After Almost 30 Years, this Alpine White Audi Ur Quattro from 1982 is Found and Rescued from a Scottish Garage
Just last month, a 1982 Audi Ur Quattro got to see the sun after being locked away in a Scottish garage since 1994. Featured on Jonny Smith’s The Late Brake Show was Jason and his late brother’s Ur Quattro, which was stored in his garage for reasons unknown, and then left untouched for 28 years. That is, until Smith came along to show the world an incredibly rare and rally bred beauty.
Having sat in a windowless garage for nearly three decades, the interior was a tad dusty, but intact, colorful and bright – just like it would have been in 1982. No sun damage or bleaching, no rodent damage, and very little water and mold damage – despite being so close to Scottish shores. The only evidence the car had even seen the light of day beforehand was a few retro packs of cigarettes and an air freshener.
After phoning a friend who had access to a trove of classic Audi knowledge, he was able to find out that the car was hand-built by a team of Audi workers in July of 1982 – before mass production took affect for the company. It also happened to be only one of 70 right hand drive models sold in the United Kingdom, making for the Alpine white Quattro with matching Fuch wheels the stuff of legends.
A Rich and Capable History
What makes the Ur Quattro that Smith stumbled upon so special wasn’t just the origin story, but what came of the result. For instance, the Quattro was inspired by Volkswagen’s very capable but fairly unknown Iltis – an off-roader that was used by the German military. Audi, knowing that the Iltis could quite literally go anywhere but was slower than molasses on a winter day, decided to take what made the Iltis so successful and make it prettier and faster. And thus, the Ur Quattro was born.
Once the Quattro was introduced into professional rallying, though, the world of rally was forever changed. Anyone who is into rally knows the Audi Quattro – and how much of an impact the permanent 4WD system had on competing manufacturers.
While Smith didn’t take the precious Audi home, he did try valiantly to try and start the famous 2.2 liter five-cylinder up. Despite fresh oil, cleaning up the distributor points, sprucing up the plugs and hooking it up to a bigger battery, the Quattro needed more attention that Smith could give it. Shortly after Smith’s visit in Scotland, the one of a kind car went up for auction and was sold for £20,250. To check out the listing and more photos of the incredible car, click here.
To view the original video, check out some retro wrappers and newspapers found in the garage and what Jason’s brother traded in to get the Audi, watch the video below.
