Audacious Automotive IV Turns the Quattro Legend Into a 750 bhp V8 Restomod

The original Audi Quattro built its reputation on five-cylinder character, traction and a rally shape that still feels instantly recognisable.

Audacious Automotive’s IV takes that outline and moves it into a very different mechanical era, using B7-generation Audi RS4 underpinnings and a 4.2-litre V8.

It’s a compact, high-output tribute aimed less at nostalgia for its own sake and more at the idea of what a Group B-inspired Quattro could feel like with modern restomod thinking.

At a glance

• Audacious Automotive has revealed the IV, a short-wheelbase Audi Quattro tribute based around B7-generation RS4 hardware.
• The car uses a 4.2-litre V8, with 600 bhp in entry-level supercharged form and 750 bhp in Stage Two specification.
• Only 50 cars are planned for production in Edinburgh, with prices starting from £350,000 or $470,000 before VAT and other costs.

A short-wheelbase shape with RS4 bones

The IV keeps the unmistakable stance of the short-wheelbase Quattro, the version of the silhouette most closely tied to the car’s Group B mythology.

Rather than trying to replicate the original car mechanically, Audacious Automotive has used the B7-generation Audi RS4 as the basis for the project.

That decision gives the IV a very different character from the five-cylinder rally icon that inspired it.

The original Quattro made its name with turbocharged five-cylinder performance, but the IV shifts the focus to a larger-capacity V8, manual transmission and all-wheel drive.

Bodywork inspiration comes from the Group B rally car, which is the right reference point for a build that leans into compact aggression rather than subtle period correctness.

The V8 is the headline act

The central talking point is the 4.2-litre V8.

In entry-level form, the engine is supercharged and produces 600 bhp, already placing the IV far beyond the output associated with the original Quattro lineage.

The more serious Stage Two version raises output to 750 bhp.

Audacious Automotive is also developing a more ambitious variant that can rev to 10,000 rpm, with buyers able to choose a naturally aspirated setup.

Power is sent to all four wheels through the RS4’s six-speed manual gearbox, a detail that keeps the project firmly in the analogue performance camp.

That combination is likely to be the car’s defining appeal for buyers who want a visceral restomod rather than a digitised reinterpretation.

Carbon construction and a new analogue cabin

Audacious Automotive will offer buyers a choice between an original Quattro shell and carbon-fibre construction.

The carbon-fibre version is targeting a weight of just 1,200 kg, a notable figure given the power outputs being discussed.

Inside, the IV gets a completely new dashboard rather than a lightly refreshed period interior.

Analogue-style instruments are part of the cabin treatment, which should suit the manual gearbox and the car’s rally-derived visual language.

It’s an approach that doesn’t seem interested in turning the Quattro into a museum object.

Instead, the IV uses the original car’s proportions and cultural memory as a starting point for something more aggressive and contemporary.

Details & Specifications

The Audacious Automotive IV won’t appeal to purists looking for a faithful continuation of the five-cylinder Quattro story.

Its audience is more likely the collector who already understands the legend, but wants the shape, manual involvement and all-wheel-drive theatre pushed into far more extreme territory.