Audi Quattro: all-wheel drive dominance

22 October, 2015

 

Audi Quattros have a very dear place in my heart. My first car was a 1989 Audi 90 Quattro, complete with five-cylinder 10-valve KV engine. It was fairly gutless, the drivetrain was heavy, and the engine was so far in front of the strut towers that it would understeer terribly. However, the beautiful sound that the slanted five-cylinder engine produced, the traction the five-speed all-wheel drive gearbox gave you, and the quirk of owning an older European vehicle makes it a car that I’ll remember for years to come.

Manuel Leon Minassian has been a fan of the Audi Quattro since he was young. He tells tales of spotting them parked outside his school as a teenager and the feelings it gave him. Now he has his very own Audi Quattro coupe, the UR-Quattro, complete with the 10-valve turbocharged five-cylinder engine — a truly iconic Quattro that is already classed as a collector’s item. Watch the video Petrolicious produced about Manuel’s passion for the Audi brand, and his own Quattro coupe.

NZ Classic Car magazine, November/December 2026 issue 408, on sale now

Star status for classic Porsche
A long search ends: finding the right car
Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, the Porsche 911 heralded an iconic lineage of sports cars, known for their exceptional performance, remarkable racing reliability, and adaptability, second to none.
New Zealand Classic Car, in conjunction with Star Insure, recently conducted a photo competition to find 13 suitably impressive classics to grace the pages of the magazine’s 2027 calendar. A flood of entries showed that Kiwis recognise eye-catching designs and restorations. Many are handy with a camera, too, and have entered some outstanding results.
The choice was not straightforward, with multiple stunning entries, and Geoff Long’s immaculate 1990 Porsche 911 (964 Factory designation) took top honours. Fortunately, Geoff had Ethan Hanlon handy to take the accompanying photos while working in his office.
“I’ve got a young employee who is doing work experience in my office at the moment, and he’s a very avid photographer. So, I said, I’ll buy you breakfast and then why don’t we go and take some photos. He found the right spot, and he spent over an hour photographing.”
Originally sold new in Japan, hence the right-hand drive, the Porsche was resident there for four years before being exported to New Zealand, as Geoff recalls.
“I bought it two-and-a-half years ago, but I looked for it for over two years, because it’s just the colour scheme, interior and exterior I was after. The service file that came with it is extensive; I mean, it’s been beautifully looked after, which is what I wanted to continue, as it does get driven. It doesn’t sit in the garage.”

Classics on the green

Many pretenders vie for the title, but the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance gets my vote as the biggest thing since sliced bread.
The 71st edition of the world’s pre-eminent and best-known concours event featured 28 classes, judged by a 180-strong jury, which also chose the recipients of 26 special awards.
The size of the event, the number of visitors, and, most mind-numbingly, the sheer number of amazing cars, is almost overwhelming. There are so many quality cars to gaze upon, and so many people gazing at those cars, that it is almost impossible to cover everything.
Notable among the many attractions were the centenary celebrations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an elegant Talbot-Lago Grand Sport, Hermann Graber’s Swiss-bodied cabriolets and coupés, the jewels of Otto Vu Italian V8s, early Alfa Romeos, Lincoln and its centenary, and cars with unorthodox propulsion systems.