The Audi R8 is a sports car with a longitudinally mounted mid-engine and uses the trademark “Quattro” four wheel drive. The Audi R8 is based on the Audi Le Mans Quattro Concept car which was presented at the International Geneva Auto Show in Switzerland and the International Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany in 2003. The car is also derived from the Lamborghini Gallardo. The Audi R8 was officially released in September 2006 at the Paris Auto Show. By the end of 2008 almost 10,000 units had been built. The Audi R8 was exquisitively designed, developed and manufactured by Quattro GMBH, a private sibsiduary of Audi. Audi upgraded its plant in Neckarsulm, Germany for €28 million where 70 workers fit 5,000 unique parts by hand. The plant is capable of producing 9-15 cars per day. 95 lasers inspect the entire car in 5 seconds to ensure that over 220 measurements are within 0.1 mm of the programmed plans. If you ever watched the movie Iron Man and wondered which car Tony Stark (Robert Downey Junior) drives in the movie, this is the car.
This car is priced between R1.4 million and R2 million ($175,000 – $250,000) in my country, South Africa. This is completely out of my price range. I suppose I’ll look around in the classifieds for a cheaper 2nd hand car. For now I’ll continue dreaming about owning a car like this one day, or maybe I should just buy a car bed instead.
