The following article was published in "Audi Driver", November/December 2000, vol 4 no 6. Pics and text were given to me by Tom. Thanks!
James Taylor tells the story of six remarkable Audis for the Middle East "During 1994, London coachbuilder Vantagefield designed and built six Audi desert racers for the ruler of a Middle Eastern country. But the story really began a few years earlier, when Walter Treser, who had run Audi's competition department and went on to establish his own tuning and styling firm in Ingolstadt, developed the Treser Hunter, based on the 90 quattro which had been introduced in 1986 [according to my sources it was 2/87, actually- Tom]. | |
It was unashamedly designed for high-speed fun in the vast deserts of the Middle East and caught the eye of our client, who placed an order for about a dozen. Impromptu racing among the rocks and dunes of the desert must have been enormous fun, but it took its toll on the cars. By early 1994, they were worn out. So our client decided to buy more, only to discover that Treser's company had gone under at the end of 1993. Vantagefield got to hear of this predicament, and the company decided to tender for the contract. | |
The Vantagefield cars ended up being very different from the Tresers which
inspired them. The company's David Linder explains that one of the original
cars was shipped to Britain for examination, and it was obvious that the
new ones would have to be much stronger if they were to withstand the hard
use they were clearly going to get. The client was also insistent that the
new ones should be faster than the old, which presented a few additional
problems.
By this stage, the fourth-generation 80 quattro was available. This was
already tougher than its predecessor, although the 174bhp 2.8-litre V6
which was the top engine option wasn't going to provide all the necessary
performance. So Vantagefield persuaded Audi to supply six cars with the
latest 280bhp 4.2-litre V8 engine. Clearly, things were going to be very
interesting. Wide tyres would be essential, both for traction in the sand and to give
the right appearance. These were fitted to chromed 16in alloy wheels made
specially in Germany and squeezed under flared wheel arches. Completely new
wings were made for the front, but at the rear the flares were blended into
the existing panelwork. Those tyres were never going to fit into the
existing spare wheel well, so each car was fitted with a custom-built
exterior spare wheel housing. With overtones of the Lincoln Continental of
the Fifties and of the exterior spares carried by the big 4x4s favoured in
the Middle East, they added visual appeal as well as practicality. | |
A full underbody bash-plate was fitted to shield the transmission, and the body shell was kitted out with protection bars all round and under the radiator. To ensure that darkness wouldn't spoil the fun, the 80s were equipped with a panoply of lights on the front bumper and roof bar. The client had asked for special paint schemes and Vantagefield came up with three eye-catching metallics- burnt orange, green and purple, two cars in each colour. The finishing touches were gold oryx badges on the spare wheel cover, grille and boot lid. These were the client's personal symbol, but the oryx name was later applied to other Audi conversions done by Vantagefield in this period. According to Linder, the cars were exceptionally well received and, as far as he knows, are still being used as intended. So keep an eye open next time you're out in the desert. You never know what you might see!" |