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Audi 80 F103 Variant - The successful new start from Ingolstadt

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Created on July 2, 2025

Text:

Martin Sigrist

Photos:

Audi UK / Luc Lacey

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Audi / Werk

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Archiv

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Audi UK / Luc Lacey

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Audi / Werk

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Archiv

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Technically, the Audi was well ahead of the average of its competitors

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - The estate car as a departure into the leisure society

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Delivered new in the UK with right-hand drive

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - For families and craftsmen

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - unmistakably an Audi right from the start

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Estate car

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A beautifully designed estate car

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A new face to remember

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - With 80 hp still a decent engine today

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - neutral at first, then understeering - but always good-natured

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - the new face of the mid-size class in 1965

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Chrome, but not too much

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - The principle is still used by Audi today: Longitudinal engine in front of the gearbox with axle and front-wheel drive

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A new, old name for the successor to the DKW F102

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A help for the observer back then: This is one of those new Audi

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - The chrome frame was style-defining for the Audi of the first generation

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - With a little imagination it becomes clear why it is called Ralf

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Bertone would have made the headlights wider, but the front of the Audi in-house designers also looks more coherent than that of the DKW F102 with round headlights

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - New meaning for the four rings of the Auto Union

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Variant extra code from the VW parts pool

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Yes, there was an Audi 80 before the B1

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Naked sheet metal was out, but there was plenty of wooden foil instead

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - The oval steering wheel was a DKW legacy

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A touch of gold in a reduced environment

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - A clear view of the dashboard: a steering wheel baffle is still an unknown quantity

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Horn buttons in chrome

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Audi 80 F103 Variant (1968) - Friendly interior color

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Audi 72 (1965) - drawn

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Audi 72 (1965) - here as a two-tone model

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Audi 72 (1965) - as a four-door sedan

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Audi 60 L (1971) - a late variant with the 60 hp engine

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Audi Variant (1966) - the two-door estate car

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Audi 72 (1965) - View from the front

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Audi 72 (1965) - rear view

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Audi 72 (1965) - View into the trunk

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Audi Variant (1966) - at the Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Variant (1966) - at the Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Variant (1966) - practical estate car

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Audi Variant (1966) - at the Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Variant (1966) - with practical tailgate

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Audi 72 (1966) - Engine in Geneva 1966

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Audi 72 (1965) - the engine at the IAA in Frankfurt

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Audi 72 (1966) - the engine fits easily

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Audi 72 (1965) - new front with rectangular headlights

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Audi (1965) - International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt 1965 - the focus is on economic cooperation

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Audi 72 (1965) - the presentation at the IAA 1965 in Frankfurt

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Audi 72 (1965) - from the front and rear

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Audi 72 (1966) - four-door sedan in the wild

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Audi 72 (1965) - the cockpit, which was largely adopted unchanged from the F 102

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Audi 72 (1965) - driver's seat folded forward

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Audi (1965) - the first four-stroke car from Ingolstadt was presented in September, it was simply called 'Audi'

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Audi 60 L (1971) - 1496 cm3 and 55 hp

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Audi 60 L (1971) - 1.5 liter displacement and 55 hp

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Audi 80 L (1970) - "New rear end for Audi 60 to 90, model 71"

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Audi 75 station wagon (1968) - Audi already had a station wagon in the sixties

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Audi 75 Variant (1969) - rare estate variant

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Audi (1965) - Advertising for the four-stroke engine

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Audi Karmann Cabriolet (1967) - open individual version - International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt 1967

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DKW Auto Union F 102 (1964) - women were also specifically addressed

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Audi Super 90 (1968) - the fastest variant of the F103 in the test

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Summary

On September 9, 1965, the new majority shareholders of Auto Union invited Volkswagen to Lake Starnberg. The F103, the quasi-successor to the very slow-selling DKW F102, was presented here. The surprise? The new one was not called DKW but: Audi! And it was also available as a station wagon ...

This article contains the following chapters

Space miracle with reserves
Meet "Ralf"
The virtue of renunciation
Cruising through the countryside
Uncompromising space
Seven years of maturation

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The F103 had been partially developed by Mercedes-Benz - despite instructions from the new owner in Stuttgart, nobody at Auto Union could bring themselves to design a four-stroke engine, so an engine from the Mercedes-Benz testing department was installed. However, Volkswagen had been in charge in Ingolstadt since 1964, after the Wolfsburg-based company had acquired a 51 percent majority stake in Auto Union from Mercedes-Benz that year. In 1966, the manufacturer from Ingolstadt would finally become wholly owned by VW. In the same year, 1966, the last DKW with a two-stroke engine rolled off the production line, but its four-stroke brother Audi F103 now went full throttle and, in addition to a two-door Coach and a four-door Sedan, was now also available as a three-door Break. In line with the Group's practice of naming its "estate cars", the Audi estate was designated with the suffix "Variant".

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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