Cars
Broken Dreams: Audi Avus. The Art of Aluminium
Audi’s 1991 Avus concept, sculpted in raw aluminium, previewed innovation with its W12 engine and inspired future all-aluminium cars.
Michelangelo always insisted that every block of stone has a statue inside it and that it is the task of the sculptor to discover it by removing the superfluous from around it to bring it out into the open. The same can also be said for the Avus: Audi’s first all-aluminium car was completely clothed in aluminium when it first saw the light of day in 1991. Seen today, this prototype offers a strength and charm worthy of the greatest sculptures by the great Italian artist.
The message of innovation that Audi wanted to convey to the world left nothing to chance: the car was presented at the Tokyo Motor Show, in the country famous for its innovative aptitude. As if to say: we’re already here, where are you? And the message was absolutely spot on: in addition to this “cheeky” prototype named Avus, like the famous, very fast German circuit, just three years later the A8 was launched, the first car with an aluminium chassis that opened a tradition for the brand.
