The early 1980s saw the introduction of a more economical Audi model for the masses. Its Type 81/85 debuted at the Paris Salon in 1980 and displayed a complementary shape to its more expensive sibling, the Quattro. Audi continued to produce the 80 series cars until 1988 with nearly 8,000 being made. Audi’s design of a smaller and more affordable car had also spawned to a new genre of racing. The company had a factory team that was owned by Peter Seikel. He recently had an Audi 80 GT in the United States and one lucky builder was able to get a closer look.
The Audi 80 GT was never officially produced and sold by the company, but did race in the European Touring Car Series. Peter’s car is in great condition and that allowed for measurements and information to be gathered from it in great detail. The car to be restored was another GT that was originally owned by Peter Aschenbrenner, who had raced it in IMSA and Trans Am events. Since its glory days the car had been sitting in disrepair just waiting for someone to show it a little love.
More details on the Audi 80 GT after the jump.
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Volkswagen will finally be entering the World Rally Championship and have prepared a new Polo R WRC Concept to help prepare the onslaught of fans ready to see the company in action. This new model will preview the production model that will be used in competition from 2013 and on.
"Almost exactly two years ago, in May 2009, the most recent model of the Polo was presented here in Sardinia. Today we are proud to show you the hottest Polo of all time – the Polo R WRC," said Luca de Meo, Head of Marketing of Volkswagen AG.
Volkswagen will take the experience of their three consecutive victories at the Dakar Rally and use it to formulate a vehicle especially for the WRC rally. The car set to compete in the WRC will be a near-300-hp rally vehicle with a 1.6-liter TSI engine and four-wheel drive based on the Polo.
"The new Technical Regulations of the World Rally Championship are an ideal fit for Volkswagen’s philosophy with respect to the development of production vehicles," says Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development Division. "Downsizing, high efficiency and reliability are top priorities for our customers. The timing of the WRC debut is optimal for Volkswagen. The big task of engineering a vehicle that is competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges holds great appeal for us."
UPDATE 09/13/11: The Volkswagen Polo R WRC was finally unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, giving the world a glance at the new prototype that will be used by Volkwagen to launch the testing program this year in preparation for the FIA World Rally Championship. Volkswagen is gearing up for its entry in the world’s pre-eminent rally racing category in 2013 and the development of the Polo R WRC prototype is the first step in fielding a full-fledged contender.
Dodge, in cooperation with Magneti Marelli, has revealed the new Avenger rally car. The model will make its first public appearance at the New York International Auto Show on April 22–May 1, 2011.
"Our Dodge Avenger Rally car showcases Mopar’s new relationship with Magneti Marelli," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand. "Our companies worked closely together to bring this vehicle to life in a joint build that utilizes proven, quality-tested performance parts and accessories from Mopar and Magneti Marelli. We will gauge reaction to this vehicle and determine which parts will go into production."
The new Avenger rally car is based on a stock 2011 Dodge Avenger Heat, but its weight has been reduced by about 200 lbs. The interior has been updated to coincide with rally requirements. It features a full 8-point Mopar roll cage, race seats with 5-point racing harnesses, a steering wheel and diamond-plate foot well from OMP, a purpose-built center stack and console with a compact high-performance 1 GB data logger and an integrated GPS, and inertial platform with real-time calculation of pitch and roll angles.
Power for the Avenger Rally will come from a new Dodge Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 engine that delivers 300 HP. This engine is combined with a new exhaust system, a Mopar cold-air intake, and a high-performance Mopar/Magneti Marelli braking system.
Hit the jump for full specifications on the Mopar Dodge Avenger rally car.
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How odd would it be for rally fans to see a Nissan, let alone an Infiniti, getting its tires dirty in the world of rallying? The Japanese automaker isn’t exactly a name synonymous with rally racing, so you might need to excuse us for being a little apprehensive when word broke out that an Infiniti G37 S Coupe would be part of the Spanish Rally Championship.
Turns out, though, the G37 S Coupe will not be doing any rally racing of its own. Instead, it has been tapped as the official rally-spec safety car of the SRC. Color us surprised with this bit of news.
To cope with the rigors of the rally world, the G37 S Coupe’s chassis and suspension were strengthened. Among the new additions to the car’s make-up include new Bilstein dampers, upgraded brake pads, its very own light bar and siren, a roll cage, a new set of Sparco race seats and harnesses, a fire suppression system, and high-performance Michelin tires.
Other important features added to the rally safety car include a GPS navigation system and a plethora of communications equipment developed to assist the car in case of an emergency.
In terms of powertrain, the G37 S Coupe safety car will have the same output coming out of the standard 3,696cc 24-valve V6 engine – 320 horsepower – and will be mated to the standard six-speed manual transmission.
Infiniti may not be all that known in the world of rally racing, but if the company ever needed to get its feet wet in the often dusty and muddy world of rallying, this could be the first step in doing so.
The Rally America National Championship has long been a series dominated by the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The Impreza’s run was unceremoniously stopped last year by the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, setting the stage for a highly competitive 2011 season. One car that’s looking to gate crash the proceedings made its debut at the 2010 SEMA Auto Show courtesy of 0-60 Magazine.
The popular auto mag unveiled the Scion xD Tarmac rally car that’s expected to make its rally debut at the 2011 RANC. This isn’t the first time 0-60 went to SEMA with their own custom-built Scion rally prototype, having done the same thing last year. This time around, the car will be driven by Christopher Duplessis, who, incidentally, is the brother of Forest Duplessis, DirtFish Rally School’s chief instructor.
Judging from the looks and specs of the xD Tarmac, it looks like 0-60 Magazine did a splendid job turning this car into a full-fledged rally contender that’s poised to get down and dirty with the Imprezas and Evolution X’s of the Rally America National Championshp. Whether it’s overall build will translate to success on the dirt road remains to be seen. That’s something that we’re going to have to stick around and pay close attention to when the season officially opens later this year.
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