Audi will celebrate several anniversaries of legendary models in 2024

The most significant anniversaries at a glance: in the digital booklet “Anniversary Dates 2024”, Audi Tradition details the highlights of the anniversaries of this year 2024 and summarizes more than 30 important historical events relating to the products, the company and motorsport. The booklet is now available for download in English and German on the Audi MediaCenter website.

The anniversaries that Audi Tradition is celebrating in 2024 are as varied as the history of the brand with the four rings. The Audi 50 is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Auto Union plant in Ingolstadt is celebrating its 75th anniversary and Audi founder August Horch founded his first company in Cologne 125 years ago. The anniversary booklet lists more than 30 anniversaries, including an overview of Audi models launched more than 30 years ago and which will receive their “H” license plate in 2024 (collector vehicle).

Parmi ces modèles figure l’Audi A8, dont le lancement en 1994 a marqué l’entrée d’Audi dans la catégorie des voitures de luxe. Fabriquée à Neckarsulm et dévoilée au Salon international de l’Automobile de Genève, la berline a introduit l’Audi Space Frame, une carrosserie entièrement en aluminium. L’emblématique Audi RS 2 Avant fêtera également ses 30 ans en 2024 : développée dans le cadre d’un projet commun entre Audi et Porsche, l’Audi RS 2 Avant a établi la tradition des modèles RS à hautes performances. Le livret lui consacre un chapitre complet.

Audi Sport Quattro celebrates its 40th anniversary

For Audi Sport, 1984 proved to be a particularly successful year. The season started with a victory when Walter Röhrl won the legendary Rally of Monte-Carlo at the wheel of an Audi quattro in January. Stig Blomqvist and his co-driver Björn Cederberg then won the drivers' world title and Audi the manufacturers' world title. The season ends in victory for Harald Demuth: together with Willy Lux, Demuth won the German Rally Championship in advance at the wheel of an Audi quattro at the International Sachs Baltic Rally, the ninth round of the German Rally Championship.

French driver Michèle Mouton also made waves 40 years ago: at Pikes Peak she drove an Audi Sport quattro to victory in the rally car category for Audi. With approval requiring a production run of 200 vehicles, the Audi Sport quattro was available in road and rally versions from 1984. Often called "The Short One" due to its reduced wheelbase, the 306hp version was the car the most powerful production car in Germany at the time. At the end of April 1984, the 200 Audi Sport quattros required for homologation were completed. At the beginning of May, the Group B rally version of the Sport quattro makes its debut at the Corsica Rally: an entire chapter in the new anniversary booklet tells the story.

The Silver Arrow celebrates its 90th anniversary

Half a century earlier, 90 years ago, Auto Union was already active in international motorsport. After the merger of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer in 1932, the new company Auto Union AG wanted to promote the new group name "Auto Union" and the distinctive four-ring emblem. Ferdinand Porsche, who had already been commissioned to build a racing car before the merger with the Wanderer factories, was asked to build one for Auto Union. The result was as sensational as it was revolutionary: the new 4,4-liter engine with 16 cylinders, a compressor and an output of 295 hp was mounted in the middle of the vehicle, directly behind the driver.

This design gave the racing car its unusual appearance with a short front end, anticipating the powertrain still used in racing cars of Formula 1 Today. The Auto Union racing car made its first official appearance at the AVUS in Berlin on March 6, 1934, with Hans Stuck behind the wheel. A few weeks later, on May 27, 1934, the Auto Union Type A, as it was known internally, made its debut on the international sporting scene, marking the beginning of the prosperous era of the Silver Arrows of the 'Auto Union.

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