The imminent screening of the new BBC TV drama series ‘Ashes to Ashes’ has led to much reminiscing about the 1980s: the music, the style and, of course, the cars. Playing a leading part will be a red quattro, and Audi UK has revealed the presence of a ‘time-warp’ vehicle that was immediately stored on delivery from Ingolstadt and has never been registered or covered any miles.

The expression ‘time-warp’ is an apt one as fans of the hard-hitting, tongue-in-cheek detective series will know the plot revolves around a delicate 21st Century, very ‘PC’ cop landing in a period when men were men (and women made them tea). The action has moved on 10 years from the 70s, with leading character Gene Hunt swapping his beloved gold Ford Cortina for the height of 1980s yuppie cool - a bright red Audi quattro.

Hunt’s car on TV is actually an ’84 model and will, no doubt, be well and truly thrashed. The Audi UK example, however - the last right-hand-drive quattro sports car ever made - is kept in a secret location and stored in a sealed, dehumidified environment.

"We would never be able to replace this car and its value to the brand is inestimable," said Jeremy Hicks, Director of Audi UK. "Whenever we have exhibited it, we have received a succession of surprisingly high offers, but sadly this particular car, the quattro that started it all for the company in the early eighties, will never be for sale.

"The unprecedented exposure from the TV show has thrown the spotlight back onto the original quattro for the first time since production ceased almost 20 years ago. We are seeing renewed interest in our classic cars and we fully expect demand for the first Audi quattro to rise dramatically this year," concluded Mr Hicks.

The new series of 'Ashes to Ashes' runs from February 7th on BBC1.

Text - Steve Wakefield
Photos - Audi