Audi Quattro (Ur-Quattro)
Why 5.8: The car that proved permanent all-wheel drive belonged on the road, not just the rally stage — a turbo five-cylinder with a warble nothing else makes, wrapped in Group 4 homologation history. Sold new in the US, so it dodges Forbidden Fruit, but survivors are getting expensive fast as the AWD-origin story gets rediscovered.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €32k (1983) → €87k (2026), trending up · illustrative data
The long version
Every AWD performance car on sale today, from RS Audis to AMG's 4Matic+ line, traces its road-going legitimacy back to this one — a heavier legacy than its modest 200 horsepower suggests. Audi actually sold it new in America for a few years, which keeps it off the Forbidden Fruit list that most of its rally-homologation peers earn automatically. Prices sat low for decades while people who wanted an old Audi bought an old Audi, then climbed hard once the wider market connected the dots between this car and every quattro-badged model since. It still gets driven more than its Italian rivals — the AWD that made it famous also makes it usable.