Audi 80 Parts & Accessories

7 awesome facts about the Audi 80

• Have you ever wondered why the first and second generation Audi 80 looks awfully the same as the Volkswagen Passat? It's because they share the same platform. Volkswagen, which owns the Audi brand, created a mid-size automobile platform called Volkswagen Group B platform and derived both cars from it.


• The 1974 Audi 80, with its 4 cylinder 1.3 liter four stroke engine, managed to outdo other European cars and won the European Car of the Year in 1973. The Audi 80 won over Alfa Romeo's Alfetta and the Renault 5. It sported major advancements at that time, mainly in part of its overhead camshaft and valves.


• The predecessor of the Audi 80, the DKW F102, was made by now defunct Auto Union. Auto Union was the merger of four German automobile manufacturers: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. When Volkswagen bought out Auto Union from Daimler-Benz, they decided to continue with it. Volkswagen adopted the name of one of the corporations under Auto Union: Audi. Audi is the Latin translation of the word "Horch", which means listen. Incidentally, Horch is also the surname of the founder, August. In turn, it became a subsidiary; with 99.55% of shares parlayed to Volkswagen.


• The Audi 80 had a different name based on the territory where it was sold. In North America and Australia, the Audi 80 was sold as the Audi Fox. Then in the 80s, it was renamed as the Audi 4000 for the US market.


• The letters that preceded the Audi 80 badge determined which type of internal combustion engine it was fitted with. Though "D" (Diesel), "TD" (Turbo Diesel) and, "TDI" (Turbocharged Direct Injection) can be figured out easily, the "E" in the Audi 80E is a little bit unfamiliar, unless you're a German. The "E" stands for Einspritzung, which is German for fuel-injected.


• The first generation Audi 80 had the first Group B Volkswagen platform, the B1. This displaced the Audi F103 series in 1972.


• The second generation Audi 80, the B2, was designed by renowned Italian automobile designer: Giorgetto Giugiaro. Giugiaro was baptized as the Car Designer of the Century in 1999. He was also inducted to the venerable Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002 for his contribution to car and motorcycle design. Giugiaro's designs was so coveted that his services weren't bound to the automobile industry only. He also designed Nikon cameras, Beretta firearms, Apple prototypes and the "Marille", a pasta shape.