Audi Quartz by Pininfarina - the Quattro with an Italo look

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Audi Quartz by Pininfarina - the Quattro with an Italo look

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Created on January 4, 2025

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

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Buch-t - Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Stellantis/Werk

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Archiv

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Audi Quartz (1981) - quattro series technology was concealed under the smooth bodywork

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Audi Quartz (1981) - design drawings from 1980, headlights not yet finalized

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Audi Quartz (1981) - design drawing from 1980, silhouette

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Audi Quartz (1981) - the construction of the wooden model for wind tunnel tests and body fitting

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Audi Quartz (1981) - the technical basis, the Audi Quattro with attached wire frame

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Audi Quartz (1981) - finished wooden model for wind tunnel tests

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Audi Quartz (1981) - relatively flat front end with four Carello headlights

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Audi Quartz (1981) - wheelbase identical to the series, rear overhang significantly shorter

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Audi Quartz - styling study/prototype by Pininfarina - dedicated to AR on its 75th birthday

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Audi Quartz - The Pininfarina study based on the Audi Quattro - shown at the 1981 Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - Pininfarina masterpiece based on the Audi Quattro at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - Pininfarina masterpiece based on the Audi Quattro at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - Pininfarina masterpiece based on the Audi Quattro at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - the styling study by Pininfarina from behind

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Audi Quartz - Innovative lamp technology in the Pininfarina styling study at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - the rear of the Pininfarina study shown at the 1981 Geneva Motor Show

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Audi Quartz - Design concepts for the styling study by Pininfarina

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Audi Quartz (1981) - during AR test drives in 1986

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Audi Quartz (1981) - during AR test drives in 1986

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Audi Quartz (1981) - Interior with standard instruments

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Audi Quartz (1981) - photographed at Audi in the exhibition

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Audi quattro (1981) - the fast quattro differs from the normal coupé in its fender extensions and twin headlights, among other things

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Audi quattro (1981) - 200 hp and 220 km/h fast

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Audi quattro (1981) - traction is required here

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Audi quattro (1981) - can also handle larger trailer loads

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Audi quattro (1981) - comfortable, classy and luxurious

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Audi quattro (1981) - even in sporty use, the Audi amazes with its safe driving characteristics

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Audi quattro (1981) - with all-wheel drive you have an advantage

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Audi quattro (1981) - for the winegrower?

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Audi quattro (1981) - Transparency drawing

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Audi quattro (1981) - A look inside the gearbox

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Audi quattro (1981) - the all-wheel drive - left transmission, right rear axle

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Audi quattro (1981) - five-cylinder turbo engine

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Audi quattro (1981) - technical components in detail

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Pininfarina Brio (1983) - created on the basis of the Fiat Abarth 125 TC

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Alfa Romeo Vivace (1986) - Pininfarina's study anticipated the future front of the 164

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Alfa Romeo 164 Protéo (1991) - silhouette, demonstration of the folding roof mechanism

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Alfa Romeo 164 Protéo (1991) - with closed roof

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Alfa Romeo GTV (1994) - the production coupé

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Summary

In March 1981, Pininfarina presented the Audi Quartz at the Geneva Motor Show, a reinterpretation of the Audi Quattro, which had been shown for the first time a year earlier. Created with the help of Automobil Revue to mark its 75th birthday, the elegant coupé thrilled visitors to the show at the time. The prototype was an exception in many respects, not least because it was drivable and even underwent a test drive. This report tells the story of the Audi Quartz and shows it together with its production counterpart, the Audi Quattro, in many pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Planned early on
Forward-looking design and details
Elaborately built one-off
Drivable and tested
Source of ideas for Fiat and Alfa Romeo offshoots
A masterpiece that has aged gracefully?
Comparison of the technical data of the original quattro and the Quartz

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

It happened in March 1981, during one of my first ever visits to the Geneva Motor Show. There stood this Pininfarina prototype, clearly recognizable as an Audi modification with its four rings. The car looked so modern and attractive that I could hardly take my eyes (and my camera lens) off it. I never took more photos of any other car that day than of this Audi Quartz. Almost 44 years have passed since then and you start to wonder how well this concept car has actually aged. But more about that later. The story goes something like this: For his 50th birthday, Sergio Pininarina dedicated the Ferrari Pinin to his design and bodywork company on the occasion of the 1980 Turin Motor Show. Sergio was a close friend of Robert Braunschweig, the internationally influential and well-connected editor-in-chief of Automobil Revue, and was of course aware of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Swiss automobile weekly magazine.

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