Thursday, February 6, 2025

Audi accidentally failed to scrap the world's fastest car

It should have been scrapped. But the Audi 5000 CS still exists. In 1986, it was the world's fastest four-wheel drive car.

It was first a media stunt, then a coward. But the Audi 5000 CS should have been scrapped long ago. So the fact that it exists today is actually a mistake. Some would call it a mikrael.

The story goes that in the 1980s, Audi was having a tough time in North America. So, to boost sales, the engineers were allowed to go crazy.

The result was the Audi 5000 CS. The base car is an Audi 100, which on the other side of the Atlantic was marketed as the Audi 5000. Apart from that, the two cars don't have much in common.

And yet. The engine – a 2.2-liter five-cylinder with a turbo – is the same. That is, except that the Audi people used their motorsport experience to coax 650 horsepower out of it.

This is written by the auction house Bonhams .

The result was that in 1986, Audi's test driver Bobby Unser, who had already won the Indy 500 race three times, managed to push the car to a top speed of 322 km/h. This happened on the Talladega Speedway oval track in Alabama.

Afterwards, Unser is said to have told Audi's people that the car was glued to the asphalt because of the four-wheel drive, what the Germans today call Quattro.

After the trip around the asphalt in Alabama, Audi was essentially finished with the 5000CS. And as is typical for prototypes, the car was supposed to be scrapped. It just didn't work out that way.

Instead, the car ended up in a private collection, where it has been well cared for. It was even supposed to have had its engine overhauled, and thus even more horsepower, just a few years ago.

The mission of a better image in the USA never succeeds for Audi. At least not with the Audi 100/5000.

Because after the record-breaking speed, several owners of the regular street cars went astray. In most cases, it turned out to be the owners' own fault, because they couldn't control the combination of four-wheel drive and 'relatively' high horsepower.

Still, it meant that Audi had to recall the car repeatedly. And that caused scratches in the already dull paint. That just doesn't change the fact that the 5000CS was and is a rocket. The oven with a for sale sign in the windshield.

The car will be sold at auction in Paris next week. Bonhams expects the final price to be somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 euros. That's the equivalent of one and a half million kroner if the bidding goes as high as possible.

Latest

Don't miss

Aston Martin rejects: No thanks to electric cars for 2040

Adrian Hallmark, who took over as director of Aston...

Newspaper: EU regrets ban on petrol and diesel cars

According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, several EU-elected...

Polestar sued for cheating: "No comment"

Chinese carmaker Polestar has been sued by a number...

Automotive giant is busy – urgently needs to find 350 employees

Volvo Cars is busy avoiding the increased punitive tariffs...

Contradicting Tesla – "Self-driving cars are a long way off"

Tech giant Nvidia is now taking legal action against...
Boosted Magazine
Boosted Magazine
Boosted in Denmark has over a million unique users, surpassing two million sessions, and accumulating over seven million page views each month, and our platforms has become a hub for automotive enthusiasts. Now you can enjoy our content in English too! Enjoy our free car news - every day. Want to talk to us? Write an email to boosted@boostedmagazine.com
spot_img

There are now less than 2.5 million fossil cars in Denmark.

The latest figures show that there are now less than 2.5 million fossil-fuel cars in Denmark. On the other hand, electric cars are lagging...

Monitoring the car brands – now they are going to fire 1,000 people

The EPA - or Environmental Protection Agency - which enforces US environmental laws against car brands, is announcing layoffs of 1,000 employees. Trump has...

Volvo loses billions – has never been worth less

Volvo Cars' stock has hit a new low. In fact, the car brand has never been worth less after the market's reaction to the...

Car brands are firing all their dealers in Denmark

On February 6, both Ford and Hyundai, which are imported into Denmark by the same Nic. Christiansen group, announced that all dealers had been...

Jason Watt becomes Formula 1 commentator – debut March 16

The former racing coach joins Viaplay's Formula 1 team and makes his debut as an expert and commentator at the Australian Grand Prix. When...

Newspaper: EU regrets ban on petrol and diesel cars

According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, several EU-elected politicians now regret the strict ban policy aimed at gasoline and diesel cars. The European...

Tesla plummets in Germany – sales more than halved

Tesla sales are plummeting in Europe's largest car market. The Americans sold just 1,277 cars in Germany during January. That's a drop of 59...

Russia's new electric car runs on 50 screwdrivers

Okay - the car may not be new. But there's still room for the 50 screwdrivers, right where the Lada's engine would otherwise have...

Car brand in crisis – cuts everything by 70 percent

Mitsubishi is not doing well at the moment. The brand, which is practically dormant in Denmark, is now lowering its expectations for 2025 by...

ISUZU D-MAX dominates the pickup market in Denmark

ISUZU D-MAX became the best-selling pickup in Denmark in January with a market share of 40.48%. New sales figures show that the model continues...

Volvo accuses KÃ¥re of smashing his own electric car

Volvo believes a Norwegian man has crashed his own electric car. In any case, the accelerator was pressed all the way down, says the...

Volkswagen unveils new electric car for 150,000 kroner

The director of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäfer, believes that it will be like entering the Champions League with an electric car for 150,000 Danish kroner....