AUDI QUATTRO 1982

The Audi Quattro is one of the most influential designs in the evolution of the car, introducing four-wheel drive to the motoring mainstream. It was on the rallying stage that Audi was to dominate with the Quattro; the introduction of the revolutionary AWD system saw instant success for the works team in 1982, 1983 and 1984. It was this success of the Quattro in rallying that saw not only other teams copy suit, but also the implementation of 4WD into production passenger vehicles as well, as can still be seen today in the Audi line-up. The example we are presenting is one of the most important vehicles in the Audi Rallying story, mainly playing a key role in the career of Hannu Mikkola. 90012 was one of the Group 4 Works' cars that took Mikkola to his first World Drivers Championship in 1983. In 1983 the car was retained for training and R+D purposes by Audi and would then be converted to Group B specification and sold to a Finnish importer who handed the keys to Antoine Laine. Under his guidance, 90012 would win the Finnish Rally Championship in 1984 and 1985, as well as winning the Arctic Rally in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Following the banning of Group B, the vehicle competed in Rally Cross in Finland for three years, before being purchased by a well-known Swedish collector in 1991. Despite being worthy of a place in the finest of museums, there is no reason 90012 cannot be used to compete; currently it sits in Group B specification but it could be returned to group 4 and would qualify for either in historic rallying on account of the fact it competed under both classes in period. We have recently recommissioned the vehicle and it is also now UK registered, this Audi Quattro is a historic piece from rallying's most seminal era and would make a fantastic addition to the finest of collections.