Audi Rosemeyer Concept

The Rosemeyer is a concept car built and shown by Audi during 2000 at various auto shows throughout Europe. Although it wqs never intended for production, it's striking design and highly sporting nature drew considerable attention to the brand, and many potential buyers highly anticipated a production version, to no avail. Some people have also added it bears a striking resemblance to the Bugatti Veyron, as well as it using the same V16 engine.

Overview
The vehicle was designed to evoke emotion and garner attention, and was unique in that it combined elements of modern design with styling strongly resembling the former Auto Union's Grand Prix racers, namely their 16-cylinder car driven by Bernd Rosemeyer, for whom the car is named.

Powered by a large capacity, mid-mounted 16-cylinder engine making 700 horsepower and featuring Audi's quattro four-wheel drive system, the vehicle promised high performance to match it's appearance. It was ultimately deemed unfit for production, both because of extremely high projected production costs and Audi's unwillingness to create in-house competition for models from Lamborghini, which Audi had purchsed during the 1990s. In some ways, Audi's Gallardo-based R8 could be considered the Rosemeyer's succesor.

Specs

 * 5 valves/cyl
 * 78.71 hp per liter
 * top speed: 217.5 mph