Has it really been 40 years since the launch of the Audi Quattro? I cannot think of a car that has had such a dramatic impact on all forms of road transport and motorsport.
There was serious innovation involved in making all wheel drive passenger cars. I know, there had been other efforts before. The Jensen FF, with its Ferguson four-wheel drive system. Land Rover and the Range Rover had already been introduced. But Audi pulled it off with such elan, in a conventional looking road car.
Entering a new decade with something that would change rallying forever. Road cars seems to be quite often four, or all-wheel drive. Even if it’s an electronically switchable system. It has caught on with all manufacturers.
Audi even managed to make a success of the Quattro system in circuit racing. British touring cars with the A4, IMSA and Trans Am series with the 90 and 200 respectively. All sorts of rule changes were made to make them less competitive, but Audi still won. They stuck around long enough to prove their point.
Introduced to the public in 1980 at the Geneva Motor Show. Three years in development under Walter Treser, the man behind the concept. The Audi Quattro hit the ground running; this was a polished finished product. Every bit as well put together and developed as any of their other offerings.
To me this was the pinnacle of what made Audi great. At a time when everyone had different ideas on how to do something, Audi stood out. These days that’s hard to do, with everyone copying your formula for success, but it was inevitable. They even sent a 100 CS quattro up a ski slope for a TV commercial to prove the point.
All the great innovations that are made to work do stand the test of time. Which means, everyone will be doing it.
