CarBrandLogos archive · Audi · 1972
The mid-size car that grew into the A4, and lent Volkswagen its first Passat.
Discover the storyPhoto: Mikael Wall · Public domain
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Audi 80, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
The badge first appeared on a variant of the F103, but the car that matters arrived in 1972 as the B1: a compact saloon with a longitudinal front engine driving the front wheels, new overhead-cam four-cylinder engines, and none of the fussiness of the old Auto Union range. It was named European Car of the Year for 1973.
Audi-90-sedan · IFCAR · Public domain
02
Its other job was internal. Volkswagen took the B1's engineering, added a hatchback and a Giugiaro body, and sold it as the first Passat, one of the decisive steps in the company's escape from air-cooled rear-engined cars. For years afterwards the Audi came first and the Volkswagen followed.
1988 Audi 80 quattro profile · Typhoon (talk) (Uploads) · CC BY-SA 3.0
03
The B2 of 1978 gave rise to the coupé that underpinned the Quattro, and brought quattro four-wheel drive into a mainstream saloon. The B3 of 1986 was fully galvanised, sold with a long anti-corrosion warranty that competitors had to match, and wore a smooth aerodynamic body with a notably slippery drag figure. The B4 followed in 1991. In 1994 the name was retired in favour of A4, and the coupé and cabriolet strands eventually became the A5. Along the way the 80 turned Audi from a maker of worthy oddities into a direct rival for BMW and Mercedes.
Audi 80 · free photos & art · CC BY 2.0
At a glance
Produced
1966–1996Technical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the 80's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →From the journal
Lineage
Contemporaries from the 1970s
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