I’ve mentioned this before, and I suspect a few others have noticed it too: the once-maligned designs of the 1970s and 1980s are, dare I say it, creeping back into fashion. Where restomods used to aim firmly at the curvy classics of the sixties, we are now seeing real affection for what was once written off as an ‘ugly generation’ of car design. There are still a few howlers we hope never grace our roads again, like England football shirts, but broadly the seventies and eighties are back, and nobody is embarrassed about it any more.
Which brings us neatly to this: the HSR Manufaktur Type 859, a modern, carbon-bodied tribute to the short-wheelbase Audi Sport Quattro. It runs a 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo making up to 600bhp, weighs under 1,200kg, keeps a proper manual gearbox, and just 84 will be built at around €500,000 apiece. One caveat worth stating up front, though: what you see here are renderings, and HSR is still building its first prototype.
| HSR Type 859 | key specs |
|---|---|
| Basis | Shortened Audi Coupé B2 donor, aerospace-grade carbon-fibre body |
| Engine | 2.5-litre turbocharged five-cylinder (Audi DAZA), rebuilt |
| Power | 500 to 600bhp (driver-selectable) |
| Transmission | Six-speed manual (Audi S4), quattro all-wheel drive, 40:60 bias |
| Weight | Under 1,200kg (target) |
| Brakes | Carbon-ceramic, with multi-valve coilovers |
| Production | 84 units |
| Price | From around €500,000 (about $570,000), before tax |
| Reveal target | Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2027 |
| First deliveries | 2028 |
What Is the HSR Type 859?
HSR Manufaktur is a young Munich coachbuilder run by Iván García, whose company name gives away the mission: HSR stands for Homologation Specials Reimagined. García grew up with a poster of the Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2 on his bedroom wall, went from car mechanic to running a design studio that built configurators for major carmakers, and has now turned that obsession into a business.
The Type 859 is its debut, essentially a homage to the SWB Audi Sport Quattro of the early 1980s, and the first of a planned series reimagining icons from Group B, DTM, WTCC and GT1. A word of caution, mind: the car is still at the rendering stage, with the first physical prototype under construction and HSR courting investors to see it through. It is also an independent project, not affiliated with Audi.
Why the Audi Sport Quattro?
But why this model? Because the Quattro rewrote the rules. Audi’s four-wheel-drive rally weapon dominated the World Rally Championship in the early eighties, and Stig Blomqvist took the drivers’ title in 1984, the year the Type 859’s name honours.
The Sport Quattro itself was the short-wheelbase, Group B homologation special born from that success, and a rare thing too: just 214 were ever built, which is part of why good originals now change hands for millions. Angular, boxy and slightly terrifying, it is exactly the kind of car the eighties did best.
An Audi Coupé B2 Underneath
Cleverly, HSR has not butchered any original Quattros to build the 859. Instead, each car starts life as a period-correct Audi Coupé B2, which is stripped to bare metal, 3D-scanned and shortened by 320mm (about 12.6 inches) to recreate the Sport Quattro’s stubby proportions. Here is a neat twist the original could have used: rather than keeping that notoriously nervous short wheelbase, HSR actually pushes the axles slightly further apart, roughly 10mm at each end, to calm the high-speed instability that made the 1980s car such a handful.
New front and rear subframes go in, a hidden roll cage adds rigidity, and the whole body is then reclad in aerospace-grade carbon fibre. To all but the keenest eye, the result simply reads as an Audi Sport Quattro.
500 to 600hp Five-Cylinder
The heart of it is exactly what tradition demands: a turbocharged five-cylinder. HSR uses Audi’s modern 2.5-litre DAZA unit from the last RS3 and TT RS, a multiple Engine of the Year winner, then rebuilds it with forged internals, a bigger turbo, a new intake and a motorsport dry-sump system. The result is a driver-selectable 500 to 600bhp, sent to all four wheels through a reinforced six-speed manual from the Audi S4, with a Torsen centre differential and a mechanical limited-slip rear on a 40:60 rear-biased split.
Crucially, HSR is targeting a kerb weight of under 1,200kg, which in its highest state of tune gives a power-to-weight ratio that embarrasses far more exotic machinery. Carbon-ceramic brakes and multi-valve coilovers handle the stopping and the ride, an active exhaust exits through Pikes Peak-style twin pipes in the rear side panels, and owners can even trim the rear spoiler and front splitter on the move to tune the downforce. It is, in other words, thoroughly modern underneath a period-perfect skin.
Price and Availability
The Type 859 will be strictly limited to 84 examples, that number again nodding to 1984. Prices start at around €500,000 (roughly $570,000) before tax and personalisation, and this is not a first-come, first-served affair: buyers apply and are approved, and HSR says it already holds signed letters of intent, with the strongest interest coming from the United States, Germany and Switzerland.
Every car is a bespoke commission, from heritage WRC liveries to a choice of stripped-out track weapon or trimmed grand tourer.
HSR is aiming for a dynamic reveal at the 2027 Goodwood Festival of Speed, with first deliveries pencilled in for 2028, so there is a wait yet. If it works, expect those promised Group B, DTM and GT1 follow-ups to arrive in its wake. For now, though, the smart money says enjoy the renders and keep everything crossed that the prototype lives up to them.
HSR Type 859: Your Questions Answered
A carbon-bodied restomod tribute to the Audi Sport Quattro, built by the Munich firm HSR Manufaktur (Homologation Specials Reimagined).
No. HSR is independent and not affiliated with Audi. Each car is built on a period-correct Audi Coupé B2 donor rather than an original Quattro.
A driver-selectable 500 to 600bhp, from a rebuilt 2.5-litre turbo five-cylinder, driving all four wheels through a six-speed manual.
From around €500,000 (about $570,000) before tax, with just 84 examples to be built.
No. Buyers apply and are approved by HSR; it is not sold first-come, first-served.
HSR is targeting the 2027 Goodwood Festival of Speed, with first deliveries in 2028. For now, the images are renderings and the prototype is in build.
Images: hsr-manufaktur.com
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