Audi first previewed the 21st century Quattro with a retro-styled concept that was presented at the 2010 Paris Motor Show to mark the original model’s 30th birthday. The coupe was well received by the general public, and the company showed an evolution of it dubbed simply sport quattro at last year’s edition of the annual Geneva Motor Show.
Lichte revealed the production-bound Quattro will be loosely inspired by the two concepts but it will wear a much more aggressive design.
“The two concepts we did had base potential but we can do something more extreme. We have restarted this project and made them more extreme. It’s still a secret though – there will be surprises,” explained the designer in an interview with British magazine Autocar.
What will power the Quattro is up in the air. The original Quattro concept presented in Paris used a 408-horsepower turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, while the sport quattro concept that was shown in Geneva was equipped with a 700-horsepower plug-in hybrid drivetrain consisting of a 4.0-liter TFSI V8 and a disc-shaped electric motor. The 4,000-pound coupe was capable of reaching 62 mph from a stop in just 3.7 seconds.
Similarly, how much the Quattro will cost is a point of debate. Some sources claim the coupe will arrive as a limited-edition model with a six-figure price tag, while others believe it will be a much cheaper full-production addition to the Audi lineup.
Regardless of what form it ultimately takes, the Audi Quattro could be presented at a major auto show next year in order to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original Quattro.
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