- Two-seat sports car points to a future design direction
- Slick roadster looks like a production model up close
- It could sit between the TT and the R8 as an all-new performance proposition
Rather than invite a bunch of journalists to a stuffy design studio somewhere in the deepest depths of Germany, Audi chose the glitz and glamour of London’s West End to showcase what it says is the “manifestation of a new design philosophy”.
The Audi Concept C is the work of ex-Jaguar Land Rover designer Massimo Frascella, who was rumored to have penned the controversial Jaguar Type 00 concept before he departed the company.
There are clues in the unfussy nature and clean line of the sleek silver two-seater, the shrunken front grille (rare these days) and the swooping, solid rear section that does away with rear glass for a classic, almost Porsche Spyder approach.
When faced with the metallic beauty up close, it looked surprisingly like a production vehicle, with door mirrors and a functioning cockpit suggesting that the German marque is ready to put this electric sports car in showrooms at some point in the near future.
All it really needs is a set of door handles and a few surfaces tweaked to meet stringent safety regulations and it’s good to roll.
Not in a long time, perhaps ever, have I felt that a modern sports car concept deserved an electric powertrain as much as this one.
It gives off strong Audi RSQ concept vibes from 2004’s I, Robot movie, itself a precursor to the R8 that futuristically and autonomously wafted around Chicago in the year 2035, doing battle with sentient humanoid robots. Perhaps Elon needs to re-watch it.
The rumor mill – and logic – suggests that it will sit on the same electric platform as the upcoming pure electric Porsche Boxster and Cayman models. Although those have been teased and delayed for some time now.
But where Porsche is attempting to electrify arguably the world’s most perfect sports cars, Audi has never had the same weight of expectations on its shoulders.
Instead, the TT was always the more comfortable, practical and premium-feeling two-seat sports car, even if it wasn’t the fastest around race circuits.
The design does the talking
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The Audi Concept C is both a look at a very likely electric two-seat sports car but also a statement of intent, a sneak peek at what we can expect from the German brand in the coming years.
It’s both highly futuristic but unmistakably Audi, with anodized aluminum switchgear inside that is said to offer decidedly retro but beautifully tactile feedback every time it is interacted with. There’s no whopping infotainment display, just the bare essentials directly in the driver’s line of sight. It’s almost anti-modern EV.
Every surface, both on the inside and the outside of the car, feels like a piece of architecture or sculpture, with every detail meticulously pored over. The result is something the feels cohesive and looks very special.
So much so, that if this concept vehicle silently rolled through London’s West End in its current form, it would undoubtedly stop everyone in their tracks.
The looks do all of the talking, there’s simply no need for a shouty V10 engine.
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