Now, reunited with the massive resources of publishers Haynes, Jeremy takes an all-colour look back at the original turbo quattro 4x4, the machine that started a road and rally revolution.
Over 90 per cent of the pictures are new, many shot by Simon Clay in dedicated studio conditions. In 160 pages the background story of the first quattro's birth, including the intense political and development battles with owners Volkswagen to push that historic badge onto the World stage.
From its public debut at Geneva March 3 1980, the quattro was an instant sensation. The original 2-door coupe was a low volume image building exercise that made over 11,500 copies instead of the original 400-off estimate. Today there are over 2 million road registered cars carrying the quattro 4x4 trademark.
Supporting such profitable sales was Audi Sport’s massive 1981-1986 World Rally Championship programme. Often controversial, often explosively unreliable, the flame-spitting rallying quattros set new benchmarks for World class speed over slippery surfaces. They seized four World titles 1982-84 guided by male and female driving talent from Scandinavia, Germany and France. The UK contribution is included with more studio standard rally car pictures and the cooperation of the Audi factories allies in World wide campaigns: David Sutton Motorsport.
Jeremy deploys the benefit of hindsight most effectively when discussing the problems of running an original quattro — and many older Audis — in the 21st century.
