The Audi 80 turns 50

The Audi 80 celebrates its 50th anniversary. Some gossips used to say that if in the 1970s you wanted a “prestigious car” you had to opt for a Mercedes Benz or a BMW, but the truth is that the brand of the four rings was beginning to flourish and soon would present a model so excellent that drivers had no choice but to pay attention.

The Audi 80 was presented in 1972, quickly hit the roads and caused a real revolution. Barely a year after its debut, the executive saloon became Car of the Year in 1973, with the public and motoring journalists completely won over. Its dynamics and low fuel consumption were two of its most outstanding attributes.

Now, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Audi 80, the brand of the four rings has taken a trip to the past to highlight the virtues of the car that put the company on the map. Known internally as the B1, the brief was simple: Audi needed to present a sensible family car that was “modern, but not modern” so as not to put an expiry date on its style.

Audi is celebrating

Weight reduction was an important part of the development process, and the chief technical developer at the time, Ludwig Kraus, reportedly asked his team to reduce the mass of every component, without compromising quality and strength. This commitment paid off, with the entry-level coupé tipping the scales at around 834 kilograms. However, this did not only help the driving experience.

The Audi 80 arrived just at the start of the 1973 oil crisis, when petrol prices spiralled out of control. The Audi, which consumed little fuel, soon became the preferred choice for many. It came to market with a range of four-cylinder engines, with power outputs from 54 to 99 CV, and a four-speed gearbox sent drive to the front wheels.

Fifty years later, the lineage of the Audi 80 can be traced to today’s Audi A4, an elegant and comfortable saloon with a beautifully designed cabin. The now-classic also consolidated the brand’s reputation and luxury, which has resulted in a solid image and sales figures. In Europe, the “80” nomenclature was kept until the arrival of the first-generation A4, but in North America, the later models would be marketed as the 4000 and 90. Like the original, these successors also had innovation in mind. The 90, for example, pioneered the procon-ten safety system, which moved the steering wheel away from the driver in the event of an accident.

Oliver Hoffmann of Audi once said that “the Audi 80 demonstrates that Vorsprung durch Technik is a tradition at Audi”.