It’s hard to remember that there was a time before the M3 and the 944, but before they rocked their flares into the collective consciousness of every school aged and school aged-acting boy there was the Quattro. For as the 944 brought Le Mans development and the M3 brought Touring Car development to the street, the Quattro was born in the fire-breathing World Rally Championship. The technology that filtered down created a extremely competent GT car; it wasn’t the fastest around a given corner, it wasn’t the fastest in a straight line, but it would be the fastest all year long. By 1989, though, the B2 chassis had been retired in favor of the new B3 – complete with a new Coupe. But Audi didn’t retire the Quattro without a bit of fanfare just yet; for 1989 the car was upgraded with a development of the Group B Sport Quattro motor now sporting 20 valves and electronic fuel injection. The motor is now as legendary as the car, and the combination of the two created perhaps the best all-around GT car of the 1980s; the “RR” Quattro.
A veritable highlight show of the line, the last of the run 1989-1991 Quattros featured the 20V motor, the chunky looks and box flares of the original covering the best 8″ wheels (okay, the Sport got 9″ wheels made from unobtanium), better suspension, ABS, smarter-on-the-road Torsen center differential, painted body color spoilers and the flush-mounted H1/H4 lights, new better steering wheel, the revised later dashboard – and of course, the best digital dashboard. What did all of this make? Arguably, the best Quattro, of course!
