1986 Audi Touch Up Paint (13 OEM Colors)

The 1986 Audi Vibe

Welcome to 1986, the year Audi decided to build cars out of galvanized steel that would outlive their owners. Whether you were carving through snow in an Audi 4000CS Quattro or cruising the suburbs in a 5000S, these cars screamed "German over-engineering." We've got 13 colors in the archives from this vintage, ranging from the business-like Stone Gray Metallic to the legendary Tornado Red. It was an era of high-end finishes, including the fancy Pearl White Metallic Tri-Coat-a color that looked like a million bucks until you had to try and touch it up in your driveway.

Paint Health Check

The good news? Your Audi's body panels are likely as solid as a vault door thanks to that galvanization. The bad news? 1986 sits right at the dawn of The Peeling Era. While solid colors like Alpine White might just get a little chalky, the metallics like Zermatt Silver or Graphite Black were some of the early adopters of the basecoat/clearcoat system. After nearly forty years of UV beatings, that clear coat is tired. If you see white, flaky patches or areas where the paint looks like it has a bad sunburn, you're looking at delamination. The clear is losing its grip on the color underneath, and once it starts to "zipper" off, it doesn't stop.

Restoration Tip

With 1980s German clear coats, you have to be a hawk about maintenance. Seal chips immediately before the clear lifts. If a rock hits your Sapphire Metallic hood and creates a tiny crater, air and moisture will start tunneling under the clear coat. Within a few months, that chip will turn into a peeling silver dollar. Use a high-quality touch-up kit to seal those wounds the moment you see them. If you're dealing with the Tornado Red single-stage, a good buff can bring the shine back, but for those metallics, once the clear is gone, it's gone. Seal it early, or you'll be staring at a primer-gray roof by next summer.