audi_since_90

<ul><li><a href="http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060412/FREE/60412004/1041">http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060412/FREE/60412004/1041</a</li></ul>

MikeSS

No, they'd have to rename the A4 since it's a direct descendant of the Fox...

qfrog Ti20

I believe the 50 was the original A platform car... circa 1974.



<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Audi_50_sst.JPG"><ul><li><a href="http://www.volksdriver.co.uk/driver/polohist/polohist1.htm">http://www.volksdriver.co.uk/driver/polohist/polohist1.htm</a</li></ul>

qfrog Ti20

while it was the size of an A platform car it had a longitudinal engine and apparently its really closely related to the 4000 sold here. Not surprising, there is a long history of such cross pollenation.

the audi fox was the first B platform circa 1972.<ul><li><a href="http://www.gpab.net/jerrys_audi/">http://www.gpab.net/jerrys_audi/</a</li></ul>

alanbns

and not much more than different badges

April

<ul><li><a href="http://vintagecars.about.com/od/historygreatmoments/a/rotary_nsu.htm">klik</a></li></ul>

qfrog Ti20

the way the history is written, vw was in deep trouble and audi seems to have been their saving grace. Not surprising since vw today seems to have a knack for not thinking things through all the way before acting on genuinely ingenious ideas and good intentions.

A vw polo is more like a stripped down audi 50, the same for the vw fox... of course thats not shocking, its the norm. Audi devops new technologies and engines, then later on vw incorporates it into a higher volume vehicle, its echoed throughout the history of vw/audi. From the audi 50 to quad link suspension and the 1.8T engine.

gota3

and funny how a little distance affects the memory. I remember various complaints about the Rabbit when it was available new, but to me, the real affection for the car came later in its production run with models like the '83/'84 GTI and the much longer-produced Cabriolet. Marketing-wise, I think a 2007 Rabbit will work.

Compare the affection for the Rabbit nameplate with, say, the Audi "5000" - a word that would lead to immediate discharge if merely uttered in the halls of Audi of America. I'm sure people on this board can think of others, but here's my short list of retired nameplates that I don't expect we'll hear of again:

Volkswagen Thing;
Land Rover Discovery;
Yugo ______;
and any number of '70s Americans: Pinto, Vega, anything followed by "II" (i.e. Mustang II, Bronco II), Cimmaron and more recently, Aspire &amp; Aztec. I could go on.

April

The VW Golf hasn't been a standout, so nothing lost there.