CreweAudi
Member
Spotted this today on our internal system and given the A2 reference though maybe of interest to you.Also a great read.
Thanks
In the immortal words of the great Dick Dastardly: ‘Drat, drat and double drat.’ My planned grand entrance to Audis in the Park at Deene Park, Northamptonshire – the world’s largest gathering of Audi cars and Audi enthusiasts – has gone disastrously wrong within seconds of my arrival.
I am at the wheel of a Mythos black Audi RS e-tron GT Carbon Vorsprung – the crème de la crème of the Audi range. A pure electric-drive supercar capable of accelerating to 62mph in just 3.3 seconds, all without emitting a single tailpipe emission. A car described by the man who designed it, Marc Lichte, as possibly the most beautiful Audi ever. In terms of sheer jaw-dropping, show-stealing exclusivity, this is it – the absolute rat’s pyjamas.
As I glide silently, serenely and stunningly to a halt, I smugly lower the window and ask the volunteer marshal where I should park. ‘Over there mate,’ comes the cheery reply. ‘Beside the other black RS e-tron GT.’
But it matters not a jot, because everyone is here to enjoy the day and the magnificent display of Audis. Everyone is equally welcome and of equal status whatever Audi they have turned up in, be it a 1972 60L Saloon, a 1982 quattro, a 2002 A2, a 2021 RS 6 Avant or any of the plethora of four-ring models represented her. Even people who don’t turn up in Audis – perish the thought – are welcome, although they must park ‘elsewhere’.
Wandering around the 1000-plus Audis in Deene Park, I feel a slight pang of guilt. I have left ‘my’ RS e-tron GT covered in a sheen of road grime, while everyone else seems to have got the cleaning and polishing cloths out and restored their cars to the concours condition they left home in.
Paul Fletcher and Mike Swift are busy sprucing up their near-identical Audi Coupés. The friends met at a previous Audis in the Park event and now always park their cars together. With their razor-sharp 1980s straight-lines design, the Coupés are a visual treat. ‘They are the poor man’s quattro,’ grins Mike. ‘You get the same looks as the quattro but not the turbocharged engine or the all-wheel-drive system. Still, they are great fun to drive.’
As I stroll on, I find myself suffering severe kid-in-the-sweetshop syndrome. It’s extremely difficult to take it all in, and utterly impossible to mention all the people I meet, or do justice to the huge variety of their cars. One common theme that does come across, though, is the owners’ love for the progressive nature of the Audi brand. And it’s especially evident when I visit the A2 owners’ club, where most members have two examples of the iconic and innovative all-aluminium hatchback – one for everyday driving, and one for Sunday and show best.
‘The A2 just gets under your skin, it’s so well-built and engineered, and driving it never fails to put a smile on my face,’ Ian Weston tells me while taking a breath from polishing his yellow (and very handsome) A2 1.4 TDI. Teresa Baker is equally passionate about her 1.6 FSI example, and the car’s refusal to age: ‘The A2 still looks and feels modern. I have had people ask, “Why has your new car got a cassette player?” And I have to explain that it’s actually 18 years old!’
One of the Audis that does look properly old – but in a very, very good way – is Stephen Allen’s drop-dead-gorgeous marina blue 60L. Stephen, who helps run Audis in the Park, spent five years restoring the saloon model, which Audi built between 1968 and 1972. There are now only six left on the road in the UK.
In a normal, COVID-free year, visitors come to the event not just from every corner of the UK but Europe and further afield. Event Manager Calvin Chinsang, who started Audis in the Park back in 2009, says: ‘We regularly get people driving over in their Audis from countries like France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. We’ve even had Audi enthusiasts from Australia and Canada who have timed their holidays so that they could come along and visit us at Deene Park.’ Calvin’s own car is a very cool 1997 A4 Saloon 2.8 V6 quattro. Tricked out with air ride suspension, it crouches an awful lot closer to the ground than any A4 ever did when leaving the factory in Ingolstadt, Germany.
I take in an immaculate line-up of sinuous red-and-black Mk 1 TT quattro Sport models, big brawny S8 Saloons, and S and RS models of all types. My favourite Audi on display though, is a 1995 Coupé 16-valve with 256,000 miles on the clock, brought to Audis in the Park – and, before that, brought back to life – by Shelley and David Sykes.
‘I found it abandoned in a yard, rotting, covered in black sludge inside and out. David thought I’d gone mad when I arrived home with it on the back of a truck,’ admits Shelley. ‘It took us 18 months to restore. We’ve not quite finished, and this is its first outing today, driving down from Harrogate.’ I love the orange paintwork and the white wheels. ‘They’re German motorsport ones, but they’re not original and some of the purists don’t approve,’ whispers Shelley. But they look very similar to the wheels on my personal collection of Group B A2, Sport and S1 E2 rally quattros – all, alas, in 1:43 scale-model form – so they’ll do for me.
Having toured the park several times, I return to the central areas where both RS e-tron GT models – mine and ‘the other one’ – are attracting plenty of attention, as is an all-electric Q4 e-tron. The man who ruined my grand entrance by getting there first in his black RS e-tron GT is Andrew Fletcher, Business Development Manager with Vindis Group Audi, which operates Audi Centres in the south-east Midlands.
‘We’re seeing a remarkable shift at the moment,’ Andrew tells me. ‘On the business side, every car on order is either an all-electric e-tron or a TFSI e plug-in hybrid, while on the personal side, one in four enquiries is for the Q4 e-tron.’ This drive to electrification is another example of Audi’s passion for progress. And it makes you wonder, what will the new models that steal the show look like when the RS e-tron GT is 40 years old.
Thanks
In the immortal words of the great Dick Dastardly: ‘Drat, drat and double drat.’ My planned grand entrance to Audis in the Park at Deene Park, Northamptonshire – the world’s largest gathering of Audi cars and Audi enthusiasts – has gone disastrously wrong within seconds of my arrival.
I am at the wheel of a Mythos black Audi RS e-tron GT Carbon Vorsprung – the crème de la crème of the Audi range. A pure electric-drive supercar capable of accelerating to 62mph in just 3.3 seconds, all without emitting a single tailpipe emission. A car described by the man who designed it, Marc Lichte, as possibly the most beautiful Audi ever. In terms of sheer jaw-dropping, show-stealing exclusivity, this is it – the absolute rat’s pyjamas.
As I glide silently, serenely and stunningly to a halt, I smugly lower the window and ask the volunteer marshal where I should park. ‘Over there mate,’ comes the cheery reply. ‘Beside the other black RS e-tron GT.’
But it matters not a jot, because everyone is here to enjoy the day and the magnificent display of Audis. Everyone is equally welcome and of equal status whatever Audi they have turned up in, be it a 1972 60L Saloon, a 1982 quattro, a 2002 A2, a 2021 RS 6 Avant or any of the plethora of four-ring models represented her. Even people who don’t turn up in Audis – perish the thought – are welcome, although they must park ‘elsewhere’.
Wandering around the 1000-plus Audis in Deene Park, I feel a slight pang of guilt. I have left ‘my’ RS e-tron GT covered in a sheen of road grime, while everyone else seems to have got the cleaning and polishing cloths out and restored their cars to the concours condition they left home in.
Paul Fletcher and Mike Swift are busy sprucing up their near-identical Audi Coupés. The friends met at a previous Audis in the Park event and now always park their cars together. With their razor-sharp 1980s straight-lines design, the Coupés are a visual treat. ‘They are the poor man’s quattro,’ grins Mike. ‘You get the same looks as the quattro but not the turbocharged engine or the all-wheel-drive system. Still, they are great fun to drive.’
As I stroll on, I find myself suffering severe kid-in-the-sweetshop syndrome. It’s extremely difficult to take it all in, and utterly impossible to mention all the people I meet, or do justice to the huge variety of their cars. One common theme that does come across, though, is the owners’ love for the progressive nature of the Audi brand. And it’s especially evident when I visit the A2 owners’ club, where most members have two examples of the iconic and innovative all-aluminium hatchback – one for everyday driving, and one for Sunday and show best.
‘The A2 just gets under your skin, it’s so well-built and engineered, and driving it never fails to put a smile on my face,’ Ian Weston tells me while taking a breath from polishing his yellow (and very handsome) A2 1.4 TDI. Teresa Baker is equally passionate about her 1.6 FSI example, and the car’s refusal to age: ‘The A2 still looks and feels modern. I have had people ask, “Why has your new car got a cassette player?” And I have to explain that it’s actually 18 years old!’
One of the Audis that does look properly old – but in a very, very good way – is Stephen Allen’s drop-dead-gorgeous marina blue 60L. Stephen, who helps run Audis in the Park, spent five years restoring the saloon model, which Audi built between 1968 and 1972. There are now only six left on the road in the UK.
In a normal, COVID-free year, visitors come to the event not just from every corner of the UK but Europe and further afield. Event Manager Calvin Chinsang, who started Audis in the Park back in 2009, says: ‘We regularly get people driving over in their Audis from countries like France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. We’ve even had Audi enthusiasts from Australia and Canada who have timed their holidays so that they could come along and visit us at Deene Park.’ Calvin’s own car is a very cool 1997 A4 Saloon 2.8 V6 quattro. Tricked out with air ride suspension, it crouches an awful lot closer to the ground than any A4 ever did when leaving the factory in Ingolstadt, Germany.
I take in an immaculate line-up of sinuous red-and-black Mk 1 TT quattro Sport models, big brawny S8 Saloons, and S and RS models of all types. My favourite Audi on display though, is a 1995 Coupé 16-valve with 256,000 miles on the clock, brought to Audis in the Park – and, before that, brought back to life – by Shelley and David Sykes.
‘I found it abandoned in a yard, rotting, covered in black sludge inside and out. David thought I’d gone mad when I arrived home with it on the back of a truck,’ admits Shelley. ‘It took us 18 months to restore. We’ve not quite finished, and this is its first outing today, driving down from Harrogate.’ I love the orange paintwork and the white wheels. ‘They’re German motorsport ones, but they’re not original and some of the purists don’t approve,’ whispers Shelley. But they look very similar to the wheels on my personal collection of Group B A2, Sport and S1 E2 rally quattros – all, alas, in 1:43 scale-model form – so they’ll do for me.
Having toured the park several times, I return to the central areas where both RS e-tron GT models – mine and ‘the other one’ – are attracting plenty of attention, as is an all-electric Q4 e-tron. The man who ruined my grand entrance by getting there first in his black RS e-tron GT is Andrew Fletcher, Business Development Manager with Vindis Group Audi, which operates Audi Centres in the south-east Midlands.
‘We’re seeing a remarkable shift at the moment,’ Andrew tells me. ‘On the business side, every car on order is either an all-electric e-tron or a TFSI e plug-in hybrid, while on the personal side, one in four enquiries is for the Q4 e-tron.’ This drive to electrification is another example of Audi’s passion for progress. And it makes you wonder, what will the new models that steal the show look like when the RS e-tron GT is 40 years old.
