The 1981 WRC Season saw the arrival of a car that forced the major manufacturers of the time to completely re-think their plans for rallying, the Audi Quattro 4WD Turbo. The car was unveiled to the world in March 1980 at the Geneva Motor Show. It was the first 4WD car to compete in WRC and its success was immediate, finishing first in only it's second outing on the snow and ice covered Rally of Sweden, it went on to take the Constructors Championships in 1982 and 1984 achieving a total of 23 rally wins along the way. Not only was the car stunningly fast but it generated a distinctive engine note unlike any other at the time, indeed a press photographer at the 1981 British RAC Rally commented 'I did not need to wait until I could see the car, I could tell it was the Audi by the stupendous noise'.

The power behind the car came in the form of a 5 cylinder 2144cc engine, identical to the production models however added to it was a KKK Turbocharger which produced around 300hp, 100hp more than the road going version. The 4WD system was fixed, to compensate for the varying speeds of the road wheels during cornering or skidding 3 differentials were used, the centre and rear diffs could be locked or unlocked by the driver according to road conditions. The first season of competitive action saw the car driven by Hannu Mikkola and Michelle Mouton, the latter taking 2nd place in the drivers championship in 1982.

The model I have built depicts the car which appeared at the 1981 Acropolis Rally driven by Michelle Mouton. I decided not to include the driver and co-driver figures and is essentially built 'out of the box' with a few added extras. Further detailing was added using photo etch sets designed for the model and some scratch built items in the engine bay and interior.

Click above for build and completed pictures