Audi Quattro

The full story of the Classic Quattros from Audi, the first car to combine performance and four-wheel drive in a commercially successful package. Its success in rallying during the 1980s ensured good publicity and healthy sales. Since then the Audi range has had a quattro variant for every model, and they continue to be leaders in their field.

The original rally Quattro debuted in 1980, and was based on the road car, but with a highly tuned 300bhp engine. In 1981, Audi Quattro works driver Michele Mouton became the first woman to win a World Championship rally. The Quattro took the Manufacturers’ Championship in 1982 and 1984, and the Drivers’ Championship in 1983 and 1984 with Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist respectively. Audi implemented a continuous development programme for the Quattro, and the A1 and A2 were produced to meet the Group B regulations introduced in 1983, while the fearsome Sport Quattro S1 was introduced in 1984. The ultimate development – the S1 E2 – was introduced at the end of 1985, producing over 500bhp, and winning the 1985 San Remo rally in the hands of Walter Röhrl and the famous Pikes Peak hillclimb with Michele Mouton. The Audi Quattro Rally Car Manual looks at the design, evolution, anatomy and operation of the Quattro.

The Audi Quattro was the world's first successful four-wheel-drive rally car. It brought new standards to the sport, and inspired many others to copy it. This is the complete story.

Little Book of the Audi Quattro is a 128-page hardback book written by Stan Fowler and Charlotte Morgan. Developed using four wheel drive technology, the Audi quattro stands out as one of the most revolutionary sports cars ever built. From its debut in the 1980s, the quattro was set to steal the show and it went on to do just that both on and off road. Today, it is a much loved classic with fans and quattro enthusiasts the world over. Originally, Audi had intended to produce just 400 quattros to be used in rally driving, but in the end, nearly 11,500 vehicles were built for a hungry export market. The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1980 and as the first four-wheel drive grand tourer since 1966 it caused a sensation. The car became one of the most significant rally cars of all time when it was one of the first to take advantage of the changed rules in competition racing allowing a four-wheel drive to participate. Critics were sceptical that a four-wheel drive could achieve as near as much momentum, power and versatility. They were to be proved wrong.

On a small assembly line in Neckarsulm, Germany, no more than twenty exotic Audi R8 sports cars are built daily. The entire process is overseen by small teams of specialists that oversee every step of production. Every single part is inspected carefully, and nothing goes unchecked. It is a level of hand-built quality one might expect to find in a Ferrari Enzo or the Vector W8A of the 1980s, but almost unheard of from a manufacturer the size of Audi AG. The Turbo Quattro Coupe (or Urquattro) of the early 1980s was largely assembled by hand much in the same way, but Audi has refined the process for the R8 and has introduced one of the most spectacular sports cars ever. I hope this book will provide a better insight into the design, development, and production of this magnificent automobile.

At Audi, they are fond of recalling how a pre-production quattro left all rear-wheel-drive sedans behind on an incline in wintry Austria - with summer tires! In fact, the well-known Audi slogan Vorsprung durch Technik (Progress through Technology) has seldom been put into practice as tangibly as with the presentation of permanent all-wheel drive in the Audi quattro, which established this drive variant as one of the first in production vehicle manufacturing. And it was not only on snow-covered mountain passes that the four driven wheels played out their advantages: They were safer and, above all, faster on all kinds of surfaces. There are numerous special features that make this brand-defining sports coupe stand out: the five-cylinder in-line engine made for a husky voice, the digital displays installed in the interior from 1982 onward gave it a futuristic look, and the angular body design with its distinctive twin headlights had a high recognition factor. Anyone who drove a quattro stood out. This successful package was crowned by the successes of the sports version: Walter Röhrl's victory in the 1984 Monte Carlo Rally and the record-breaking drive in the 1987 Pikes Peak Hillclimb cemented the nimbus of the sporty all-purpose weapon. ?Forty years after its unveiling at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, the Audi quattro now receives its well-deserved tribute in a comprehensive monograph written by brand connoisseur, Audi driver, and noted automotive journalist Dirk-Michael Conradt. This 400 page, heavily illustrated book offers a complete chronology of the Urquattro from prototype to final model, and includes technical data and production figures. The illustrations include numerous previously unpublished images from the Audi factory archive.

The Audi quattro is a design landmark. When the car first appeared in 1980 it caused a sensation. Audi’s obsession with technical innovation resulted in a turbocharged four-wheel-drive machine that revolutionized rallying and took road car handling and grip to a new level. The quattro won on its rally debut, and went on to win four world titles. The quattro’s rallying career ended in 1986 with the banning of Group B, although road car production continued, and more than 11,000 cars were built in total. This beautifully designed book tells the full road car and competition story.

"This book, published on the quattro's 40th anniversary ... explores 25 years of factory-prepared and factory-supported quattros in motorsport"--Page 4 of cover