9A003802), on loan as it was from Audi of America, it served as daily driver and constant show car. Its understated nature gave it more of an “if you know you know” status than any in-your-face color would have.

A friend who worked with executives at Volkswagen Group gave it the best back-handed compliment. “It looks like something a board member would order,” she said. While I’m not sure it would have been her choice, ordering something avant-garde like a senior executive with a large company car budget and access to whatever they wanted seemed like a solid compliment to me.

A few years later the car popped up at Audi North Scottsdale on trade and I was tempted to try to pick it up given how unique it remained, though a friend at the dealer informed me it was having some issues with an aftermarket theft tracking system that had been installed so I ultimately never bothered.

Searching the VIN today shows it made its way to California where in 2019 it appears to have turned up at a Copart auction with the front clip missing, likely due to a light front end collision. Shots of the interior show the exceptionally light-colored Pearl Silver leather looking a bit dirty and worn, while the wheels are refinished in black. IT asold at that auction for just $1,350. It shows up looking repaired and looking a lot better at a used car lot in Sacramento with a salvage title. Where it is today remains unknown.