By Classic Yorkshire contributor Tony Lofthouse
Sadly, Audi’s very own supercar has reached the end of the road, but not before a rush of orders pushed back production by over six months.
Just months after the last TT was produced the final R8 was finished. Only this time, the untouched car went straight into the company’s museum in Ingolstadt in Germany.
For the record, the last R8 made was a V10-powered vegas yellow Performance Quattro Edition.
This memorable car was launched in 2006 as a production version of the Le Mans Quattro model that notched-up five wins in the famous 24-hour race in the early 2000s. Track-only versions of the R8 were also made for GT2, GT3 and GT4 racing.
The R8 was built by Audi Sport and initially came with a 4.2 litre 415bhp V8 engine.
It was a car that was heavily based on the Lamborghini Gallardo and in 2008 a 5.2 litre V10 was introduced.
A styling facelift came in 2012 – this time sharing its platform with a Lamborghini Huracan – and in 2015 a more powerful second-generation R8 was launched. In 2018, a final facelift for the car came along capable of 620bhp.
I was lucky enough to get a taste of a unique R8 owned by Saltaire businessman and Classic Yorkshire subscriber, Neil Conroy. He owns a pristine V10-powered version in red and sporting black Audi branding.
The car is Neil’s third R8 and has just 9,000 miles on the clock.
He said: “It’s a dream to drive, has a top speed of 205mph and has terrific handling.
“I’ve owned Ferrari and Mercedes performance cars but this a smoother ride and the four-wheel drive option is great in winter conditions.”
In 16 years, the R8 sold around 44,000 units and with time now called, expect prices to soar!
Rumours abound of a future electric version of this supercar, but for owners like Neil nothing compares to the driving experience of this petrol-powered German classic.
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