Peugeot 2008 DKR

Have an exclusive look inside Peugeot Sport latest testdrive in Marocco, and follow the team getting ready for Dakar 2015

Cars we love: Audi quattro

To look at, the Audi quattro is a squarish, practical sort of car. Its styling doesn’t begin to hint at the fact that, under its utilitarian skin, it’s one of the most innovative cars ever launched onto the world stage...

All bite, no bark

Before Jensen FF enthusiasts get all hot under the collar, we have to admit that the quattro wasn’t quite the first high-performance 4WD road-going coupé. But in 1980, the year the quattro first appeared at Geneva, the new Audi fitted perfectly with the German company’s plans to beat its rivals – both in rallies and, more to the point, in road car sales. 

Any hint of weird and wacky styling could have deterred potential customers, so Audi kept things plain and simple: but in our opinion, that makes its strong, functional lines all the more appealing. 

However, the real reason we love this car is that the quattro is a technical masterpiece. Audi avoided many potential pitfalls of the 4WD system, such as heavy tyre wear and loss of comfort, partly by using three differentials, while the 5-cylinder, turbocharged engine promised 200HP and – thanks to the astonishing traction – acceleration from zero to 60mph in 7.3 seconds. (The later 20V, built from 1989 to 1991, boasted 220HP and brought the 0-60mph time down to 6.3 seconds.)

While enthusiasts saw the road-going quattro as the last word in technical charisma, things were going even better on the rally stage. In the early 1980s, the Audi quattro dominated the World Rally Championship and changed the course of the sport for all time.

Shorter, lighter, faster

Which brings us to the car in the pictures. In 1984, Audi produced a limited run of just 224 road-going ‘Sport quattros’ to homologate the Group B rally cars. This is one of them. With more than 300HP, the Sport quattros could reach 60mph in less than five seconds; plus they had a significantly shorter wheelbase and a much lower weight. Technical genius and phenomenal performance in a very unassuming package. Definitely one for the connoisseurs.

Photos/Video: Erik Fuller © 2015 Courtesy of RM Auctions / © GF Williams

The 1984 Audi Sport quattro pictured here is to be offered for sale by RM Auctions in Arizona on 16 January 2015. 

Auctions | Cars

1984 Audi 

Audi quattro RC Car Challenge

After an exciting race on an ice track in Northern Sweden, Mattias Ekström is back for the next quattro challenge.

With his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, the rallycross driver faces a small opponent with big ambitions.

Hot blood, cold feet: Porsche prepares for the 1969 endurance season

A story of rubber on plain old Tarmac doesn’t quite cut it on the cusp of Christmas. As a result, we fade back to 1969 and relive Porsche’s mid-winter preparations for an assault on that year’s International Championship of Makes, and ultimately the 24 Hours of Le Mans…

An all-star driver line-up and a heady dose of commitment come into play

“Phew,” exclaimed a mechanic, watching Porsche’s quintet of 908s being pushed into the Daytona pit lane. “If there’s any truth in the saying that Porsche is a small company, then Ford should have fielded 30 works entries.” But in a quest to dominate the 1969 International Championship of Makes, Porsche didn't only flex its mechanical muscle: an all-star driver line-up and a heady dose of commitment also came into play, as proven at a snow-covered Hockenheimring on January 8, 1969 – a few weeks before the descent on Daytona.

Even the most determined works teams would reschedule a press conference and testing session in these conditions, but not Porsche's. Not only did the team bring along one of the 908/2 Spyders being tweaked in preparation for imminent battle, but also the full gathering of its team hand-picked from racing’s elite. Among the other cast members, Hans Herrmann, Jo Siffert, Brian Redman, Richard Attwood, Pauli Toivonen and Björn Waldegård were all present.

Signing the stars

For reasons to be justified at a later date, Attwood and Hermann were among the first names on the team sheet. The former signed up for the project immediately; the latter – the oldest member at 40 years – was already a long-serving veteran with 17 racing seasons under his belt, including a win for Porsche at the previous year’s 24 Hours of Daytona. The in-demand Jo Siffert took a little longer to convince: only after his request for a £50,000 golden handshake was refused point blank by Enzo Ferrari did he sign for Porsche. Meanwhile, an injured Brian Redman was plucked from rival John Wyer's team – having diced with Porsches in the 1968 season – and ‘Quick Vic’ Elford’s services were again called upon, having recently proved himself for Porsche not only in terms of speed, but diversity too.

A drawn-out duel

Despite the glorious gaggle, not all went to plan that year. While the Championship of Makes was won at a canter (the team claimed seven victories from 10 races), a stiffer challenge was present at La Sarthe. Ultimately, though two works 917s were fielded, it was Herrmann’s 908/2 which was in the spotlight, locked in a legendary battle with Jacky Ickx’s John Wyer GT40. “Over one and a half hours, we overtook one another several times each,” recalls Herrmann. “After 24 hours of driving at the absolute limit, Ickx won by one and a half seconds.” The last lap saw Ickx allow Herrmann to overtake at the start of the Mulsanne Straight, only to use his slipstream to snatch back the place and retain it until the chequered flag. Of course, Herrmann and his comrades would famously taste that longed-for victory champagne a year later – a fitting conclusion to our warming winter story.

Reading recommendation and a Christmas competition

'World Champion by Technical Knockout' is a reprint of Helmut Zwickl's book from 1969, when the Austrian photojournalist accompanied the Porsche team on the way to its first victory in the International Championship of Makes. The new edition is limited to 1,500 hand-numbered examples and is available now from PetrolPics priced at 79 euros each (also available in English).

In the spirit of Christmas, we're giving away copies of the book to a randomly selected trio who can tell us which driver took the chequered flag to claim Porsche's first overall victory at Le Mans. Email your answer to contact@classicdriver.com quoting 'World Champion by Technical K.O.' in the subject field to be in with a chance of winning. The deadline is 31 December 2013.