AN ORIGINAL 1991 AUDI V8 QUATTRO DTM CAR IS HEADED TO AUCTION - ALL R20,000,000 OF IT.
Back in the late '80s and early '90s, the best circuit motorsport on the planet wasn’t Formula One, it was the German Touring Car Championship, otherwise known as DTM. That’s the German abbreviation for Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft, a race series that was packed with the coolest racecars of their time, as the name suggests, they were (mostly) German cars that raced in Germany, but they also appeared throughout Europe later on. I hit high school in 1991 and unlike many of the other chaps, I didn’t care about the girls, cars and motorsport was my thing. I’d read about the DTM series in magazines and was infatuated with the cars they used. They were streetcars in race trim so they were easy to relate to, and that was amazing to me. The field was made up of Mercedes-AMGs, BMWs, Porsche, Opel, Audi and even the likes of Alfa Romeo. While they all looked impressive, being a VAG fan meant the Audi contingent is where my main focus was. The cars had some iconic liveries on them, and watching the progression of them from being close to the street version through to the ones with massive aero made it even cooler. It’s where some of the greatest drivers in motorsport gained fame, like Hans-Joachim Stuck, Klaus Ludwig and Bernd Schneider. Locally there were some equally awesome cars, and on this side of the pond, the Audi was also my favourite. It had the looks, the pace and a soundtrack that is hard to beat to this day. You could hear the turbo chatter on Terry Moss’s Audi S4 Wesbank Modified Saloon no matter where it was on the track. Original cars from back in the day are few and far between, a load of them are in museums, some are in private collections and some have disappeared altogether. It does sometimes happen that they pop up at certain big track days and events to put in a few laps, but that’s as rare as an honest politician. In my weekly scouring of the various high-profile auction sites, I spotted an original DTM car for sale, a 1991 Audi V8 quattro DTM, and I almost wet myself.
The car here, Chassis LN000049 was a Schmidt Motorsport car that had its race debut in the opening round of the 1991 Championship and was driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck, that alone gives the car provenance. After that, the same car was also piloted by teammate Hupert Haupt. The car was retired a little over a year later and it was housed with a fleet of other Audi ex-racecars until it was sold off ten years ago. It was bought by the same man who drove it all those years ago, Hupert Haupt. He sent the car to Imgrund Motorsport based in Hüttenhausen, Germany where it underwent a complete restoration to put the car back into the original 1991 specification. The comprehensive rebuild also included rebuilding the car’s rather complex transmission and suspension. While it was in, it was fitted with the right 4.2-lire powerplant, received a full rewiring and all the plumbing was attended to. The car was finished in its period-correct 1991-specification Audi Sport livery. It looks absolutely amazing, whether you’re a long-time fan like myself or just a fan of racecars. This will be the perfect addition to someone’s collection, and we can only hope it’s seen out on track a time ot two. The car is expected to fetch between $800,000 - $1,100,000 - that’s over R20,000,000 on the high end. There are extras too, the sale includes the car’s original race engine, two spare sets of wheels, a wiring harness, a complete braking system, and a period-correct laptop for data download purposes. There’s also an FIA Historical Technical Passport which makes it eligible for quite a few events around Europe, and will be clear to race in just about any local event, should a bazillionare on our shores want one. Just look at the pics from Keno Zache for RM Sotheby's, this car is amazing. That action shot from Kräling Foto of Hans-Joachim Stuck in the Audi at Zolder in the first race of the 1991 DTM season is pure awesomeness!
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off a different chassis of the legendary DTM car from when it appeared at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2022. There are some cool vids of the original car racing, but they're old and the quality isn't great and they're in German, which isn't a problem if you understand it, but the subtitles don't translate to English: 1992 Audi V8 Quattro DTM - Pure Engine Sounds @ Goodwood Festival of Speed | Gumbal
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