Presented by Audi as a white paper on its future aesthetic identity, the Concept C electric two-seater roadster makes our mouths water.
I owe my first car shock to Audi. When my friend Curtis’ father left school, he came to pick him up with his new car: an Audi TT. At the time, I wasn’t really into design, let alone car design. But this coupé was like nothing I’d ever seen. It was designed outside all convention, conveying a new aesthetic language capable of speaking to the hearts even of those who had never really paid attention to cars before. That was some twenty years ago (we’re not getting any younger!) and even then, the brand with the four rings was opening the door to a new way of thinking about the silhouette of cars. And history could well repeat itself. With the 100% electric Concept C, just unveiled at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Audi is entering what it describes as a « new era in automotive design« , guided by a quest for purity of line and simplicity that breaks with the current era of convoluted silhouettes and slashed surfaces.
The Concept C reshuffles the deck with its ultra-legible design, harmonious proportions and an almost Bauhaus minimalism that is anything but sad. The most striking element is undoubtedly the abandonment of the traditional grille in favour of a contrasting but less intrusive vertical ‘face’. According to Audi, the overall design was inspired by the Auto Union Type C single-seaters of the 1930s and the third-generation Audi A6 of 2004. Curiously, the company never mentions the Audi TT or the R8, with which the similarity is obvious… But that’s certainly due to a lack of objectivity. Still on the subject of design, the Concept C appears to be the debut of the brand’s new light signature, made up of four horizontal segments, again very discreet.
Audi Concept C… more than just a concept car
In addition to this aesthetic approach, the Concept C also reveals more about the architecture of the Audi of the future. The roadster is built around its battery pack, giving it a rather svelte silhouette, efficient aerodynamics and a very low centre of gravity, without compromising passenger comfort. And for the first time at Audi, the retractable roof is… rigid! It’s certainly not going to please canvas purists, but a coupé/cabriolet is so cool…
Inside, it’s nothing to write home about. It’s (very) simple and (very) effective. There’s nothing revolutionary about it. On the contrary, it’s more in line with what’s being done a lot of these days: a screen, few or no buttons and materials that alternate between cold (aluminium) and warm (wool).
For those who still doubt the influence of the Concept C on the future of the brand, Audi could not be clearer: « this concept car prefigures a future production model and will influence future creations« . And I’ll take their word for it, because the production TT is a near carbon copy of a concept car presented a year earlier. Rebelotte?
