Audi pays emotional homage to its outgoing R8 supercar.
Imagine if you will, a snapshot of ALL your favourite car movies.
Snippets of Baby Driver, Gone in 60 Seconds, Drive and of course, The Fast and the Furious franchise.
Throw in a dash of iconic/underground/controversial driving short, ‘C’etait un rendez-vous for good measure. And essentially you have Audi’s latest visual soundbite.
Kinda.
A lavish, if not all too brief, production which fuses impressive cinematic values with luscious subject matter and backdrops.
Along with small creatures native to deserts running for cover, a racing driver who bears an uncanny resemblance to The Stig’s Audi Marketing Production Department-employed cousin, and a liberal sprinkling of J-turns and power slides.
The subject (and matter) under the spotlight being the swansong of the Audi R8 supercar, respectively. Ingolstadt’s one and only foray into the hedonistic and wilful world of other worldly driving machines, which is playing out its end game.
Just How Did It Come To Be?
Twas only a handful of weeks ago that Audi invited its fanboys and girls to effectively shape how this resultant video panned out. Courtesy of the power and reach of Instagram.
Quite how it was orchestrated remains something of a mystery to us, but we have it on good authority that the spoils seen here today came about after questions were put to the audience.
Apparently back in September Audi asked their fanbase to suggest ways that the mothership could pay the ultimate tribute to the seminal R8. Fans being afforded the platform to vote on everything from where and how the supercars were shot, to the soundtrack and storylines.
It might be less than 4 minutes in duration, and it might (IS) preceded by some health and safety nonsense about not recreating any of this supercar driving at home (unless that is you happen to own an R8 and home is Silverstone), but nevertheless this mini opus serves to remind us what we’re about to mourn the passing of.
An automotive tearjerker that will make legions of you reach for the Kleenex and blub inconsolably into your popcorn.
What Actually IS The Storyline Then?...
Well, there isn’t a plot line as such.
Nor a cast, if you exclude the Audi R8 supercar as the character playing all the roles.
But rest assured, what it lacks in cast members and dramatic plot twists, it more than compensates for by way of sound effects and action shots.
Thanks given to a broad church of R8’s captured on celluloid.
Starting with R8 genesis, the OG 4.2-litre V8, complete with its manual gearshifter.
We quickly (emphasis on the pace of this production) move through the R8’s 17-year odyssey, stopping briefly to relish the second-gen R8’s performance before the crescendo of screechy symphonics provided by the very latest 5.2-litre, 612bhp GT iteration.
With its distinctive swan-neck rear wing and a number of other aggressive aero additions, ensuring that the last incarnation of the R8 lingers long in the memory.
Any Hopes Of A Reprise For The R8?
Don't hold your breath.
Although Audi has ruled nothing in or out, officially.
However, it’s a pretty safe bet to say there won’t be any sort of reprieve for an internal combustion engine-powered R8, and should the name be resurrected then it will doubtless be found in the vicinity of a distinctly EV-flavoured automotive entity.
After all, Audi isn’t averse to repurposing its more iconic monikers, if seemingly sacrilegious rumours of the TT being reborn as an electric crossover bear fruit....
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