Wrecked Audi RS6 Saved from the Junkyard in Just 24 Hours
The owner of this wrecked Audi RS6 has always dreamed of having one, but with a limited budget, rebuilding a salvaged example was the only way to go.
The concept of buying a wrecked or salvaged vehicle from an auction or straight from the junkyard and then fixing it up is nothing new, and in fact, this practice has only exploded in recent years as YouTubers show us – time and time again – that this can be either the best idea ever, or one of the worst. We say that because buying a salvaged vehicle is always a risk, as there are bound to be issues present that aren’t evident at first. However, Mat Armstrong wasn’t intimidated one bit after buying a wrecked Audi RS6 recently and committing to rebuilding the car in just 24 hours with an eye toward taking it to the 2023 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
Armstrong admits that he’s always wanted an Audi RS6, but the one barrier to purchasing this hot performance wagon – its high cost – had rendered that dream moot, at least until he stumbled across this one at an auction. Though it had been wrecked in the front driver’s side, the damage didn’t look too bad, and it even started up and ran perfectly, albeit with some warning lights. After disassembling the whole thing, Armstrong and his team didn’t find any terrible surprises, though they discovered that this RS6 is fitted with a few aftermarket mods like a Motec exhaust and a K&N air filter, which is a bonus.
After doing a bit of a deep dive, Armstrong discovered that this wrecked Audi RS6 was actually a giveaway car from 2021, but it seems as if the winner sold it a few months after bringing the wagon home, at which point the new owner crashed it. Regardless, Armstrong clearly got lucky here, because there’s quite literally no hidden damage or anything that would require big money or time and labor to fix and/or replace – making this $25k purchase seem like a true bargain, particularly for a car with a relatively low 36k miles on the clock.
For another $7k, Armstrong managed to find an entire new front end for the car, which is a true time saver, but sadly, he later discovered that this is a pre-facelift piece. Regardless, he forges on and decides to backdate the RS6 a bit, A new door and wheels are soon purchased, along with various other bits and pieces. Following that process and a bit of bodywork, Armstrong moves on to the next big step – wrapping the car, which in this case is with a subdued gray hue.
However, Armstrong quickly realizes that if he’s going to build a SEMA car, he needs to do something to make it stand out visually. The answer for that is a GT3 DTM wide body kit that’s made from carbon fiber, which certainly fits the bill as an upgrade that makes this build look far more dramatic than the already sporty RS6 in stock form.
As one might imagine, fitting this body kit to the car proved to be a bit of a challenge, as is the case with most. Armstrong has to work to make it fit properly and eliminate gaps, and he also has to cut out part of the rear quarters to make room for a wider set of wheels to fill out the newly widened fenders. One that big job is complete, all that’s left to do are details – adding a set of carbon mirror caps, changing the oil, replacing the bright badges with black ones, and fitting the new, 22-inch alloy wheels and wide rubber underneath.
It’s a dramatic process for sure, but it goes without saying that the results of this mad dash build are worth it, at least for Armstrong, who finally has his dream car in the garage for an outlay of cash that amount to pennies on the dollar versus what it would cost to buy something like this used, and especially new. Of course, he needed a little luck to get this result, but in this case at least, the automotive scrapyard gods were looking out for him.
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