Marv’s Garage: quattro comes to Unser Mountain

The Pikes Peak hillclimb is 2nd only to the Indy 500 for the longest continuous motorsport event in the world, with the 20km, 156-turn climb to the 4301m summit running in early July since 1916. It wasn't until the 80s the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) kicked off a class for rally cars. This got the attention of Audi, who were looking to build a foothold in the FUGGIN HOOOOJ American car market.

Y'see, the German brand had a zippy lil' runabout called the Quattro, a four-wheel-drive turbocharged five-pot land rocket that is the Grand Papi to 90s rally heroes like WRXs, Cossies, and Evos. Things got more serious in 1984 with the short-wheelbase Quattro Sport model running a Fairly Pissed Off 450hp drivetrain.

French rally ace Michele Moutin (and first woman competitor at PPIHC) cleaned house in 1984 and '85 with a 600hp S1 model, before the Ingolstadt boffins made aero improvements for '86 and threw the keys to local hero Bobby Unser.

He thumped everyone, again. With the cancellation of the (completely insane) Group B rules that created monsters like the Quattro at the end of 1986, Audi returned to PPIHC in 87 with their most serious Quattro. And Walter Rohrl, their champion driver.

Now sporting a claimed 750hp, multi-level wings, water-cooled brakes and other Really Srs Bznss Mods, the Quattro blew every other vehicle off the mountain. Rohrl took 22secs off Mouton's '85 record and stomped the big-dollar charge from a French WRC rival. But Ari Vatanen and Peugeot would come back the next year to write their own chapter in Pikes Peak history…