Audi Tradition is once again taking part in more than a dozen events in Germany and abroad this year, celebrating a very special anniversary. Exactly 40 years ago, the company with the four rings presented the Audi quattro and took its first step into the premium segment. Classic events on the calendar include the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Classic Days Schloss Dyck, the Eifel Rally in Daun and the Donau Classic, where the quattro models will naturally take center stage in this special year.
Present at many events
The Bremen Classic Motorshow (January 31 to February 2) kicked off the event program this year. AUDI AG's historic department also flew the flag at the GP Ice Race (February 1 and 2) in Zell am See, where an Audi quattro Rallye S1 drifted across the frozen lake.
The classic car trade fair "Techno Classica" in Essen (March 25 to 29) traditionally marks the start of the year. Audi Tradition can be found in Hall 4 at the exhibition for historic automobiles. The motto of Audi's trade fair appearance is "40 years of quattro - all-wheel drive for all days". The focus will be on various Audi Ur-quattros.
Premiere of the Audi quattro 40 years ago
In March 1980, an all-wheel-drive, sporty coupé caused a huge stir during the Geneva Motor Show.
The Audi quattro was the first high-performance vehicle with all-wheel drive to be offered for large-scale production, a drive concept that had previously only been used in trucks and off-road vehicles. The idea for such a four-wheel-drive passenger car was born in the winter of 1976/77 during test drives with the VW Iltis off-road vehicle being developed by Audi for the German army. The excellent handling of this off-road vehicle on ice and snow led to the idea of installing the four-wheel drive of the VW Iltis in a standard Audi 80.
The test drives were convincing. The result was a sporty Audi Coupé with the name quattro. The power was provided by a version of the 2.2 liter five-cylinder turbo engine presented in the autumn of 1979, which was boosted to 147 kW / 200 hp.
The Audi quattro made its motorsport debut at the beginning of 1981 at the January Rally in Austria. From then on, the all-wheel drive powerhouse from Ingolstadt revolutionized the international rally and racing scene.
Showing the quattro
Reason enough for Audi Tradition to let historic Audi quattros roll out of the depot in this year's event season, be it the road or rally models. Classics in the Audi Tradition event program include the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England (July 9 to 12), the Eifel Rallye Festival in Daun (July 23 to 25), the Classic Days Schloss Dyck in Jüchen (July 31 to August 2), the home events Donau Classic (June 18 to 20) in Ingolstadt and the Heidelberg Historic (July 9 to 11) near Neckarsulm as well as the Sachsen Classic at the company's historic site in Zwickau (August 13 to 15).
The brand with the four rings will be flying the flag at the Rossfeld hill climb in Berchtesgaden (September 25 to 27), at the Audi RegioSprint in Ingolstadt (April 25) and for the first time at the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix (August 1 and 2). Historic motorcycles and an Auto Union Type C can be seen and heard at the Sachsenring Classic in Hohenstein-Ernstthal (May 8 to 10). The season finale will be the model car fairs at the Audi Forums in Neckarsulm (November 8) and Ingolstadt (November 29).
