DCAWD.com

It happened about five months ago. I'm sitting around the house in my underwear, wondering how the hell Drew Carey puts up with all those aging Midwesterners who scream like an airplane-riding infant the second they win a bottle of Listerine. And I get a message from Jalopnik editorial fellow Chris Perkins.23

It's a picture of an Audi S4 parked on a Manhattan street. But this isn't just any Audi S4: it's an S4 Avant, the station wagon model. In Audi's beautiful Nogaro Blue color. With a stick shift. And a for sale sign on it.

For those of you who don't follow the world of high-performance Audis, a Nogaro Blue S4 Avant with a stick shift is rare. A unicorn, if you will. But finding one sitting randomly on the street with a "For Sale" sign is even more unbelievable. It's the automotive equivalent of a unicorn and Bigfoot and a space alien all sitting in one room, playing poker, and then the Loch Ness Monster walks in and gets a Royal Flush.4

"I thought you might be interested," Chris tells me.

In reality, very few things would interest me more. To me, a Nogaro Blue S4 Avant with a stick shift is up there with having the power to become invisible. And if I were invisible, one of the first things I would do is figure out who owns a Nogaro Blue S4 Avant, so I could steal it.

So anyway, I called the number on the "for sale" sign, and I spoke to the seller. It turned out the car had some small scuffs and scrapes, and a minor accident on the Carfax. Mileage was a little high, at 122,000. But the seller only wanted thirteen grand! For a 340-horsepower, all-wheel drive station wagon! In Audi's famous Nogaro Blue! WITH A STICK SHIFT!!! I called Chris and asked him to set up a test drive. As long as it moves under its own power, I told Chris, I want this car.

And then, that night, I went on the Audi forums and did a little research.

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