The Making of the Audi Le Mans quattro Concept

Press Release

Bernhard Voll reminds us, however, that only a small, efficient team would be able to meet such a tight deadline: "We were able to take decisions quickly and directly, since we all worked in one large room, every member of the team was normally available all the time and there were no multiple hierarchy levels to take into account." His design colleague Lamberty agrees: "The need to reach quick decisions was much greater because of this enormous pressure of time, and so we were able to achieve tangible results far more quickly." The race was on when, in October 2002, the Audi Board of Management decided to have the Le Mans quattro built. One team was just finishing the Pikes Peak concept study for the Detroit Motor Show, another was working hard on the Nuvolari GT show car for Geneva. The Board's instructions to Concept Development and Design were nonetheless clear: "Develop a mid-engined supersports model." The project was given the internal development code 'F03', standing for 'Frankfurt 2003' – in other words, the concept car for the IAA Frankfurt Motor Show. The two previous projects had been coded similarly: U03 (for USA) and G03 (for Geneva). In the words of Technical Project Manager Voll: "It was clear from the start that what was wanted was a high-performance sports car suitable for day-to-day use." An ultimate driving machine, certainly, but one demanding no sacrifices in comfort and user-friendliness. A car just as capable of driving down to the hairdresser's and parking there for an hour or two. As you can imagine, this was quite a challenge for us." An image board was used to compile a 'personality' for the Le Mans quattro. Attributes such as competition capability, luxury, high-tech, design and day-to-day suitability were shown on the board as associative photo motifs, together with the intended target group, the driver's lifestyle and the car's historical relevance (for instance its affinity with Auto Union racing cars). Following discussions on strategy with Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Audi's Chairman and Board Member for Technical Development, the first presentation was held before the end of October 2002, with drawings and sketches shown to the Board, after which the basic concept of the car – its 'package' was finalised. After this, a creative competition was organised between Audi Design's stylists at company headquarters in Ingolstadt and those at the Audi Design Centre in Munich. Lamberty has this to say: “Such competitions are very hard on everyone involved. Five teams submitted drafts, but of course only one could be chosen. But members of those that lost out were invited to join the final development team." With the technical basis and positioning as a working specification, the next task was to "give the car an appetising look" (Lamberty's words). By mid-November, three possible exterior designs were still being considered, but the interior design had already been signed off. For two weeks on end, vast sets of CAD (computer-aided development) data were compiled and fed to the high-performance computers. In December 2002 the Virtual Reality (VR) Centre in Ingolstadt was able to project its first animated visions of the Le Mans quattro on to a "powerwall" six metres wide and 2.25 metres high. The car was beginning to take shape, if only in virtual form for the moment. Using the CAD data for the remaining three body versions, 1:4 scale clay models were formed and presented to the Board of Management shortly before Christmas. The choice fell on the most sporty of these versions. Designers from Audi Sport, incidentally, supported the project with their specific motor-sport expertise, as did employees from the Wind Tunnel Centre in Ingolstadt, the Aluminium Centre and Engine Development in Neckarsulm, as well as Lamborghini and Cosworth Technology.