Unlike anything you’ve ever seen before from the German automobile manufacturer, this one-of-a-kind concept car is known as the 2001 Audi Avantissimo. This project was designed to be both luxurious and comfortable, as well as excelling in performance as well. After Audi displayed this unique concept at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show for the very first time, the car was shown again in 2002 at the the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The design project leader for the Avantissimo was Lutz Sauvant, and the team worked together in order to demonstrate numerous future technologies on this concept car. The Avantissimo itself is quite large, with a overall length of 16 feet and 7 inches, a width 6 feet 4 inches, and a height of 4 feet 8 inches, it’s certainly a sight to see. The total planned weight for this concept was set to be approximately 4180lbs, however, this show car shown here is said to weigh just about 4410lbs. The Avantissimo boasts features that are bound to capture anyone’s attention. Unique features of the Avantissimo included Quattro permanent all-wheel drive, and electrochromatic roof, a Multi Media Interface, paddle shifters, self-levelling adaptive air suspension, bi-xenon headlights, and so many more elements that you simply wouldn’t expect to find on a car that was fabricated in 2001! Many of the styling cues of the Audi Avantissimo can be seen on the production 2004 Audi A8 model, and this concept truly appears much more like an Audi model that was released yesterday rather than one that was built over 20 years ago. The second-generation A8 (D3) launched just one year after the debut of this concept car. The Avantissimo utilized an aluminium space frame (ASF) construction, and keeping with the luxury theme of this car, every surface of the interior was covered either in Alcantara or leather materials.
How many made? 1
Engine: Front-mounted, 4.2L, twin-turbo V8
Debut: 2001 Frankfurt Motor show
Top Speed: n/a
0-60mph: n/a
Photo credit: Audi, @allcarindex
Research: @rarecarsonly