Diesel power had gained a small foothold in the U.S. car market in the 2000s before VW’s 2014 Dieselgate scandal helped kill off interest, but it wasn’t the first time sparkless cars had won over economy conscious North American fans.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s brands like Audi, VW and Mercedes all sold diesel cars in the U.S., but you really had to care about gas prices to put up with the kind of mechanical refinement that would make a Lexus engineer hurl himself off the nearest rooftop, and truly abysmal performance.

This nicely preserved 1980 Audi 5000S currently up for grabs on Bring-a-Trailer is a case in point. Its naturally aspirated (a turbo version came later) 2.0-liter inline five’s cylinder count is about the only thing it has in common with the Quattro coupe launched the same year.

Related: Audi’s 1980 Quattro An AWD Pioneer? This Jensen FF Be Like “Hold My Brandy”

Making just 67 hp and a pathetic 90 lb-ft of torque, it needed a yawning 17.6 seconds to reach 60 mph in Car & Driver’s hands, and topped out at just 92 mph, meaning this was one car where the Federally mandated 85 mph speedos of the era weren’t really an inconvenience.

And luxury car performance wasn’t the only thing you lost by choosing the diesel 5000S over its gasoline counterpart. As this video shows, luxury car mechanical refinement went out the window, too. Still, buyers could at least console themselves with the knowledge that they were getting much better fuel mileage than the average gas-powered luxury car. The 5000S diesel was rated at 27 mpg, which was pretty strong for a relatively large car at the dawn of the 1980s.

But since this car’s original window sticker reveals it cost a massive $14,000 when new, making it as expensive as a same-year Corvette, you’d have to travel a ton of miles to recoup those savings. Which this car’s first owner definitely didn’t. Forty one years on, the odometer shows just 29,000 miles, which helps explain why it’s survived in such great condition.

If you fancy a fuel-sipping German classic, are hard of hearing and aren’t in a hurry to get from A to B, you should get your bids in before the auction ends on Tuesday January 18.

Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements
Calling A 67-HP Audi 5000S Diesel Slow Is The Mother Of Understatements