2008 Audi A-6 S Type on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Audi's lunar rover is nearly ready for the moon

Last year, Audi announced it was working on a lunar rover with a group called the Part-Time Scientists. Now the company says the design of its Lunar Quattro is complete, and all that's left is final testing before it's ready to head for the moon. Since Audi and its 16 engineers became involved with the project, the rover has actually increased in size, as have its tires. The company says this is for added stability. Despite the added size, the rover is now lighter, bringing it down from 38 to 30 kilograms (what we'd call 66 pounds). Otherwise, the rover is generally the same as it was last year. All four wheels are still powered by electricity, so Audi touts it as being both a Quattro and an E-tron vehicle. Cute. The rover will undergo final testing in the Middle East where it will run through simulations of the mission. For those unfamiliar, the mission parameters were set by Google for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The prize is worth $30 million and will go to the first team to land a privately funded lander and rover on the moon, drive the rover 500 meters, and send back photos. If the mission is successful, we should get some great 3D and 360-degree shots of the lunar rover left behind by the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, since the proposed landing site is nearby. The Part-Time Scientists team that Audi partnered with has also booked a launch for its ALINA lunar lander, which will carry a pair of the Lunar Quattro rovers to the moon's surface. The launch was scheduled with Spaceflight Industries and is set for the end of 2017. Spaceflight Industries has managed 11 rocket launches with different companies and rockets between 2013 and 2015, and will also launch a probe from Israeli XPRIZE competitor SpaceIL sometime next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Related Video:

Bonhams sells '85 Audi Sport Quattro for record $427k at Goodwood

1960s Ferraris and pre-war Bugattis tend to fetch the highest prices at auction, but the Audi Sport Quattro is coming into its own. Just this past January in Scottsdale, RM Auctions sold one for an investment-worthy $401k. But during its sale at the Goodwood Members' Meeting this past weekend, rival auction house Bonhams set a new record for the prototypical hot hatch at GBP287,100 – equivalent at today's exchange rates to over $427,000. The pristine white 1985 example has had three owners to date and 26,000 miles on the odometer, and was joined by a 1982 Audi Quattro A1 Group B rally car that won the 1983 championship and sold for nearly as much as its road-going counterpart at GBP253,480 ($377k). Those weren't even the highest-grossing lots at the auction though. The headline price was achieved by a 1959 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe that sold for a nice round GBP470,000 ($700k). Other highlights included a 1962 Aston Martin DB4s that went for the equivalent of $382k and a '66 Aston DB6 Vantage that brought in $288k. This was just the first of three auctions that Bonhams will hold at Goodwood this year, with the Festival of Speed scheduled for June 26 and the Revival for September 12. 1980S MOTORING LEGENDS LEAD THE WAY at Bonhams Goodwood Members' Meeting sale 21 Mar 2015, Goodwood 73rd Members' Meeting The ex-Kitty Maurice 1959 Frazer Nash Le Mans Coupe was the top lot of the day, selling for GBP470,000. 1980s models achieved excellent prices, with the 1985 Audi Quattro Sport SWB Coupe setting a new world auction record for the model at GBP287,100, and the ex-works, Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz 1982 Audi Quattro A1 Group B Rally Car selling for GBP253,480. The first of three Bonhams auctions scheduled at Goodwood for 2015, the Sale saw three-quarters of motor cars finding new homes. Restoration projects also proved popular, with a 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Series IV Sports Saloon achieving GBP256,860, and a 1963 Porsche 356B Super 90 Coupe doubling estimate at GBP32,200. Bonhams inaugural Sale at the 73rd Goodwood Members' Meeting showed a strong trend for iconic 1980s sports cars, achieving a new world auction record for an Audi Quattro as the hammer fell at GBP287,100 for the 1985 Sport SWB Coupe model.

Audi teases Frankfurt reveal... is it the A8?

Audi has already rumored to have plans to reveal a 650-horsepower Sport Quattro Concept at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, but it also seems that we'll be getting our first look at the 2015 Audi A8 as well. Based on a panned-out shot of a teaser video, we can clearly see that this is a new sedan model, so it makes sense that is the updated A8 since we've already seen recent spy shots of that car that seemed to be almost complete.
In the short video, all that we can definitely see is the Audi logo in the grille, a five-spoke wheel with cross-drilled, ceramic disc brakes and a small portion of the front fender that has an almost mirror-like shine. We'll find out for sure in September, but until then, check out the teaser video posted below.