Some of the most interesting cars I imagine for my work on the @4Rings.AI Instagram account tend to be the ones that have just enough of a foot in reality to really drive the “What If” theme home. They just hit harder, and today’s focus certainly applies.
Experimentation around the idea of creating a Coupé more like the Coupé GT and ur quattro were to the B2 platform or like the Coupé S was to the C1 platform had me experimenting in particular with the B1 (Type 80) chassis.
Also known as the Fox in the USA, the B1 tends not to get the love of the later B2 platform on which the legendary ur quattro was produced. When B1 came to the fore, Audi as a brand had far fewer resources and a less robust partsbin. This was prior to the arrival of quattro and even the Volkswagen Iltis from which the idea had sprung. It was also before the arrival of the 5-cylinder.
That’s not to say there isn’t a rabid fanbase out there for the B1s… it’s just far smaller and far more obscure than that of the B2 or more popular cars of the era such as the BMW 2002.
Perhaps then that creates an opportunity.
We see a lineage of the fastback coupes at Audi. First there’s the 100 Coupé S (C1, type F105) that first dropped in 1969. Then, of course, there’s the B2 Coupé / Coupé GT that would arrive as soon as the B2 launched.
For some reason, Audi never applied the formula to the B1. That’s the point of this experiment. Effectively, the play was to create a fastback 2-door take on the B1 form that would be more sporting than the notchback 2-door of that actually saw production.
Following the formula of the Coupé S the Coupé GT and even the Volkswagen Scirocco (Mk1), the idea here is to use the same front clip and door skins as the 2-door notchback. From there, the formula shifts to a more raked windshield, shorter rear overhang than the notchback and a fastback rear that housed a traditional yet smaller trunk in the case of the Coupé S (C1) and the Coupé GT (B2), or a hatchback in the case of the Scirocco.
How the AI tool changed the car here in order to make it a fastback is interesting to me and what made this particular variation stand out. Earlier today I posted several alternatives that came from the query, but this one is one that most grabbed my eye.
Why this one? The C-pillar treatment and overall feel, I believe, harks the BMW 2002 Touring that would have likely been the car’s chief period rival. Don’t let the “Touring” label fool you. While that traditionally refers to a station wagon in BMW vernacular, this was far before BMW had their own branding sub-designator brands formed. In an era when the first 100 Avant (C2) ironically more closely resembled an A7 Sportback, BMW used “Touring” to designate the hatchback version of the 2002.
This isn’t a mirror image of the 2002 Touring, but its transition to the negatively raked trunk as it pairs to the hatchback/fastback angle of the roof isn’t dissimilar. This one uses a vent/weight line not dissimilar to a familiar element of the B2 Coupé GT / ur quattro C-pillar, but it does so while matching that same negative angle. On one hand, that creates tension but on the other it also seems consistent with a time when car design was shifting from voluptuous to boxy and trying to manage that transition with elegance.
Okay, it’s also worth noting there are elements of this car that are cartoonish and unrealistic. The lack of fenders, blended arch flairs and massive BBS RS mesh wheels likely wouldn’t have come from the Audi factory in period. However, they look phenomenal and are entirely consistent with enthusiast built cars over the years at places like the Woerthersee Treffen and even amongst 2002 owners.
After the initial run of renderings linked on Instagram above, I next moved the car into another tool and began to model it in other angles – correcting some details and forming various views from above, the side and the rear using taillights similar to that of the 80 (B1) because parts bin sourcing would have been most likely.
So, what do you think? Should Audi have built an Audi 80 Coupé GT (B1)? Join the discussion on the ooooIYKYK Facebook Page HERE and Instagram account HERE.
