The original Audi quattro is one of those cars that people still argue about at petrol stations and in comment sections more than 45 years after it first appeared. A small Scottish company called Audacious Automotive has now taken that argument somewhere new. Its first car, the Audacious IV, keeps the boxy rally silhouette and hides a modern V8, a six speed manual and a redline that can reach 10,000 rpm underneath it.
What Is the Audacious Automotive Audi Quattro Restomod?
Audacious calls the IV a contemporary interpretation of the UR quattro rather than a copy of it. The company's own line is that the original inspires it but does not define it. The car is hand built in Great Britain, limited to no more than 50 commissions worldwide, and the brand says no two will be the same.
The interesting part is what sits underneath. Every IV starts with the complete structural, mechanical, electrical and control architecture of the B7 generation Audi RS4: the floor and lower body, suspension geometry, drivetrain, brakes, steering and electronics. Audacious says that choice is deliberate, because it begins with an engine, gearbox and suspension that were already engineered to work together. From there, the body, cooling, glazing, interior and every visible detail are reworked around the new car.
Four Engines, One Chassis
At the heart of the car is a 4.2 litre V8 paired with a six speed manual and Torsen all wheel drive. Buyers choose from four engine programmes. Stage One is supercharged at 600bhp. Stage Two, also supercharged, goes to 750bhp with more work on the internals, cooling, fuelling and driveline. Then there are two 10,000 rpm builds, one naturally aspirated and one supercharged, which the company calls the most ambitious version of the car. Audacious quotes 0 to 60 in under 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph.
Hand Formed Metal or Carbon Fibre
There are two ways to build one. Hand formed metal commissions keep the genuine original UR quattro upper structure, roof and glass, with new steel and aluminium bodywork made around the IV's engineering. Carbon fibre commissions take a different route, with an entirely new carbon upper body and newly engineered glazing, so they do not need an original quattro as a source car at all. That matters, because clean original cars are not getting any easier to find.
Why the Quattro Still Matters
It helps to remember what the original actually was. Audi showed the quattro for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show on March 3, 1980. According to Audi, the idea came from winter testing of the VW Iltis off roader in 1976 and 1977, when engineers saw how well all wheel drive handled ice and snow and decided to try it in a road car. The result was the first high performance car offered with all wheel drive, powered by a turbocharged five cylinder making 200 hp. It went rallying in 1981 and changed the sport. Audi's own history of Audi Sport notes that the name Ur quattro came later, to mark it as the forefather of every all wheel drive Audi, and that its blistered fenders are still part of the brand's design language.
So swapping the five cylinder for a V8 is a bold call, and Audacious knows it. Its pitch is less about nostalgia and more about a question it puts right on its homepage: what if the analogue era never ended?
How Commissioning Works
Buyers work directly with founder and designer Mac Zaglewski, whose background, per the marque page, spans metallurgy, vehicle restoration, structural fabrication, composites and art. The studio near Edinburgh handles structural development, coachbuilding and assembly in house, and prospective owners can visit by appointment. Details on allocations are on the commissioning page.
If modern takes on old shapes are your thing, see how Porsche is thinking about its future in our look at the Porsche Mission S, or the more wearable side of car culture in Kith for BMW.
Audacious Automotive is an independent company and is not affiliated with Audi AG.
