Audi maybe remains the last true believer. Now, the brand is celebrating five decades of this distinctive engine with a stunning one-off concept, the Audi GT50 Concept. Built by apprentices at the Neckarsulm plant, the GT50 seamlessly blends retro racing charm with decidedly modern performance, creating something that looks straight out of a vintage paddock.
The entire concept exists as a glorious tribute to the five-cylinder powerhouse, which Audi first introduced back in 1976 with the second-generation Audi 100. It quickly became inseparable from the brand’s performance identity. Appropriately, the GT50 is mechanically based on the current Audi RS 3, which is now the sole production vehicle to utilize the 2.5-liter turbo five-cylinder engine.
The concept retains the RS3’s 394 HP and quattro all-wheel drive, though Audi wisely declined to publish more performance data, making it clear this is a styling exercise, not a new production racer.
What makes the Audi GT50 truly special is its design. The underlying RS 3 architecture is almost unrecognizable beneath the sharp, boxy, three-box sedan bodywork. The inspiration comes directly from legendary American motorsport entries like the Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO and the Audi 200 quattro Trans-Am cars that dominated circuits in the late ’80s and early ’90s. It looks less like a modern hot hatch and more like a time machine.
Retro touches abound, from the old-school grille design to the imposing turbofan-style wheels, underscoring its racing pedigree. The clean, purposeful silhouette and minimal surfaces give the car an aggressive purity that is tragically missing from most modern designs.
The GT50 is merely the latest in a tradition of apprentice-built anniversary concepts. While there are zero current plans for GT50 production, its unveiling strongly hints that Audi might further celebrate the five-cylinder engine with a track-focused RS 3 special edition in the near future.
