When we were telling you the long career of Audi’s 5 cylinder engine, we told you how your servant remembered a drive behind the wheel of the Audi 80 Quattro with this magnificent engine.

Well, we delved in our vast archive, and besides the historic pre-war motor sport photos which we rediscovered, we also found the pictures of the memorable test drive of this Audi 80 5E, on 8 and 9 December 1982.

Here they are…

The drive is vividly remembered. We were rushed from the Zürich airport by train near to Sankt Moritz. On this train, we had a lavish luncheon, with the cars on the same train in freight wagons. They were nicely unloaded for us, just to enjoy a further mountain drive to St. Moritz.

Look at how spartan the cars then really were. No light alloy wheels, just steel ones with plastic covers. Only ONE side view mirror…

But how wonderful this car drove. You had to rev it high to deliver its power. What beautiful staccato, and what a superb road holding and accurate handling thanks to the Quattro drive.

We stormed through the mountains, redlining the engine in second and third gear. It was the sound of pure motorsport, still ringing in our ears until this day, more than 30 years later…

Hans Knol ten Bensel