Audi Quattro and R8: books - history and technology

Audi Quattro Rally Car Manual (1980-1987) - An insight into the design, engineering and competition history

The original rally Quattro debuted in 1980, and was based on the road car, but with a highly tuned 300 bhp engine. In 1981, Audi Quattro works driver Michele Mouton became the first woman to win a World Championship rally.
The Quattro took the Manufacturers' Championship in 1982 and 1984, and the Drivers' Championship in 1983 and 1984 with Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist respectively.

Audi implemented a continuous development programme for the Quattro, and the A1 and A2 were produced to meet the Group B regulations introduced in 1983, while the fearsome Sport Quattro S1 was introduced in 1984.
The ultimate development - the S1 E2 - was introduced at the end of 1985, producing over 500bhp, and winning the 1985 San Remo rally in the hands of Walter Röhrl and the famous Pikes Peak hillclimb with Michele Mouton.

This Manual looks at the design, evolution, anatomy and operation of the Quattro, including the Group 4 and Group B rally cars.

Product details

Author:	Nick Garton
Details:	168 pages, 27.5 x 21.5 x 1.4 cm / 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.55 in, hardback
Illustrations:	275 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Haynes Publishing (GB, 2019)
Series:	Haynes Motorsport Manual
ISBN:	9781785212505

Quattro - The Race and Rally Story 1980-2004

The word 'quattro', chosen by Audi for its pioneering high-performance four-wheel-drive cars, immediately captures glamour and excitement in the minds of all motorsport enthusiasts. This book, written by a leading journalist and quattro devotee, explores 24 years of factory-prepared and factory-supported quattros in motorsport, from 1980 to 2004.

It is a tale that extends from rough rally stages to race tracks, from pine-fringed ice trails in the depths of European winters to the shimmering heat haze and melting asphalt of Texas street racing. Along the way, it explains how quattros collected four world rally championships, five American driver/manufacturer crowns and a single-year haul of seven international touring car titles, plus numerous other honours.

Product details

Author:	Jeremy Walton
Details:	304 pages, 29 x 24 x 2.5 cm / 11.4 x 9 x 0.98 in, hardback
Illustrations:	334 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Evro Publishing (GB, 2020)
ISBN:	9781910505434

Audi Quattro - Group B, Sport, Sport S1 (Rally Giants)

The Audi Quattro is a Rally Giant because it was the first to combine four-wheel-drive and a turbocharged engine - not the most sophisticated, but it was the first, and very successful.
It was also the first to run with more than 300bhp. As it was re-homologated/transformed from Group 4 into Group B in 1983, it was also the first successful Group B car.

The Quattro dominated rallying from the start of 1981 until late 1984 (when the Peugeot 205 T16 took over). Quattros won no fewer than 23 World rallies from 1981 to 1985, won the Makes Championship in 1982 and 1984, and drivers Hannu Mikkola (1983) and Stig Blomqvist (1984) also won the World Drivers' series in Quattros.
The Quattro led the World and European rally scene in the first half of the 1980s.

This book from the "Rally Giants" series provides a compact and authoritative history of where, when and how this Audi became so important to the sport. It covers 1980 to 1986 inclusive, all turbocharged Quattro coupe rally cars, but not normally-aspirated coupes, or any saloons.

Models covered: Audi Quattro (original), Audi Quattro Group B car, Audi Quattro Sport and Audi Quattro Sport S1.

Product details

Author:	Graham Robson
Details:	128 pages, 18.5 x 21 cm / 7.3 x 8.25 in, paperback
Illustrations:	116 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Veloce Publishing Ltd (GB, 2017)
Series:	Rally Giants
ISBN:	9781787111103

Audi Quattro (1980-1991) - Brooklands Portfolio

Brooklands Portfolio book about the Audi Quattro models from the years 1980-1991. Describes the Audi Quattro LHD, Series 1, Series 2, Rally Quattro, Treser, 80 Quattro, Treser roadster, Sport Quattro, 20V Quattro and S2.

• The articles, taken from contemporary British and American car magazines, provide much information about history, model changes and technology.
• Also driving impressions, tests, comparison tests, technical specifications, etc.

Product details

Details:	172 pages, 27 x 19 x 1.1 cm / 10.6 x 7.5 x 0.43 in, paperback
Illustrations:	300 photos
Publisher:	Brooklands Books (GB, 1995)
Series:	Gold Portfolio
ISBN:	9781855203037

More information on the Brooklands Portfolio books

Audi R8 (WSC Giants)

Prior to 1999 Audi did not have a sportscar in its range, let alone having ever raced one. But between 2000 and 2006 the Audi R8 won 63 of the 80 races in which it competed - including five out of six Le Mans 24-hours - making it the most successful long-distance racing car of all time.

This book charts those races and describes the development of the R8, as well as profiling the 35 drivers who raced it between 2000 and 2006. It also includes the story of the Audi R8R and R8C of 1999. Illustrated in colour throughout with many previously unpublished photos, the book features individual chassis details and results, plus observations from significant individuals - engineers, team managers, drivers etc - concerned with the Audi R8.
By the time the R8 was replaced by the diesel R10, it had revolutionised the marque's image, helping to change it from a staid, but worthy, saloon car manufacturer to one of the world's leading premium car producers.

Product details

Author:	Ian Wagstaff
Details:	128 pages, 19.5 x 21 x 1.1 cm / 7.7 x 8.25 x 0.43 in, paperback
Illustrations:	100 colour photos
Publisher:	Veloce Publishing Ltd (GB, 2011)
Series:	WSC Giants
ISBN:	9781845843274

Audi Quattro, le succès sur 4 roues

More than 30 years ago, Audi launched the first Quattro, a car that would not only revolutionize automobile manufacturing but also position the brand with the four rings among the great manufacturers in Germany.
A story with chaotic beginnings, strewn with pitfalls, full of hopes but not without disappointments, and whose developments have never ceased to surprise.

This book is the first to trace this birth - from the DKW Munga and VW Iltis to the first Quattro and its successors Audi 80 90 100 200 Quattro. It tells us about his incredible sporting career, from his beginnings in the 1980s to the twilight of his life with the Quattro S1, created to conquer summits as difficult as the famous Pikes Peak in the United States. The story ends in 1991, when the last Quattro rolled off the assembly line in Ingolstadt.

Product details

Author:	Jan-Henrik Muche
Details:	176 pages, 28.5 x 24 cm / 11.2 x 9 in, hardback
Illustrations:	350 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2009)
ISBN:	9782726888513

Audi quattro

Audi likes to tell the anecdote that a pre-production Audi quattro left all rear-wheel drive sedans behind on a hill in wintry Austria - with summer tires!
In fact, the well-known slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" has rarely been implemented as tangibly as with the presentation of the permanent all-wheel drive in the Audi quattro, which was one of the first to establish this drive variant in series vehicle construction. And the four driven wheels did not only have their advantages on snow-covered mountain passes: on all types of surfaces, you could drive more safely and, above all, more quickly.

Anyone who drove an Audi quattro stood out: the five-cylinder in-line engine gave a hoarse voice, the digital displays installed in the interior from 1982 gave a futuristic look and the angular body design with the distinctive double headlights was highly recognizable.
This successful package was crowned by the successes of the sports variant: Walter Röhrl's victory at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1984 and the record drive at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in 1987 cemented the aura of the sporty all-purpose weapon.

A unique illustrated book now pays tribute to the Audi quattro, forty years after its presentation at the Geneva Motor Show in 1980. It shows the chronology from the prototype to the final model, technical data, production figures, background information and unpublished photos from the Audi factory archive.
The book by Audi expert Dirk-Michael Conradt is a fine gift for the 40th birthday of the Audi quattro as well as for car lovers and Audi fans.

Product details

Author:	Dirk-Michael Conradt
Details:	400 pages, 29.5 x 27.5 x 3.9 cm / 11.6 x 10.8 x 1.54 in, hardback
Illustrations:	350 b&w and colour photos
Publisher:	Delius Klasing Verlag GmbH (D, 2020)
ISBN:	9783667119469

Audi Quattro - Auf allen Vieren zum Erfolg

More than 30 years after its debut, the all-wheel-drive car from Ingolstadt has achieved cult status. When it was introduced at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show, it was the first production car with all-wheel drive. In the following years, Audi and rally legend Walter Röhrl formed an unbeatable team.
This book explores one of the most fascinating chapters in automotive history. The author traces the development from the first concepts and prototypes to series production.

Product details

Author:	Jan Henrik Muche
Details:	176 pages, 29.5 x 24.5 x 2 cm / 11.6 x 9.7 x 0.79 in, hardback
Illustrations:	profusely illustrated
Publisher:	Heel-Verlag GmbH (D, 2023)
ISBN:	9783966645768