Photo: Audi
We're very close to the moment when the Monterey Car Week kicks off in California, and as usual we're not only getting ready for exciting new cars to be unveiled, but we are also preparing for some very emotional encounters with cars from the past. And it's exactly such a moment that German carmaker Audi is preparing.
It was not that long ago when Audi confirmed the R8 sports car would not make it past the current year. Introduced in 2006, the highly acclaimed car has to go and make room for the new generation of performance machines, spearheaded of course by machines such as the RS e-tron GT.
At the time when it first made it into this world the car was the most insane Audi ever made, and the most powerful of them all, too. And it didn't cut corners when it came to engineering either: the thing shares 50 percent of its components with the R8 GT LMS race car, only it can be legally used on public roads.
At the core of the R8 is a V10 engine mounted longitudinally (a V8 was also offered). The car with this unit can still be configured for the American market, where it offers 602 hp and 580 Nm of torque.
As usual, such performance does not come cheap, and Audi is asking $370,500 (R8 Coupe V10 Performance) for the honor of getting behind the wheel of one of these things. But, as said, that will not be the case for long.
The American farewell to the iconic car will be shaped in such a way as to be one to be remembered. A number of Audi R8s, each wearing a different livery meant to celebrate the car's motorsport involvement over the years, will be on the deck of the Laguna Seca complex during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
The man responsible for the R8's coming into existence, Frank Lamberty, is also responsible for the wraps. The design "starts as an ordinary road car at the front and fades to a design inspired by liveries found on the R8 GT3 race cars." The roof of each of the R8s to be brought at Laguna Seca comes with a drawing of the American circuit on the roof.
The car that marks the end of the R8 line, the RS e-tron GT, will lead the pack of Audi sports cars down the course. The celebratory outing of the R8 fleet will kick off on August 17, when the Legends of the Autobahn display will feature three of the V10-powered wonders.
It is in the afternoon of August 19 when the R8 will take its final lap around Laguna Seca, chasing an RS electric pace car driven by Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.
At the time when it first made it into this world the car was the most insane Audi ever made, and the most powerful of them all, too. And it didn't cut corners when it came to engineering either: the thing shares 50 percent of its components with the R8 GT LMS race car, only it can be legally used on public roads.
At the core of the R8 is a V10 engine mounted longitudinally (a V8 was also offered). The car with this unit can still be configured for the American market, where it offers 602 hp and 580 Nm of torque.
As usual, such performance does not come cheap, and Audi is asking $370,500 (R8 Coupe V10 Performance) for the honor of getting behind the wheel of one of these things. But, as said, that will not be the case for long.
The American farewell to the iconic car will be shaped in such a way as to be one to be remembered. A number of Audi R8s, each wearing a different livery meant to celebrate the car's motorsport involvement over the years, will be on the deck of the Laguna Seca complex during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
The man responsible for the R8's coming into existence, Frank Lamberty, is also responsible for the wraps. The design "starts as an ordinary road car at the front and fades to a design inspired by liveries found on the R8 GT3 race cars." The roof of each of the R8s to be brought at Laguna Seca comes with a drawing of the American circuit on the roof.
The car that marks the end of the R8 line, the RS e-tron GT, will lead the pack of Audi sports cars down the course. The celebratory outing of the R8 fleet will kick off on August 17, when the Legends of the Autobahn display will feature three of the V10-powered wonders.
It is in the afternoon of August 19 when the R8 will take its final lap around Laguna Seca, chasing an RS electric pace car driven by Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.
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