One of the legends of the Audi brand I first began to highlight as this ooooIYKYK media platform for Audi aficionados went live was that of the 1985 Audi Group S mid-engine prototype that’s come to be known as the “RS 001“.
Even amongst the pantheon of Audi lore, the RS 001 holds a special place. This car, effectively an alternatively proportioned take on the legendary lineage derived from the ur quattro, was a prototype of a mid-engine concept developed in secret as an answer to the mid-engine Group B cars then coming to the fore. As rallying seemed to be headed into a new and even more extreme Group S era, Audi Sport was poised to answer that challenge with a wholly new mid-engine configuration wrapped in the latest technology and materials.
Early in its development, the car wore the more traditional geometric box-flared shape of the quattro so as to disguise it in plain site, looking normal even though the later egg-shaped RS 002 design bound for the production version looked anything but traditional.
The RS 001 was largely believed to be a prototype, and it was performing its prototype testing duties where spy photographers nabbed it. The publishing of those photos spelled its doom, largely because the board of directors at Audi’s then-recent owners Volkswagen weren’t as keen to see Audi continue to spend fortunes in rallying as was Audi’s chief Ferdinand Piëch. Upon being found out, the RS 001 prototypes were destroyed so that none survived.
So rebellious they needed destroyed, yet ultimate tech in Audi’s iconic box flared coupe form, the RS 001 may be the perfect storm when it comes to lore surrounding the Audi brand. Albeit, the RS 001 is an obscure bit of lore. There’s no Iron Man product placement or motorsport victories. Even that these shortcomings though may make it that much more intriguing, shrouded as they are in urban legend and conspiracy theories.
In creating the Mittelmotor Saga, a series of which the retelling isn’t yet complete, I’ve become a bit fixated on the RS 001 just as so many in-the-know Audi aficionados already are. Given that, I turned to my AI image creation project (@4Rings.AI on Instagram) in order to imagine a modern-day take on the RS 001.
What you’ll find here is a full gallery of much of what’s been created. The images seem to hark the original modern quattro concept car of 2010, but it goes further in several different directions.
So, what do you think? Should the RS 001 be revisited or is it too obscure?
