Audi is turning the spotlight back on one of its most defining disciplines: design.
At the Audi museum mobile, a new special exhibition titled “Design Legends” is now open, offering a rare, curated look at five decades of concept cars and design studies that helped shape the brand’s visual identity. Running from March 28 through July 12, 2026, the exhibition marks the first time in 20 years that the museum has dedicated an entire showcase to Audi’s experimental and forward-looking design work.
Audi’s design philosophy—clean surfaces, restrained lines, and a balance of technical precision with emotional appeal—didn’t happen by accident. What appears effortless in production form is the result of decades of iteration, experimentation, and bold concept work behind closed studio doors.
Curated by Stefan Felber, the exhibition brings together both familiar icons and rarely seen studies. Standouts include the aluminum-bodied Audi Avus quattro, the mid-engine Audi quattro Spyder, and the original Audi TT show car—a design that would transition almost unchanged into production and redefine Audi’s image in the late 1990s.
Joining them are more recent and radical interpretations of Audi’s future, including the Audi PB 18 e-tron and the striking Audi e-tron Spyder.
Beyond the cars themselves, Design Legends digs into the creative process that brought them to life. Original sketches, renderings, and clay models from Audi’s design studios are displayed alongside the finished concepts, offering a rare look at how ideas evolve from loose strokes into fully realized forms.
The full exhibit lineup spans a wide arc of Audi design history, including the Aztec (1988), A8 Coupé concept (1997), Steppenwolf (2000), Nuvolari quattro (2003), Shooting Brake (2005), and the 2010 quattro concept—each representing a distinct moment in the brand’s evolving identity.
For the first time, the exhibition also extends beyond the physical space. Through the Audi Tradition app, visitors can access deeper layers of content, including 360-degree interior views, audio guides, and even engine sounds tied to specific vehicles. While museum visitors can’t climb inside the cars themselves, the app effectively removes that limitation, turning a static display into an interactive experience.
It also connects users to Audi’s broader heritage ecosystem, from digital city tours in Ingolstadt tracing the legacy of Auto Union to updates on events, archives, and classic car resources.
Audi has long treated design as more than styling—it has been central to how the brand defines itself. Design Legends reinforces that philosophy by showing the raw inputs behind the finished products: the risks, the experiments, and the ideas that didn’t always make production, but still pushed the brand forward.
CONCEPT CARS IN THE NEW SPECIAL EXHIBITION
- Italdesign Aztec from 1988
- Audi quattro Spyder from 1991
- Audi Avus quattro from 1991
- Audi TT show car from 1995
- Audi A8 Coupé concept car from 1997
- Audi Steppenwolf from 2000
- Audi Nuvolari quattro from 2003
- Audi Shooting Brake concept from 2005
- Audi e-tron Spyder from 2010
- Audi quattro concept from 2010
- Audi PB 18 e-tron from 2018
PHOTO GALLERY
