Audi release images of a car they'll never actually sell to people

2020 marks forty years of quattro, the infamous, multi-diff, all-wheel-drive system Audi has built a heritage around ever since it destroyed the competition in Group B rallying in the 1980s.

Obviously Audi weren't going to miss the marketing goldmine of this anniversary; and have been holding special events (as much as is possible in the Covid-world) and releasing special editions of some of their modern-day quattro-equipped models.

Last month they gave us the, snappily named, TT-RS 40-Years-of-quattro-edition, which was for all intents and purposes a standard TT-RS (no bad thing) with all the extras boxes ticked and a pretty tacky race-car livery that seeks to pay homage to the S1 Quattro that dominated Group B rallying, as mentioned above.

You could have this piece of cynical marketing for the cool price of €115,000.

The next chapter in Audi's traction-based birthday celebrations has been released today, the RS6 GTO Concept.

In a similar vein to the TTRS40YOQE, as we'll abbreviate it, the RS6 GTO is based on an Audi race-car from the 1980s, this time the 90 quattro IMSA GTO, the 700+ horsepower, quattro-equipped monster Audi entered into the American IMSA Touring Car championship.

Again, Audi showcased how their quattro system could wipe the floor with the opposition, not just on the rally stages, but on tarmac race-circuits too. At the hands of legendary racer, Hans-Joachim Stuck. the 90 won seven of the 1989 season's nine races.

So the new RS6 Concept borrows heavily from the aesthetics of that legendary racer with it's livery and it also shares the 90's distinctive white wheels shrouds. Similar to the race-car too, the RS6 is wearing gigantic side-exit exhaust pipes, but this being an Audi of the 21st century, these are more than likely fake.

We can't say for sure that they are, as Audi haven't released any technical details of this RS6 throwback, but considering the standard car has 600-horsepower in standard guise, any mechanical modifications would be pretty unnecessary, unless your daily commute is via the Nurburgring.

As the name suggests, this RS6 is purely a design concept, built be apprentices from Audi's Azubi internship programme. So if you do want a similar RS6, you'll have to get to your local dealer, buy the standard (sic) car, strip out the interior and get it wrapped at your local body-shop.

Expect more pointless quattro-based nonsense from Audi before year's end.