Why The Audi Sport Quattro Is The Best Looking Car Ever

So we were invited by Audi to drive any of its cars yesterday. Included in the line-up were the A1 Quattro – of which just 333 have been made – brilliant TT RS Plus and a nice array of A8s, A3s, Q3s…you get the idea.

On a platform to the right, however, stood the car that I would have given my left nut to take out for a drive. I still have both intact, which is probably for the best.

Despite the car's designer - Peter Birtwhistle - describing the car as "bloody ugly", the Audi Sport Quattro is, to my eyes at least, the best-looking car ever created. It’s boxy, squat, imposing, wide and simply awesome to ogle from any angle.

Read our review of the Audi TT RS Plus

Take the bonnet as an example; it’s caked with air vents and bulges and sticks two fingers up at symmetry. Lift the lid, and you’ll understand just why it’s been designed that way. Underneath lies a fire-breathing 2.1-litre turbocharged five-pot motor that produces 306bhp in road-going format. In 1985, this thing was good for a 62mph sprint in under 5sec – rapid even by today’s standards, let alone the year that baby Jesus delivered me to earth from the planet Krypton.

Examine the Sport’s profile and its 32cm length deficit compared with the standard Quattro is wholly apparent; this made it the more agile rally weapon and one that would tear its Lancia and Peugeot Group B rally car rivals a new arsehole exhaust pipe.

The wheels – echoed by those you'll spot on the A1 Quattro below - the bumpers and smoked rear lights look immense too, as do the flared arches and sculpted bumpers. Heck, I even think the windscreen wipers on this thing look sexy.

While I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll probably never get to drive one – just 224 were produced – it’s probably no bad thing. I could never do it the justice it deserves, unlike hero rally driver Walter Röhrl. (You’ll have to excuse the porno music…).

Read our review of the Audi TT RS Plus