Audi is reviving the legendary S1 - as a one-off electric piece

Created: 12/19/2021, 11:40 AM

From: Sebastian Oppenheimer

What a box!

Audi has built a spectacular electric racer for US drift artist Ken Block (54) - the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron.

Ingolstadt - There are cars that can safely be described as milestones in automotive history. Many of them are still only known to the real petrolheads. But some are simply so spectacular that they will probably even be recognized by those who are less interested in cars. Such a superlative vehicle is certainly the legendary Audi Sport quattro S1, with which Walter Röhrl (74) once raced up Pikes Peak (a mountain in the US state of Colorado). Now the Ingolstadt carmaker has practically transferred the vehicle into the modern age. The result was the purely electrically powered Audi S1 ​​e-tron quattro Hoonitron - developed for the US drift artist Ken Block (54), as reported by 24auto.de. (Electric Audi versus Lamborghini SUV: who will win the drag duel?)

Audi developed the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron for drift artist Ken Block.

© Patrick Runte / Audi

Audi is reviving the legendary S1 - as a one-off electric piece

As far as the drama of the optics is concerned, the new edition is in no way inferior to its forefather: the Audi S1 ​​Hoonitron also has a mighty wing mechanism.

The performance of the vehicle is likely to be as crude as the design - but Audi is currently still silent about the details of the drive.

The Ingolstadt-based company only reveals this much: The vehicle has two electric motors and - of course - all-wheel drive.

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The "original": the Audi Sport quattro S1 with which Walter Röhrl once raced up Pikes Peak.

© Audi

Audi revives the legendary S1 - designers work in record time

The S1 Hoonitron was developed at Audi Sport in Neckarsulm.

The design department in particular had to work at record speed: it normally takes one to one and a half years from the first drawing to the finished design, explains chief designer Marc Lichte (52) - but in this case the creative team only had four weeks.

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If you don't know Ken Block: The rally star has shot spectacular driving videos under the title “Gymkhana” for many years.

In the clips, the steering wheel acrobat demonstrates his skills on adventurous courses in highly motorized bolides.

The 54-year-old will also produce a gymkhana video with the Audi S1 ​​Hoonitron.

A working title has already been found: Elektrikhana.