Audi Quattro (Ur-Quattro) History

First shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, the Audi Quattro (retrospectively called the Ur-Quattro — German 'Ur' meaning 'original' or 'primordial') was a radical combination no road car had attempted before: a turbocharged five-cylinder engine mated to permanent four-wheel drive in a performance coupe. The powertrain concept was adapted from the Volkswagen Iltis military vehicle, but the Quattro's application was entirely new.

On the World Rally Championship stage the Quattro was transformative. Competing from 1981, it made four-wheel drive the new standard for rally success; Michèle Mouton, Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, and Walter Röhrl drove for the brand as it captured multiple WRC manufacturers' and drivers' titles between 1982 and 1984 — including, notably, victories in Group B, the most extreme road-car-based formula ever run in top-level rallying.

Just 11,452 Ur-Quattros were built through 1991. More important than its own sales numbers was the technology it seeded: 'quattro' became Audi's trademark all-wheel-drive system, fitted to millions of subsequent cars across every segment. No single model has done more to define a brand's identity.