Audi Quattro Concept

Blue and red flashing lights filling the mirror after a spirited canyon run are never welcomed. Yet this time, I’ve fully embraced them. Why?

I’m driving down California’s Pacific Coast Highway in Audi’s one-of-a-kind Quattro Concept with a full police escort. In front, law enforcement is clearing the road ahead as if sweeping for mines, pushing civilian traffic off to the side. I’ve got another unit behind me, shooing the restless natives off my flanks. The parade is impressive, but I’m wary of the pageantry. Are the cops there to solely maintain a generous cushion around the multi-million dollar concept, or has Audi paid them to keep me from rocketing off into the sunset off with their turbocharged 190-mph sports coupe?

To know Audi’s Quattro Concept, you have to recall the original Audi Quattro (a.k.a.”Ur-Quattro”) from 1980. Launched 30 years ago, the two-door coupe was the first sports car to feature the automaker’s new Quattro all-wheel-drive system. With a turbocharged 2.1-liter inline five-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, the original 200-horsepower street variant was good for a 0-60 sprint of around seven seconds and a top speed of 137 mph. Rally-prepared, and with hundreds of additional horses under the hood, the Audi Quattro was unstoppable, dominating the Group B class in rally competitions around the world for years.