Last Hurrah! Audi R8 Reaches End Of Production Line

Audi has bid farewell to one of its most iconic sportscars ever - R8. The final model was in the coupe body style painted in its iconic Vegas Yellow shade, further adorned by a carbon fibre exterior pack, and 20-inch wheels. It rolled off the production line at Audi’s Bollinger Hofe facility in Heilbronn, Germany and interestingly, despite being slated for completion in 2023, the last model was finalised only recently.

Based on the Audi Le Mans Quattro concept car, the R8 debuted in 2003 as a concept model at the International Geneva Motor Show. It was Audi’s way to celebrate their success in endurance races. The official road car took three more years to hit production and was finally unveiled in 2006 at the Paris Auto Show.

Initially equipped with the 4.2-litre V8, Audi later moved to a 5.2-litre V10 engine which it shared with the Lamborghini Gallardo. At launch, the first-gen Audi R8 (Type 42) was considered one of the best-handling road cars. It was also the first production car equipped with full LED headlamps. 

With the second generation R8, the sportscar became more modern and convenient. It was based on Volkswagen Group’s Modular Sports System platform that underpinned the Lamborghini Huracan too. The manual gearbox was also discontinued with it, but this time R8 also diversified to feature a convertible body style, with the option of either rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (Quattro).

The R8’s iconic stature was further bolstered when it was used as Tony Stark’s aka Iron Man’s car. It was featured in not just one movie, but six Marvel movies. The end of the R8 production has created a vacant space in the automotive world. Surely the future does look promising with EV pushing the boundaries of performance every day. Will that future also have an Audi R8? Never again.