Audi Quattro

This article refers to the specific original Audi Coupé bearing the "quattro" name - the Audi Quattro.

For information on the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) trademark name of four wheel drive/all wheel drive systems used on Audi branded cars with four wheel drive transmission and driveline systems, see quattro (all wheel drive system).

For information on the high performance Audi private subsidiary company, see quattro GmbH.

The Audi Quattro is a famous and historically significant road and rally car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi. Notably, it was the first four-wheel drive grand tourer (GT) since the Jensen FF of 1966 ("quattro" means "Four" in Italian).

It is considered one of the most significant rally cars of all time, and was one of the first to take advantage of the then-recently changed rules which allowed the use of all-wheel-drive in competition racing. Many critics doubted the viability of all-wheel drive racers, thinking them to be too heavy and complex, yet the Quattro was an instant success, winning a rally on its first outing. It won competition after competition for the next two years. To commemorate the original vehicle, all future Audi Quattros were badged with a lower case Q. The original car with the upper case Q is highly sought after as a collector's piece.

The Audi Quattro shared many components and the core of its body style with the Audi Coupé, which was a member of the Audi 80 (B2 model) range.

Model name

Officially, the model name was simply "Quattro". The word "quattro" is used to refer to either the Audi AWD system, or any AWD version of an Audi automobile. To avoid confusion, it is also commonly referred to as the Ur-Quattro (the "Ur-" prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean "original" and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 sport sedans, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6").

European distribution

Audi released the original Quattro in 1980, making it both the first car to feature Audi's quattro four-wheel drive system (hence its name) and the first to mate four wheel drive with a turbocharged engine.