A British company called Audacious Automotive is building a restomod based on the original Audi Quattro, swapping the 2.1-liter five-cylinder turbo for the B7-generation RS4's 4.2-liter V8. With a supercharger bolted on top, the target is at least 600 hp through a manual transmission.
The RS4's naturally aspirated V8 made 414 hp in factory form. Adding forced induction to a high-revving, flat-plane-adjacent V8 (Audi's unit uses a 90-degree bank angle but shares the RS4's screaming top-end character) is a proven recipe for serious output. Six hundred horsepower through the Quattro's mechanical all-wheel-drive system and a stick shift sounds like controlled violence.
Group B Looks, Modern Engineering
The body takes heavy inspiration from the S1 Quattro that dominated Group B rallying. Flared arches at all four corners, a new front bumper with enlarged air intakes, a black grille, and a towering rear wing define the exterior. A louvered rear window, a functional diffuser, and dual tailpipes complete the rear. Company founder Mac Zaglewski told Autocar that every external addition serves a cooling or aerodynamic purpose.
The weight target is equally ambitious: at least 250 kg (551 lbs) lighter than a B7 RS4. Given that the RS4 sedan weighed roughly 1,650 kg (3,638 lbs), that puts the Quattro restomod at approximately 1,400 kg (3,086 lbs). At 600 hp, that's a power-to-weight ratio of about 2.33 kg per hp. For comparison, the current 911 GT3 RS sits at 2.08 kg/hp with 518 hp and 1,075 kg (dry).
The Price of Nostalgia
Audacious Automotive is asking at least $466,000 for the build, and that figure does not include the cost of a donor Audi Quattro or an RS4. A clean, running Ur-Quattro currently trades between $50,000 and $120,000 depending on condition and market. A B7 RS4 adds another $30,000 to $60,000. All in, buyers are looking at $550,000 to $650,000 before options.
That puts it in the same territory as the Singer 911 DLS (which starts around $1.8 million) in concept, if not in price. The market for high-dollar restomods of iconic rally cars is small but growing. ABT recently sold out a run of Ur-Quattro restomods with nearly triple the original power in under three hours. Audacious hasn't disclosed a production target.
