Audi Quattro Book

Safe, fast, sporty: Forty years of the Audi Quattro

Audi likes to tell the anecdote that a pre-series Audi quattro vehicle outperformed all rear-wheel drive sedans on a slope in wintry Austria – with summer tires! In fact, the well-known slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” has seldom been implemented so tangibly as with the presentation of the permanent all-wheel drive in the Audi quattro, which established this drive variant as one of the first in series vehicle construction. And not only on snow-covered mountain passes did the four driven wheels show their advantages: on all kinds of surfaces, you drove safer and above all: faster.

Now, forty years after it was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1980, the Audi quattro is receiving the recognition it deserves in the form of a unique illustrated book. The author Dirk-Michael Conradt is not only an Audi driver himself, but also an experienced motor journalist and was editor-in-chief of the magazines sport auto and Motor Klassik. In cooperation with Audi Tradition, he looks back on the success story of this extraordinary Audi model and shows the special features of the brand-defining sports coupé:

• The complete chronology of the Audi Urquattro from the prototype to the final model
• A piece of Audi history: All technical data and production figures
• Exciting background information and numerous, partly unpublished photos from the Audi factory archive

Four wins: The innovative all-wheel drive puts the Audi quattro in the fast lane

Anyone who drove an Audi quattro was noticed: the five-cylinder in-line engine made for a hoarse voice, the digital displays installed in the interior from 1982 gave it a futuristic look and the angular body design with the striking twin headlights had a high recognition value. This successful package was crowned by the successes of the sports variant: Walter Röhrl’s victory in the 1984 Monte Carlo Rally and the record attempt at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1987 cemented the aura of the sporty all-purpose weapon.

Thoroughly researched, entertainingly written and illustrated with 350 illustrations: the book by Audi expert Dirk-Michael Conradt is not only a noble present for the 40th birthday of the Audi quattro – but also for all car lovers and Audi fans!

Please note that this book is written in German.