RE: quattro-digest V4 #3340

[Eaton Dave <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

yes, that is a fairly accurate reference to the 1st ur-quattro.  it was
never a sedan, but a coupe.  it was based on the 80 coupe and developed
using the transmission concepts developed for the vw jeep (iltis) developed
for the germany army, along with the in-line 5 cylinder turbo from the 200
(an intercooler was added) to produce 200hp.  the transmission was further
developed and raced in the paris-dakar (1979?) where it won.  rather
crude??.  not nearly.  compared to the other "performance cars" of the time
(escort mexico/bda, lancia stratos, opel manta) it must have seemed like a
limousine.

piech was fired (or is that fried?) at porsche, after developing the famous
(and mythical) 917.  he joined audi as engineering boss, and is credited
with the ur-quattro, although he did not design it.  he certainly gave the
go-ahead.

as posted recently,  the renowned piech cars are the ur-quattro and sport
quattro in 1985 (ignoring the aero 100 and 80).  after that (co-incident
with piech's moving on to other fields), performance audi's stopped being
produced until the porsche-developed rs2 in 1995.  now with piech in control
of vw we have more performance audi's (300hp or over) than ever, the first
audi sports car, true performance cars at the head of every vehicle model
range, and audi in sports car racing.  all with the promise of more to come:
400hp s6/s8, hi perf tt or ttc, "rs" cars for the new a4 and coupe lineup...

if i ever meet the man, i'll buy him a drink...

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

	-----Original Message-----

	Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 10:12:55 -0500
	From: Lawrence Bardfeld <LB6116@PITCAIRN.com>
	Subject: UrQ?

	Last night, browsing through a magazine (which should perhaps best 
	remain anonymous for present purposes), I read the following, 
	referring to Ferdinand Piëch's move to Audi in the late 1970s: "At 
	Audi, Piëch continued to push for innovation . . . .  The result was

	the now famous Audi Quattro.  Basically, the marrying of a
production 
	sedan body with the all-wheel-drive system from a jeep, the Quattro 
	started out life as a rather crude, but still effective vehicle . .
. 
	."  I'm curious: is this probably a reference to the first UrQ?