Although Audi is, in some ways, the underdog of the German premium automaker triad, it has produced no shortage of interesting, important, and otherwise exceptional vehicles in its time. What, though, was the most iconic of all of them?
It’s hard to talk about Audi without talking about all-wheel-drive. By no means the only automaker to make the technology a central tenet of its brand identity, few are as central to the story of how AWD went from specialized technology, to omnipresent drivetrain orientation.
Audi is, of course, the brand that changed the sport of rally when it introduced the Audi Sport Quattro S1 racecar, which came to dominate the legendary Group B category of racing. Such was the impact of that car, that none since has won the World Rally Championship’s highest honor without sending power to all four wheels.
Read: 2023 Audi R8 Coupe GT RWD Is An Oversteering Last Hurrah For The V10 And (N)ICE Sounds
The German automaker continued to experiment with the technology, though, and introduced it to tarmac racers like the Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO, which was so fast that AWD was outlawed the series shortly after its introduction.
Perhaps not exclusively because of those vehicles, but thanks in part to them, AWD went from niche technology, to fascinating racecar toy, to its almost ho-hum status today. It’s hard to argue against something like the homologation special Audi Quattro Sport being a prime candidate for the title of most iconic model of all time.
There are, however, other vehicles with a claim to the throne. The Audi RS 2 Avant, for instance, launched the much-loved Audi RS brand and is one of the defining fast wagons of the ’90s. The Audi R8, meanwhile, helped elevate the Audi brand with supercar performance and a now legendary V10 engine. And that’s to say nothing of the brand’s older vehicles, nor the legacy of its Auto Union days.
What do you think? What’s the most iconic Audi model of all time?
