Re: Audi '86 "Commemorative Design" Series (long)

[Jim & Bev <jazman@accunet.net>]

Doyt W. Echelberger wrote:
> 
> Jazman.....All us 86 4KcsQ'ers want to see/own/ that brochure. Short of
> that, please tell us in detail all about it. Describe every part of every
> page. 

Okay. But I'm going to do this in installments so I wont go blind.  On April 30, 1986
I received an art print of the 1986 Commemorative Design 5000CS Sedan.  I guess I was on 
their mailing list, since we bought a new 1985 5000S the year before. I've got the print 
framed and it hung for many years in my office, now its at home.  If I had test driven a 
new Audi, I would have received 3 additional art prints of the other cars in the 
Commemorative series.  Here's the schedule of the installments that make up the 
brochure describing the 1986 Commemorative Design:

Day 1  "A Celebration in Engineering and Innovation"
Day 2  The Commemorative Design 5000CS Sedan
Day 3  The Commemorative Design 4000CS Sedan
Day 4  The Commemorative Design 4000CS Quattro
Day 5  The Commemorative Design Coupe GT

"A Celebration in Engineering and Innovation"

1986 marks the 100th anniversary of the German automobile.  From this country came many 
of the engineering advances which contributed to the automobile's rapid evolution and 
acceptance.  Many of thes advances, in fact, came directly from Audi and its forebearer, 
the Horch automobile.

At the turn of the century, a young German nechanical engineer, August Horch, began 
building automobiles renowned for both their innovative design and exemplary 
performance.

The company grew and in 1909, when Horch and his fellow board members reached an impasse 
over Horch's insistence that motorsport was an essential element in improving the 
quality of automobiles, Horch left to establish a rival automotive firm.  

Unable to retain his own name for his new company, Horch chose the Latin equivalent: 
"audi".  (In German, "horch" means "to listen", as does "audi" in Latin.)

Because of its growing reputation for innovation in both engine and chassis design, Audi 
was entrusted in 1931 with the development of the world's very first mass-produced, 
front-wheel-drive automobile, the DKW Front.  This assignment allowed Audi to have a 
several decade lead over many rival firms in this eventually very important design area.

The next year, Audi produced a mid-size front-wheel-drive car bearing its own name.  
1932 was also the year in which Audi joined DKW, Horch, and Wanderer to form Auto Union 
to better weather the worldwide storm of the Great Depression.

The "automotive union" was symbolized by the four intertwined rings which to this very 
day still grace the grillework of every Audi.  To further dramatize the alliance of 
these four popular marques into a single corporate entity, Auto Union commissioned an 
independent and brilliant automotive engineer to create a revolutionary new Grand Prix 
racer. 

His name was Ferdinand Porsche.  His creation was the astounding, aerodynamic, 
16-cylinder, mid-engine, Auto Union Rennwagen...a racer far ahead of its time in both 
concept and execution.

For four seasons, the sleek silver bullet bested Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes, and 
others in dozens of Grand Prix events and other road races, until a change in design 
regulations forced it into early retirement.

In the 1950's, Auto Union was destined to play an important role in the rebirth of 
German industry.  Although the Horch and Wanderer marques were retired, thousands upn 
thousands of small Auto Union, DKW, and Audi coupes and sedans began appearing on the 
strasses of Germany, with hundreds eventually reaching the streets of America as well.

By 1969, all Auto Union automobiles bore the Audi name.  That same year, two noteworthy 
events occured in German automotive history:  Audi established a marketing network in 
the United States and also acquired the German car and motorcycle company, NSU.

Two years earlier, NSU had capped a long and successful career as both a two-wheel and 
four-wheel vehicle builder with the introduction of a technically advanced, luxury sedan 
called the Ro80.  Its superior aerodynamics and innovative engineering earned this 
front-wheel-drive pacesetter Europe's "Car of the Year" award and Audi's future product 
developments would parallel the course created by the Ro80's creators.

That course would be maintained and advanced most ingeniously by the grandson of Dr. 
Porsche, Ferdinand Piech, who in 1972 at the age of 35, became Audi's head of 
engineering.

Under his leadership, Audi launched one engineering advance after another throughout the 
1970's and to the very present.  To begin with, 1972 also marked the introduction of the 
world's first application of both dual diagonal braking and negative steering roll 
radius in a production automobile (the Audi 80, Europe's "Car of the Year" in '72).

Four years later came the world's first five-cylinder gasoline engine, a lightweight and 
compact motor that offered the smoothness and power, as well as surprising efficiency.

In 1980, Audi launched both the world's first turbo-charged five-cylinder gasoline 
engine and the very first permanent all-wheel-drive automobile, the Audi quattro.

The very next year, Audi entered a team of modified production quattros in the highly 
demanding competition of international rallying.  In the next five years, Audi clinched 
several major titles around the world and in the U.S., becoming the first German auto 
manufacturer ever to win a world rally championship.

1983 saw the introduction of what was then the world's most aerodynamic production 
sedan, the "new" Audi 100 (5000 in America).  With its debut, Audi set a new course in 
advanced body design that complemented its drivetrain, chassis, and ergonomic expertise.

Most recently, Audi has added intercooling to its turbocharged engines, expanded the 
availability of all-wheel-drive to most of its models, introduced a sophisticated 
Antilock Braking System (ABS) and began producing the world's first sedan and wagon with 
fully galvanized bodies for corrosion protection.

For 1986, several or all of these features are available in each automobile bearing the 
heritage of the four rings and the proud Audi name, thus adding to the inherent value of 
owning and driving an automobile that embodies "The Art of Engineering."

What next for Audi?  The Commemorative Design Series which follows offers several clues 
and a unique opportunity to count yourself among the select few invited to drive--and 
own--the future, instead of merely previewing it.

####


Tomorrow, The Commemorative Design 5000 CS Sedan


Happy Motoring,

jazman