[Auto] Audi TT, 25 years of history

[FNX Magokiler]

Before getting fully into this story, let's review the concept that led Audi to create a small, two-seater car and in some versions with a lot, a lot of power.

Let's go back to 1989, when Mazda presented a vehicle that left everyone surprised, I mean the MX-5 or better known as the Miata, and it was a vehicle designed to bring pleasure and happiness to the masses who bought general cars. freedom of a two-seater convertible at an affordable price for many.

With the commotion caused by the Miata in important markets such as Japan or the United States, many manufacturers took notice of this important market niche and over the years brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche respectively launched their own "Miatas" as was the Z3, the SLK and the Boxster. These models did not have great dynamic features at first, but they did offer that freedom that can only be obtained in a convertible vehicle. Mercedes-Benz even went further with the SLK and gave it a retractable metal roof, which quickly transformed this convertible into a two-seater coupe.

When does the history of the TT begin?
Since we got into the history of the segment, now let's focus on the model that concerns us today, the TT

 

 

During the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Audi brand presents a concept vehicle called the TT, based on a design by Freeman Thomas, creator of many emblematic designs, his best-known work being the VW New Beetle.

TT?
A strange name at that time, which alludes to the motorcycle race called Tourist Trophy and which has been held on the Isle of Man -located between Ireland and Great Britain- since 1907, and here another question surely arises: Why an Audi? commemorates a motorcycle race, when Audi has never made motorcycles?

To answer that question, you have to delve a little into the history of the brands that made up Audi, and the answer is that the name TT pays homage to three drivers, two Germans and one Austrian, who participated in said competition. The first was Ewald Kluge, who in 1938 rode a bike made by DKW and Werner Haas and Rupert Hollaus, who competed in the TT in the 1950s using NSU bikes.

DKW and NSU are two of the four brands that make up Audi, the other two being Wanderer and Horch.

Let's go back to the 1995 IAA and the TT

 

https://noticias.autocosmos.cl/2023/05/09/audi-tt-25-anos-de-historia