The car you see here may look familiar to those who’ve visited the ABT Sportsline headquarters in Kempten, Germany. Hans-Jürgen Abt’s tastefully modified S1 flared long-wheelbase quattro has been intriguing visitors to the showroom’s heritage display for years. Now, it’s time to build upon that tradition.
Recently, the firm held a “Friends of ABT” media event where they showed off the latest from ABT Sportsline to assembled guests including 250 partners, media representatives and friends of the brand. Towards the end of the presentation, the team showed “one last thing”, which turned out to be a plan for the building of a limited series of reimagined quattros.
ABT confirmed that they’re working with Sport quattro reimagining firm LCE to produce the cars. The association here with ABT is an interesting one, and one that suggests cars that will be built to a more commissioned and tailored specification thanks to the firm’s ABT Individual program and long heritage of performance development for Audi automobiles.
SIDENOTE WHO IS LCE
An acronym for Lake Constance Engineering, LCE has become known as a reimagineer of restocustom Sport quattros. LCE was the company from whom Ken Block and Hoonigan sourced Block’s Sport quattro replica that’s currently on display at The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, or the S1 E2 art car that popped up at SEMA several years ago.
ABT only plans to build 30 of these cars, and the their team reports that all cars were spoken for within three hours of the presentation.
According to ABT CEO Hans-Jürgen Abt, the car is, “Our interpretation of a true icon”.
The car has always held a special place in his heart, and that love is how this “crazy idea” of a reissuing of the rally icon came about. ABT Sportsline shared this conversation with Hans-Jürgen.
What special history do you have with this car?
Hans-Jürgen Abt
“When I took over the tuning department at ABT from my father at the end of the 1980s, the original quattro from the showroom was my dowry, so to speak. I widened the wings and modified it with parts from the Sport quattro, such as the front grille, lights and white magnesium rims – so it was a completely unique car. I drove the quattro myself for two or three years, and since then it has been part of our company’s exhibition.”
How did the idea for the new retro version come about?
“It was a real undercover project, developed together with our managing director Thomas Biermaier and the company LCE on Lake Constance. The Ur-quattro is probably the most traditional Audi in the Volkswagen Group and also has an emotional importance for our company – so we thought about what we could do with it. The result is our modern interpretation of a true icon.”
What is your favourite detail?
“The car is an absolute work of art. Starting with all the Kevlar carbon fibre parts all round and the invisible roll cage, through to the modern technology such as the anti-lock brakes and the 2.5 litre 530 hp engine. Mine had ‘only’ 450 at the time. The chassis is original to each model, so the car is registered as a classic and can be driven with an H license plate (a special license plate for classic cars in Germany). I’m particularly proud of the interior – a very special version of our ABT Individual programme, which is also available for other vehicles.”
The car was a secret project that was only unveiled at the end of the “Friends of ABT” show – just like Apple’s Steve Jobs always had a surprise in store at the very end. What was the reaction of the guests?
“It was great, and even better than we had hoped. Our idea was that guests could order the car on the same night at a special price – a bit crazy because there wasn’t even a handout or website for it. And yet, within three hours, all 25 of the cars we had originally planned for were sold out. In order not to disappoint some of our loyal customers, we even promised five more cars the next morning, after consulting with all the previous buyers.”
Bringing tradition and innovation into the present day – how important is this guiding principle for the entire ABT company?
“First of all, we are delighted that this project has clearly struck a chord with our customers – it also gives us a little more courage to pursue some other ideas we have in mind. But fundamentally, it also reflects the spirit of ABT: we want to keep reinventing ourselves and moving into the future with fresh ideas and expertise in technology and design.”
Asking the CEO of the ABT Group about his favourite car is of course difficult with so many high-performance models. But where would you put the Ur-quattro?
“The Ur-quattro was the first car in my heart back then and has never completely disappeared from there. This retro version has rekindled my love.”
PHOTO GALLERY
