From the original winning car from 1985 to the faithful replica of the Pikes Peak record car from 1987: Hamburg Motor Classics is dedicating an extraordinary special show to the legendary Audi Ur-quattro - from the very beginnings to the so-called "winged monsters", the classic cars will be presented, including vehicles from rally legends such as Michele Mouton and Walter Röhrl. In addition to the classic cars on display, the Hamburg Motor Classics from October 19 to 21 will also offer plenty of advice and information for newcomers. Topics such as the valuation, purchase, insurance and care of classic and vintage cars will be addressed by industry experts in specialist presentations, providing even inexperienced visitors with a deeper insight.
Special show with original Audi quattro Sport S1 E2
The special show was put together by proven experts - the members of the 1st Bavarian urquattro club e.V. Nord, who know more about the classic all-wheel drive Audi than almost anyone else. One of the special highlights is the original Audi quattro Sport S1 E2, in which the former world champion Stig Blomqvist competed in the 1985 Rally Argentina. This car is a so-called Group B vehicle, which was soon nicknamed the "wing monster" due to its spectacular appearance, including spoiler and lavish fender extensions. With its 476 hp five-cylinder turbo engine, the car accelerated from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.1 seconds.
Audi quattro A2 by Michele Mouton and Walter Röhrl
The other exhibits are just as spectacular. For example, two replicas of the Audi quattro A2 from 1983 and 1984, which are 90 percent identical to the originals. Michele Mouton, the most successful female driver in rally history to date, competed in various races in one of them, while German rally ace Walter Röhrl won the 1984 Monte Carlo Rally in the other.
Another highlight of the special show is the replica of a very special Ur-quattro: Walter Röhrl's Pikes Peak car from 1987. Pikes Peak is a 4301-metre-high mountain in the American Rocky Mountains, to the summit of which a world-famous and prestigious race has been held every year since 1916. Audi and Walter Röhrl competed at the time with a 600 hp quattro and set a new course record.
The large Ur-quattro special show at Hamburg Motor Classics presents a total of six vehicles from the unforgettable eighties of rallying. However, the show is presenting far more than just a selection of winning cars. The original quattro and its sports variants also stand for the rise of an idea. Today, every car enthusiast knows the Audi models with the
quattro lettering, which stands for their all-wheel drive. In the late seventies, however, road cars with four-wheel drive were still virtually unknown. Only the small British sports car manufacturer Jensen had produced around 300 cars with this type of drive in 1966, followed by the Japanese manufacturer Subaru in 1971 with the so-called L series and limited success.
The first all-wheel drive Audi
The breakthrough of the idea, however, came from Audi. The story behind it is said to have happened like this: In 1977, the plant in Scandinavia carried out test drives with new saloon models in wintry conditions. Test manager Jörg Bensinger eventually noticed that a VW off-road vehicle used as an escort vehicle with a rather weak 75 hp usually made faster progress than the saloons in question.
Back in Germany, Bensinger reported his experiences to his superiors - including the future VW boss Ferdinand Piëch. He was then commissioned to develop a four-wheel drive prototype based on an Audi 80. In 1978, this prototype was finally presented to the Volkswagen Board of Management. And it was presented on a snow-covered slope in Austria. Other vehicles with snow chains and winter tires also competed there - the new all-wheel drive Audi overcame them all, and with summer tires.
The decision was made to build such a car in series. In 1980, the Audi quattro was officially presented at the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. This car, later called the Ur-quattro, was based on the Audi Coupé of the time, but differed from it externally with a larger spoiler and wider fenders, among other things. No fewer than 11,452 examples of this car were produced between 1980 and 1991.
The Sport quattro, built from 1984, with its shortened body and a 306 hp engine, is unforgettable from this period. Just 220 examples of this car were built up to 1985. Mass was not the aim of this project: rather, the Sport quattro served as the basis for the legendary rally quattro of that era, which is also the focus of the special show at Motor Classics Hamburg. A lot has changed at Audi since then, but one thing remains as true today as it was then: the term quattro is always written in lower case.
The Hamburg Motor Classics will take place from October 19 to 21, 2018 at the Hamburg exhibition grounds. The classic car fair is open on Friday from 12 noon to 8 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Further information can be found on the website.
