Auto News 5

Back in 2008 Audi began work on project Anniversario, a supercoupe that was meant to highlight the firm's centenary in 2009 with a debut at the Pebble Beach Concours weekend. But then the stock markets collapsed, overt celebrations were no longer en vogue, and at the rather subdued 100 years of Audi party we witnessed the debut of the socially and environmentally more compatible zero-emissions R8 e-tron. A mere twelve months later, however, the global economy has recovered (somewhat), Audi is almost three quarters through yet another record year, and the brand motto Vorsprung durch Technik (Advantage through Engineering) can again be advertised by much harder-core products. As it happens, 2010 marks the 30th birthday of the Quattro 4WD system pioneered by the ingenious Ferdinand Piech, who fathered the iconic Ur-Quattro, which was unveiled at the 1980 Geneva auto show. The most extreme variant of the chunky four-seat coupe was the limited edition, short-wheelbase, plastic-bodied Sport Quattro that triggered all those famous world championship-winning rally cars. What could be a better source of inspiration for the new Quattro?