In my university days, I had a magazine pull-out poster of this car’s predecessor on my bedroom wall.

As a die-hard VW/Audi enthusiast, Hamish White’s Audi ‘Sport Quattro’ build was simply the best thing I’d ever read about.

I still have that edition of Performance VW magazine in a cupboard somewhere, along with the poster. The car even graced Speedhunters’ pages back in 2013, courtesy of Ben and Paddy.

The car you see before you is Hamish’s second effort at building his vision of the perfect short-wheelbase Audi, and it’s an entirely different animal from his first build.

“This car was given to me for free after crashing my old Quattro during testing 10 years ago,” Hamish recalls. “I was advertising for a new roof without a sunroof, but I was offered the full shell of a sunroof car. It was too good to turn down.”

Hamish’s initial plan was to repair his crashed Audi, but that turned to complete re-shelling with a new, soon-to-be shortened chassis. However, as is the way in life, priorities changed and the original Audi was sold to fund a house deposit.

A wife and three children followed shortly after, and although the second Audi build process naturally slowed down, it never stopped.

Considering the final result, I would argue that the extended timeframe and more considered approach that came with it has only benefitted the build. A decade is a long time to dedicate to a single project after all…

Having started life as a 1986 Audi Coupé – the less performance-focused alternative to the Audi Ur-Quattro – Hamish proceeded to shorten the body shell by 320mm on his custom chassis jig.

What sets this build apart is the use of the A-pillars and roof section from an Audi 80 saloon for a steeper windscreen angle. This was a key aspect of the original Sport Quattro homologation road car and rally car, and was done to reduce glare.

The windscreen modification is one detail most Sport Quattro replicas omit, unsurprising when you consider the amount of work required for it to not compromise the structural rigidity of the chassis. A multi-point T45 roll cage more than makes up for any potential strength lost in the conversion, tied in not only to the body shell but also to the raised front strut towers.

The roll cage is also now part of the pickup points for the custom front subframe and the rear differential, surrounded by bespoke tubular T45 suspension arms. The rear subframe is also custom, with multiple pickup points at both axles for anti-dive/squat adjustments when tuning the handling properties.

Speaking of which, the Audi is suspended on a set of KW Competition two-way adjustable coilovers with inverted dampers. Stopping power has been seriously bulked up too, with genuine WRC-spec callipers at all four corners; Brembo 8-piston units at the front and AP Racing 4-piston units at the rear with 330x32mm discs all around.

The AAN 2.2-litre five-cylinder engine mounted right up in the Audi’s nose has been freshly rebuilt with forged connecting rods and a Garrett GT28 turbocharger strapped to the side, with bespoke exhaust work leading to 3-inch side exits from a 3.5-inch downpipe. The radiator and intercooler are also custom.

The powertrain and the car’s ancillaries are controlled by a MoTeC ECU and PDM wired with a bespoke harness made from scratch by David Rowe, another Audi aficionado known to this side of the internet. Naturally, this means there is also a MoTeC-focused cockpit featuring a digital display and switch panel.

Other interior highlights include a Tilton adjustable pedal box and a Sabelt steering wheel matching the ex-WRC Sabelt harnesses with titanium adjusters. These secure Hamish and his passenger into a pair of genuine ex-WRC Recaro bucket seats that were used by Peter Solberg and his co-driver Phil Hill throughout their 2004 World Rally Championship assault.

The Audi’s exterior is about as true to a Sport Quattro S1 E2 as possible, not only in shape but also in substance. In Hamish’s quest for weight reduction, composite materials feature heavily in the build.

In fact, “the only steel remaining is the floor pan, bulkhead and front chassis rails. Everything else is carbon-Kevlar body panels including the inner arches,” he says.

My three favourite touches are part of the obsession with weight reduction, and just happen to be period-correct cool.

Within the Kevlar arches are a set of magnesium BBS E50 wheels. Not only are they pieced together with rare titanium bolts, but the front wheels benefit from a pair of genuine BBS turbo fans.

Additionally, the side and rear windows have been replaced with Lexan. The raised ‘QUATTRO‘ lettering in the rear is not only stylistic but also adds stiffness to the rear window and prevents flexing. Because why not enjoy both form and function?

Being the small-mirror-obsessed weirdo that I am, I can’t finish this spotlight without mentioning the car’s bespoke mirrors. They’re modelled on proper Group B items, but in this case are produced in carbon fibre. The coolest touch? The also supply cool air into the cabin, perfect for a hot rally stage.

Ultimate Dubs 2024 was a return to form with some exceptional motors, but I have no shame in admitting this was a ‘never meet your heroes’ moment. What a f**king phenomenal car.

Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn
mariochristou.world

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