Audi Quattro review: the rally homologation car that invented modern Audi
4/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
You do not buy an original Quattro in Bahrain as transport; you buy it as the founding document of everything Audi has built its brand on since. Values have climbed sharply worldwide and continue to, verified history and matching numbers matter enormously, and any purchase needs an internationally recognised specialist to inspect the car before money changes hands — there is no local expertise to fall back on.
Pros
- The original road car that introduced permanent all-wheel drive to the mainstream
- World Rally Championship pedigree with genuine, verified motorsport history
- Turbocharged five-cylinder soundtrack found on no modern car at any price
- Values have climbed sharply and continue to rise as a blue-chip classic
Cons
- Effectively no local parts, workshop or diagnostic support in Bahrain
- Purchase price now firmly in serious-collector territory, not enthusiast pocket money
- Verifying provenance and matching numbers requires an international specialist
- No modern safety equipment whatsoever; a track-and-collection car, not daily transport
Audi built the original Quattro to satisfy Group 4 homologation rules that required a minimum production run of the road car underpinning a rally entry, and in doing so it accidentally proved that permanent all-wheel drive was not just a rally trick but a genuine road-car advantage. It won the World Rally Championship, redefined what a turbocharged engine could feel like, and set every technical direction Audi has followed for four decades since.
What made it revolutionary
The 2.1-litre turbocharged five-cylinder produced 200 hp in early cars — enormous for 1980 — sent permanently to all four wheels through a system using a hollow secondary shaft, a genuinely clever piece of packaging that let Audi fit four-wheel drive into a compact coupe without the weight and bulk contemporary systems required. Later 20-valve cars, built until 1991, pushed past 220 hp with sharper throttle response.
Owning one in Bahrain
There is effectively no Ur-Quattro population in the Gulf outside dedicated collectors, and the climate, while kind to bodywork stored correctly, offers nothing in the way of local parts support, workshop familiarity or diagnostic knowledge. Any transaction should route through an internationally recognised Audi classic specialist, with provenance, chassis-number verification and a full mechanical inspection completed before any money moves. This is a car bought for what it represents, not for what it can do on a Thursday commute.