Founded by August Horch following
his fall out with partners at the company already
bearing his name, Audi being the literal German
translation of his own name. Manufactured some
successful competition cars before concentrating
on trucks during World War I. DKW would take a
controlling share 1928, Audi then manufacturing
small cars.
Audi, DKW along with Wanderer and
Horch would become part of the Auto Union concern,
hence the 4 ringed badge seen today. Was nationalised
after World War II and placed under Mercedes control
in 1949. When VW gained a majority share in 1965
they decided to re-introduce the now forgotten
Audi name for a new front-wheel-drive 1700 sedan.
Went on to become VW's upmarket brand.
1968 - 1976
The origins of the first Audi 100 have become legendary in Germany. When Volkswagen purchased Auto Union from Mercedes Benz in 1965, they seem to have been motivated by a desperate shortage of production capacity for their ’Beetle’ model which at that time was selling faster than the cars could be produced. More>>
1971 - 1995
Manufactured from 1971 until 1995, the Audi 80 shared
its platform with the parent company’s Volkswagen
Passat. The first incarnation was designated the
B1, and was available from 1972 to 1978. Sold in
some markets (including Australia and the US) as
the Audi Fox, the Audi 80 was available in either
2 door coupe or 4 door sedan body styles. More>>
1976 - 1984
The main features of the Audi 100 C2 were its cleanness and purity of line, a forward facing surface with no openings, and - for the first time - side windows completely flush with the body sides. More>>
1976 - 1984
By 1979 Germany remained the only 'western' European country with no-limit motorways, so it was not surprising that it had a large market for fast luxury cars. Mercedes-Benz and BMW of course took the lion's share of the sector, but Audi's decision to invade the area in 1976 with their front-drive '100' was significant as well as courageous. More>>
1979 - 1983
The Audi 5E was a good example of modern
European car design. It incorporated all
the latest technological advances available
in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
It was not cheap, mainly due the high import
tariffs being imposed at the time, but for
those seeking a better car, it represented
excellent value. More>>
1979 - 1983
The 5E CD marked Volkswagen's entry into the luxury
market. The designation “CD” stood
for 'Corps Dipiomatique', a term used to indicate
the very high level of equipment offered as standard
on this particular model. The CD was fitted with
just about every available luxury feature as standard.
The equipment offered included air-conditioning,
automatic transmission, power-assisted steering,
AM/FM radio/cassette stereo, central locking, electric
windows, metallic paint, and halogen lights. More>>
1980
Arguably the greatest driver's car of the 80's, the original
Audi Quattro had superb handling due to its innovative
4wd system. The Quattro was also innovative in that Audi
had become the first car maker to put full-time 4wd to
mass production. That's easy to understand, since the
contemporary 4wd systems of the time were heavy, energy-inefficient
and expensive. Moreover, for most road cars, 4wd was
always thought to be unnecessary. More>>
1983 - 1992
When Audi released the 100, its lines, styling and coefficient of drag stunned the motor industry. The car, as a production model, had been designed in complete reverse of accepted practice. Instead of designing a car to meet its carrying and performance parameters, then smoothing out the styling, instead Audi designed it in reverse. More>>
1985 - 1995
The Audi 90's competition came from the Mercedes 200-series and from BMW's upper 5-series models. It was a tough job to take on such competition, where image was what it was all about in this sector of the market. More>>
1994
In 1994 Audi contracted Porsche to help them develop
and manufacture a faster road going car than their current
S2 Avant - the result was the RS2. Based on the S2 Avant,
Porsche installed a bigger KKK turbocharger to the 2.2-litre
20 valve 5-cylinder engine. Boost pressure was raised
from 1.1 to 1.4 bar, and a revised engine management
programme coupled to a modified exhaust increased power
to an awesome 315hp. More>>
1998 -
Few would guess that the beautiful Audi TT shares components
with parent company VW's Golf, or even that of the Skoda.
Despite VW's common component strategy, Audi engineers
were able to develop the beautiful sports coupe using
the Golf floorpan and basic 1.8 litre engine (also fitted
to some Skoda's). More>>
