'Long-lost' Audi Quattro 80 rally car goes up for sale

Rally News

An Audi Quattro 80 from the heyday of British Rallying has been restored and is up for sale, after sitting dormant in storage for 25 years

19 April 1984 – Basil Critcos and John Rose make their debut in the Audi-backed 80 Quattro in the Marlboro Safari Rally, where they finished 10th overall, and 1st in Class A8

The "long-lost" Quattro on the hunt at the Safari Rally in 1984

RM Sotheby's

A “long-lost” Audi Quattro 80 rally car which was kept under lock and key for a quarter of a century is now up for sale.

The works Audi machine, which competed in the Group B class of the British Open Rally Championship during its heyday as well as two Safari rallies, was kept in storage for 25 years in longterm storage before being ‘discovered’, purchased and restored.

It is now going up for sale with an asking price of £150,000, after having gone off the radar of collectors and rally historians.

This particular Audi 80 – chassis 85DA126497 – was assembled at Audi’s Ingolstadt factory with help from David Sutton Motorsport, the plucky privateer outfit which helped Ari Vatanen become the first rally competitor driving for an independent team to win the WRC title in 1981.

1983 Audi 80 quattro Works Rally Simon Clay ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

The “long-lost” Audi spent 25 years in storage

Simon Clay ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby's

The car was powered by a 2.1-litre Group A quattro engine, but was fitted elsewhere with Group B parts, making it a Group A/B hybrid.

Sutton entered the car into the British Open Rally Championship, at first with two-time German Rally Champion Harald Demuth and Mike Greasley, former rally editor of and contributor to Motor Sport.

Speaking in 1983, Greasley described working with the car’s Group B sister: “From a co-driver’s point of view the Quattro is a delight.”

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After solid results in ’83, the car was converted to ‘Safari Rally spec’ as it was prepared for entry the Kenyan classic the following year.

Taking on the gruelling African roads with local driver Basil Criticos behind the wheel, he and co-driver John Rose came a commendable 10th overall and first in its class.

After retiring from the rally the next year, it was then sent back to the UK and converted back for use in the British championship and related events.

Its final event was the BRC’s 1990 Mazda Winter Rally, with the car going into storage and not seeing the light of day for another 25 years.

At the time it was thought no more Quattros remained in public ownership – this was a works Audi never accounted for.

However when its current owner heard about the car at a track day, he investigated and found it to be a “long-lost” works rally car, a rare piece of off-road history.

Once purchased, the new owner spent an estimated minimum of £50,000 restoring the four-wheel-drive beast, with rust needing to be addressed and welding taking place on a shell which had sat in a barn for two decades.

Other than the engine, all the other components are Group B specification.

The car is currently up for private sale at RM Sotheby’s, with an asking price of £150,000. Enquiries can be made here.