98 TT/TTS

[Mark Trank <mtrank%acva@mail.co.albemarle.va.us>]

Spent my lunch hour+ at the dealership today getting hardware for the 
front license plate assembly (no joke -- car doesn't have one but VA 
requires it) and came across a reprint of a May 96 article from 
Automobile Magazine on the prototype/show car Audi TT coupe and TTS 
roadster.  WOW!!  Chassis is a blueprint of the next-generation Golf, 
which in turn is supposed to be a role model for the A3 hatchback due to 
be launched later this year.  TT has a 1.8, 150-bhp turbocharged 4 cyl 
engine....although quite a bit different than the European A4.  TT and 
TTS will be available with a 210-bhp version of the 1.8.....with (get 
this) on-demand 4WD (syncro, not quattro!!).  The photos of the cars are 
extraordinary...inside the TTS is a combination of coarse-stitched brown 
leather and aluminum-accented interior.   To quote the author (Georg 
Kacher) "the curvaceous, high waisted body turns more heads than a 
buck-naked supermodel (apologies here if you're offended), while the 
ducked speedster-style windshield and the polished roll bars have a 
natty, club-racer feel."

Apparently the cars were seen at the Frankfurt and Tokyo auto shows in 
Fall 95 (sorry if this is old news to many of you), and the article goes 
on to say that the first U.S.-bound coupes will leave the assembly line 
in October 1998.   It has an interesting sidebar from Ulrich Hackenburg, 
the senior project engineer.    

Sure made my day!! 
Mark
mtrank@mail.co.albemarle.va.us
87 5kcstq 140k miles