Audi analyzes limited production for quattro concept shown at Paris

Audi

Audi is looking at limited production for its quattro concept.

The quattro lives!

As Audi boss Rupert Stadler was lifting the veil on the spectacular quattro concept at the Paris motor show to celebrate 30 years of four-wheel drive last week, a dedicated team of engineers at its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, were busy advancing plans that—if approved—will see the evocatively styled coupe assembled in limited numbers on a dedicated line at the company’s newly acquired sister company, ItalDesign, near Milan, Italy.

Describing the quattro as more than just a one-off show car, key Audi officials confirmed a business case aimed at taking it into limited production was being created. “We are rethinking standard processes to make it possible,” enthused Stephan Reil, head of development at Audi’s quattro division. “We know how to engineer it already.”

Although ItalDesign has no existing assembly operations, it has a background in low-volume production and was responsible for the construction of the BMW M1. It is also regularly used by Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen, to construct concept cars, including the stillborn Nardo supercar.

Conceived to embody the rally-bred spirit and technological flare of Audi’s iconic Sport quattro launched in 1984, the modern-day quattro is clothed in a uniquely styled aluminum-and-carbon-fiber body that sits on a modified steel floorpan and has four-wheel-drive underpinnings from the RS5. This setup provides an impressively low 2,866-pound curb weight, roughly the same as that of the original Sport quattro used to homologate Audi’s storming Group B rally cars.

Modifications made to the RS5’s floorpan include a 150-millimeter reduction in wheelbase, taking it down to 102.4 inches. In all, the new Audi measures 168.5 inches in length, 73.2 inches in width and 52.4 inches in height.

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