RE: PH Blog: that original Quattro

RE: PH Blog: that original Quattro

Monday 27th February 2012

PH Blog: that original Quattro

So was the Quattro we shot with the A1 Competition Line really the original?



The authenticity of historically significant cars can be a thorny one, no more so than in the case of competition cars. And no more than that in the case of an old rally car.

So is John Hanlon's 'first rally Quattro' really that?

Mikkola has been reunited with the car
Mikkola has been reunited with the car
If it is you'd perhaps be surprised that Audi would have let it go. But the car, which is now for sale, was a shadow of its former self when Hanlon first came across it. "I just wanted an old Quattro and I could tell it was one of the oldest I'd ever seen," he says.

Check out the photo in the sales brochure and you'll see a roughly painted shed of a car, body panels piled up on it and bearing the scars of a gradual evolution from works rally prototype to hard working rallycross campaigner. Perhaps understandable that Audi hadn't quite realised what they had. Nor, in fact, did Hanlon.

Our contact at Audi is understandably cautious about the 'first rally Quattro' status and measured in his description of it. "Some of the parts on the car would have been there when it ran in 1980, parts of it have been replicated," is the official line, the reasonable point being made that unless you take a car from the finishing line and straight into a museum you can never be 100 per cent sure. And this car was constantly developed over its life, this being the very start of the rally Quattro lineage.

Photo of Arne Hertz and Hannu Mikkola...
Photo of Arne Hertz and Hannu Mikkola...
But what makes Hanlon so sure? Well, he knows his stuff. A Quattro nut, he owned a dozen long-wheelbase road cars from 1989 onwards before graduating to a SWB Sport Quattro and then his first ex-works rally car - an A2 - in 1996. He now has six, this one, an ex-Blomqvist A2 Group B, another Group 4 car (under restoration) and three short-wheelbase Group B S1 Sport Quattros including Michele Mouton's Pike's Peak car and an E2 built for Walter Rohrl but never competed after Group B was banned before it ran.

The ad for the car alludes to Hanlon and his team discovering elements of the car that verified its authenticity as the first of the breed. Like what? "When they first developed it for competition they needed to run a larger bore exhaust to reduce the back pressure," says Hanlon. "One of the engineers suggested they put the exhaust in a tunnel in the bodywork beside the transmission tunnel to get it out of the way and improve the ground clearance but it had been plated-over some time later." Uncovering these tell-tale signs is something Hanlon likens to "automotive archaeology", the painstaking removal of tacked-on plates revealing some unused bracket or apparently random piece of welding that, through painstaking research, proved to Hanlon he'd unearthed that very first car.

...faithfully recreated by Hanlon and Mikkola!
...faithfully recreated by Hanlon and Mikkola!
"The research which goes into the cars prior to working on them, is an immensely time consuming, but important and fascinating aspect of ownership," says Hanlon. "And you have to obtain all of that before you can touch the car, in order to retain as much originality as humanly possible. I never make assumptions - very much a case of like my Dad taught me; 'measure twice, cut once!'"

Audi is right of course - without taking that car straight from the finish line, still dripping with mud, sweat and champagne, there'll always be a suggestion of Trigger's broom with any old competition car. Especially a rally car. There's no doubting Hanlon's passion though - his amazement that, through his cars, he's been able to mix with his heroes and even drive alongside them is as genuine as you could wish for.

Persisting with original features like the notorious Pierburg injection system - Audi's historic fleet mechanics think he's mad for doing so - underline his passion for originality. And any man whose van contains a pile of Quattro cylinder heads (and a very big dog) is clearly all right by us.

A fabulous opportunity and a fascinating bloke. All off the back of an Audi A1 with some fancy stickers.

Dan


The sales brochure on Hanlon's car with more details of its history:

Page 1 (click to enlarge)
Page 1 (click to enlarge)
Page 2 (click to enlarge)
Page 2 (click to enlarge)

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

pistonpie

Original Poster:

175 posts

158 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
whether it is or it's not...it's still a brilliant car regardless of who's bottom has been on it lol

nedge2k

132 posts

160 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
um, any chance this guy will adopt me? biggrin 3 x S1 quattros ffs, the guy is my hero!

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
I think this my be the best Rally car of all time.
Or the original mini ofc...

dave stew

1,502 posts

166 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
I remember the sheer impact that these cars had. I saw my first road car outside the Custom Car show at Belle Vue in Manchester in the early 80s. I used to watch a lot of stage rallying during the same period and remember vividly the bang and popping from the exhaust!

ArnageWRC

2,050 posts

158 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Hmm, the car that changed an entire sport.....
Out of this world at the time....


Looking back - is the sport better now for its introduction?

mightymouse

1,438 posts

227 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
cloud9

Crazy Don

76 posts

208 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
As a young bloke I remember marshalling on the Grizedale stage at night when Hannu came through in his Quattro. It was like nothing we had ever seen before, much quieter than the bark of the BDAs, phenomenally fast we were all taken by surprise as we heard the whistle from the previous marshall and before we knew it this firebreathing monster was upon us and then just as quickly it dissappeared into the darkness.

Johnboy Mac

2,666 posts

177 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Great blog, there PH. Admiration for the owner too.

How much is it worth, would 150k buy it?

Dan Trent

1,866 posts

167 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
I think you'd need a bit more than that I'm afraid...



Johnboy Mac

2,666 posts

177 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Dan Trent said:
I think you'd need a bit more than that I'm afraid...
Yeah, I really haven't got a clue but reckoned 150k was a good starting point if nothing else. How much do you think?

monzaxjr

549 posts

145 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
would be top of my list if my numbers come up.

Dr G

15,159 posts

241 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
I thought 300k.

What's 33 EJB worth?

Gorbyrev

1,160 posts

153 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Fascinating reading - that must have taken some man hours to get straight.

PILCH 23

170 posts

199 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
A proper enthusiast that comes across as a nice chap. Let's hope that a UK collector or Audi UK buy the car so we can see it running at a few events.

Are Audi talking it down because they want to buy it?

urquattro

755 posts

185 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Good luck with his projects and dedications, my 19 years with ur quattro as every day car was very good and car total reliability, provided looked after. It only went as RS2 came on scene and stayed. 5 pot turbos are special lumps and something to get used too, not tried and discarded, it take time to get the best from them.

urquattro

755 posts

185 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
PILCH 23 said:
A proper enthusiast that comes across as a nice chap. Let's hope that a UK collector or Audi UK buy the car so we can see it running at a few events.

Are Audi talking it down because they want to buy it?
As I understand, the works car were treated like a parts bin, so many things/bit went from one to another - hence vehicle purity may not exist, the cars were run for results. Some good books on the history of works quattros around but they take some finding now.

Coxy914

691 posts

205 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
PILCH 23 said:
A proper enthusiast that comes across as a nice chap.
Really?!

Quite probably the biggest egotistical prick I've ever had the displeasure to meet.

stuartmmcfc

8,653 posts

191 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
Coxy914 said:
Really?!

Quite probably the biggest egotistical prick I've ever had the displeasure to meet.
+1 (Don't sit on the fence Coxy 914!)

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
love it

cant afford it

want it biggrin

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Monday 27th February 2012
quotequote all
It is an absolute stunner, no doubt!