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Audi Avus Quattro - All theory is silver

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Created on December 22, 2025

Text:

Paul Krüger

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16

Archiv

16

Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Polished instead of painted, it was the sensation of the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - The heavily curved fenders are reminiscent of the Auto-Union's world record cars

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - The near-series Audi radiator grille was a wish of Ferdinand Piëch. The first design had only four rings on the hood

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - scissor doors as a foreshadowing of the later liaison with Lamborghini

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Can light up, but can't drive: The W12 is just a dummy made of wood and plastic

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - aluminum island in glass: the intake air scoop seems to float above the car

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - In the rear-view mirror, the driver can almost only see the two large intake air ducts

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - scissor doors as a foreshadowing of the later liaison with Lamborghini

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - With a little imagination, the features of the Bugatti Veyron can already be guessed here

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Today RSQ8 owners laugh about it, but in 1991 20-inch wheels were outrageously huge

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - The tires were custom-made by Goodyear and have Audi rings on the sidewall

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Technocratic and cool on the outside, with a surprising amount of wood in the interior

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - The view-through drawing shows the two-part tubular frame, the theoretical installation position of the W12 and the double wishbone wheel suspension

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Early design, still without air scoop on the roof and radiator grille

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Audi Avus Quattro (1991) - Only in direct comparison with the Quattro Spyder does it become clear how dainty it is

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Summary

The Audi Avus Quattro was more sculpture than sports car, yet its name paid homage to a glorious motorsport past. At its presentation, it was the sensation of the Tokyo Motor Show. Who cared that the "Vorsprung durch Technik" only existed on paper?

This article contains the following chapters

Union Berlin
Advantage without technology

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Rally sport was revolutionized; two touring car series in the USA were shaken up and eleven speed records were broken . They had even tried their hand at a Nascar racing car. The planned DTM commitment with the Audi V8 would be in the same vein as the IMSA-GTO and Trans-Am, but on home soil. On public roads, the winter ensured that quattro consolidated its "Vorsprung durch Technik" from year to year. By the end of the 1980s, there was not much left where Audi's all-wheel drive could still demonstrate its superiority. Perhaps in a super sports car? Germany had surprisingly little to offer in this area, apart from the Porsche 959, which was basically just a 911 on steroids. The decisive factor was finally the Tokyo Motor Show in 1989: after bold concept cars had been a US specialty until the 1970s, Japan had established itself as the new home of the craziest design studies over the course of the last decade. The automotive visions of the future from the Far East were not only the most daring in terms of design, but also the most technically visionary.

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