1986 Audi Quattro Desert Racer Is Really a Range Rover Underneath

Despite it looking like a slightly strange Audi Ur-Quattro, it's powered by a 3.5-liter Rover V8 and has a 106-gallon fuel tank on a Range Rover ladder frame.
Aguttes

For every famous bedroom poster-worthy racecar, dozens of cars shared a track or a stage that have been lost to the many webpages of history. Sure, we’ve all heard of and seen the legendary Audi Sport Quattro in Group B and hillclimb racing. But this 1986 Audi Quattro prepared for desert racing is hiding a surprise: a Range Rover chassis.

It’s going up for auction with Aguttes and it’s a truly peculiar example of a rallygoing Audi Quattro. It is apparently still titled and registered in France as a 1986 Audi Quattro but has seen extensive modification for desert racing. It was not built for normal rallying but built to be much tougher for the infamous rally-raid known as the Paris-Dakar. Unlike rally, rally-raid runs more like an endurance race across large spans of wilderness, requiring a tougher, more serviceable car, as well as a lot of heavy extra gear.

According to the auction listing, this Quattro was a prototype built by Dakar regular Franco de Paoli. To strengthen the Audi, he placed the silhouette of an Ur-Quattro over a Range Rover frame and roll cage, along with the Range Rover’s 3.5-liter V8. Presumably, the suspension is largely based on a Range Rover too. From there, the Audi was modified extensively to compete in the Dakar, with a 106-gallon fuel tank onboard. The bodywork is made of fiberglass and Kevlar.

Originally built in the mid-’80s specifically to compete, it has been through a major cosmetic recreation to return it to its 1986 Dakar specification. However, it may need work mechanically, with the listing stating that a “major mechanical overhaul [is] to be expected.” It didn’t finish any of the four races it entered, which were the 1986 and 1987 Paris-Dakar and the Rallye de l’Atlas in the same two years.

Bidding is open now, with bids expected to settle from $160,000 to $270,000.

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Chris Rosales

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Chris Rosales is a former staff writer for The Drive. He covers a myriad of topics, mostly focused on the technical side of automobiles as well as performance driving and automotive history. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he frequents the Southern California canyons and car culture.