The Cars Are The Stars

Fame has returned to the sought-after original Audi quattro thanks to its starring role in the new BBC TV drama series Ashes to Ashes, that sees the return of DCI Gene Hunt.

This time the action takes place in the eighties, with Gene swapping his Ford Cortina for an Audi quattro. The most priceless example of the legendary sports car that pioneered four-wheel-drive for production road cars is Audi UK's own unregistered car with zero miles, and will never be put up for sale.

So rare is this car - the last right-hand-drive quattro sports car ever made - that Audi is forced to keep it in a secret location and stored in a sealed, dehumidified environment. Similar to the TV star example seen nationally each week, the as-new, just as it left the line Audi-owned example even shares the same bright red paint colour.

An untouched and as new car could actually be worth an unlimited sum to an enthusiast Audi collector. “We would never be able to replace this car and its value to the brand is inestimable,” says Jeremy Hicks Director of Audi UK. “Whenever we have exhibited it, we have received a succession of surprisingly high offers, but sadly this particular car, the quattro that started it all for the company in the early eighties, will never be for sale.”

In the final twist to the tale experts have spotted that the specimen of the model featured in the TV drama is actually a 1984 model year quattro identified by its single headlamp binnacles which, say the pundits, was not yet on sale in 1980. At that time the first quattro launch in March 1980 features twin headlamp lenses on each side.

“The unprecedented exposure from the TV show has thrown the spotlight back onto the original quattro for the first time since production ceased almost twenty years ago. We are seeing renewed interest in our classic cars and we fully expect demand for the first Audi quattro to rise dramatically this year,” says Mr Hicks.

Audi has just launched the latest manifestation of the quattro line with the 580PS RS 6 quattro Avant priced from £77,625 on the road. Capable of up to 174mph, the RS6 - the most powerful road Audi ever made - arrives with its first UK customers in May.

Intriguingly, Audi has always spelt 'quattro' with a lower case Q.

Cars from the 1980s are back in fashion, partly thanks to Ashes to Ashes, and British Car Auctions (BCA) is predicting a rise in nostalgia and demand for iconic 80s cars as a result.

Robin Lawton, Head of BCA's 'Classics' department explains, “We've seen a rising interest in cars from the 1980s in recent sales and we expect the start of the new BBC TV series to fuel this even further. People are beginning to feel a sense of nostalgia for 80s fashions and this includes cars like the Golf GTI, Rover SD1, Ford Cortina, BMW and Mercedes models of that era, several of which feature in our next Classics sale.”

The first BCA Classics sale of 2008 is on 26th February 2008 at Blackbushe and a selection of 80s classics are on offer, including a Mercedes Benz 500 SEC once owned by Bob Monkhouse, a Lotus Esprit S3 and a Porsche 911 Turbo.

So far no one has put a 1980s Audi Quattro up for sale, although Robin Lawton, Head of BCA's Classics Division isn't surprised. “The early Audi Quattros that do come up for sale create a great deal of interest with enthusiasts, but with only 11,452 built over the eleven year production period they are pretty thin on the ground now.” 

Lawton says, “Classics from the 80s have probably been undervalued in recent years. We may well see a surge in interest in the weeks and months ahead!”

Bookmark with:

• Delicious
• Digg
• reddit
• StumbleUpon

Don’t know what this is?

Read the 50connect Guide To Social Bookmarking.