It’s still seen as something of a wonder that Lexus was able to make a breakthrough as rapidly as it did in the exclusive luxury market. However, Mercedes, BMW, and Jaguar were Lexus’ three primary rivals when it first entered the market in 1989. The third force in Germany’s Big Three, Audi, was seldom noticed. That was somewhat due to the fact that it was written off following a significant PR incident in America, but it was also due to the fact that Audi, as we know it, is still a relative newcomer to the luxury market.
Mercedes can be traced back to what is (arguably) the first gasoline-powered automobile, BMW’s ancestors were producing motorbikes and aircraft engines well before World War I, and while Audi can be traced back to 1910, its history is less clear. Because he had already started and departed an eponymous firm, founder August Horch was prevented from naming a vehicle after himself. As a result, he gave his second company the Latin name Audi, which means “to hear” (Horch means hear in German). After being purchased by DKW in 1928, Audi was incorporated into Auto Union in 1932 along with its parent business, the original Horch brand, and Wanderer, therefore the four rings emblem it still employs today.
After the Second World War, Auto Union mostly continued to produce compact, front-wheel-drive vehicles powered by two-stroke engines. Mercedes-Benz bought the business in 1958, but it quickly became unsuccessful. In 1964, Mercedes-Benz sold the business to Volkswagen. The Audi was the first vehicle to bear the logo in over 30 years when Volkswagen introduced a new sedan in 1965 while the business was still formally known as Auto Union. It was combined in 1969 with the modest but upscale NSU brand to become Audi NSU Auto Union AG.
However, Volkswagen kept a close eye on Audi, even marketing some of them as Audi-Volkswagens in various regions. For fear of being obliged to market badge-engineered Volkswagens, Audi’s management secretly created the midsize 100 sedan. In actuality, the exact reverse occurred. Although there was a mutually beneficial connection between Volkswagen and Audi, the parent corporation mostly relied on the brand to produce more traditional automobiles as it prepared for a future without the Beetle, which it rebadged and sold under its own name. As a result, the Audi 50 was rebadged as the original Volkswagen Polo while the Audi 80/Fox was rebadged as the Volkswagen Passat. Audis had a reputation for being well-liked mid-market vehicles, but most of them lacked excitement. As a result, chief engineer Ferdinand Pich and Audi engineer Jrg Bensinger recommended in 1977 that work on a rally-oriented halo car for the brand get underway. There’s a chance Audi wouldn’t be here today if Volkswagen had said no.
A collaborative initiative developed by various European nations in the late 1960s called for a light military vehicle that could be employed by numerous nations on the continent. Volkswagen poured itself into the project, known as the Europa Jeep initiative, and produced the Type 181, or The Thing, and later the Type 183, or Iltis. The 181’s mechanical components were mostly similar to those of outdated air-cooled Volkswagen vehicles, but the Iltis was far more sophisticated. Its motor and suspension were designed by Audi, whose team also created an extraordinarily powerful, portable, and dependable four-wheel drive system. Audi engineers discovered that the 1.7 liter Iltis and its motor could outperform any other vehicle in snow during winter testing. It would be unlike anything the world has ever seen if it could manufacture a sports automobile using this technology.
Prior to Audi’s four-wheel drive system, 44 technology was viewed as costly, inconvenient, and unmistakably rural. Even then, in the late 1950s, American automakers like Ford and Chevrolet had yet to offer factory-installed four-wheel drive trucks for their pickups, and while Jeep’s Quadra-Trac technology was developing, the market for 44 automobiles was still relatively tiny. However, Audi insisted that its approach was unique and that it could produce a car of the highest caliber without incurring astronomical development expenses.
Audi revealed the Quattro at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, and it went on sale not long after. It was mostly based on the Audi 80 Coupe. Its extraordinary four-wheel drive system, which has since been upgraded with an ingeniously-packaged center differential, would have been unremarkable if it weren’t for the fact that it was initially powered by a 2.1 liter inline five that produced 197 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque. The highest speed was an amazing 143 miles per hour, come rain or shine, and zero to sixty arrived in 7.1 seconds with power traveling to all four wheels.
The Quattro was the first four-wheel drive vehicle to compete in the World Rally Championship, and as such, it quickly established itself as a living legend. When Group B restrictions were implemented in 1982, Audi merely improved upon its dominance in the sport, winning once more in ’82 and ’84. When the no-holds-barred Group B period started, the original Quattro racer benefited from a turbocharger producing 300 horsepower, but by then it was producing 350. It would only get weirder from there.
Audi took the Quattro, which was already powerful, and made it into one of the most fearsome performance vehicles the world had ever seen in 1984. By reducing the wheelbase by a foot, adding a carbon-kevlar shell, and tuning the engine, Audi created the Sport Quattro, which has an output of over 300 in stock trim and close to 450 in competition. Audi unveiled the S2 variant the following year, right before Group B came to a grinding halt, with a revised body kit and tweaked engine. Although it was openly known that it was actually putting out more than 500 ponies, the official power output was around 475. No matter what surface you were driving on, it took around three seconds to go from 0 to 60.
Audi immediately benefited from the Quattro’s success in rallies. The Quattro’s mythology loomed large enough where it projected performance credentials on everything with four rings on its grille as its portfolio matured into sleek, tech-laden cars that could finally start competing with BMW and Mercedes.
The automotive press was astounded even in production trim. According to Motor Trend in June 1982:
The ultracar from Audi is simply beyond description with conventional automotive superlatives. The Quattro can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 8 seconds and easily cruise through most curves at twice the recommended top speed. The cherry on top is that it can make the best use of the worst potential road conditions. Did we also mention that it has an EPA rating of 18 for cities and 28 for highways?
As fantastic as it was, the Audi Quattro maintained its position at the top of the performance car food chain because to its $35,000 base price (about $85,000 today). Only 664 of the 11,000 total vehicles produced until production ceased in 1991 were sold in the United States, and 220 of those were short-wheelbase Quattro Sports.
However, Quattro was no longer capitalized by 1991 and was offered across the board by Audi. The revolutionary four-wheel drive system had contributed to Audi’s mystique, and it was quickly establishing itself as a global presence in luxury markets. The S2, which replaced the Quattro virtually where the former left off, is now a viable rival to the BMW M3, albeit only in Europe.
The Audi lineup received an era-defining rounded style language for 1995, virtually eradicating its U.S. market sales issues and eventually establishing it as the third equal participant in Germany’s luxury vehicle market. Both Audi enthusiasts and the company itself now regard the Ur-Quattro as the most significant model in the company’s history. Although the Audi name has been existing for 106 years, the brand as we know it was only created 36 years ago and was raised in some of the harshest environments on earth.
In This Article...
What vehicle did Audi produce covertly?
Ludwig Kraus, a former Mercedes-Benz engineer, created the Audi 100 in secret because the new parent corporation Volkswagen wasn’t very interested in producing any new Audi models. However, after seeing the vehicle, Volkswagen Group officials were unable to reject it.
Which Audi is the most recognizable?
Audi’s Most Famous Automobiles
- Via: Noticias de Coches. Audi 100 (19681976)
- a Quattro Audi (19801981) through Autonocion.
- S1 Evo 2 Audi Sport Quattro (19841986) through: Periodism of the motor.
- Via: Secret Classics, Audi V8 (1988-1993).
- Audi S2 (19901993)
- RS2 Avant Audi (19941995)
- Acura TT (1998Present)
What gained Audi notoriety?
Why not look into an exclusive brand like Audi if you’re in the market for a new car? The engines and transmissions in Audi vehicles function admirably and are of the highest quality. Audi’s popularity has grown as it has introduced its many models to more international markets. One of the best choices you can make when shopping for a new car is to get an Audi. Continue reading this article by Pfaff Audi Vaughan to find out more about how the Audi brand has grown to be so well-known.