After Volkswagen decided to keep the Audi brand alive, the engineers from Ingolstadt worked on the 100 sedan range and designed a two-door version for it.
When Volkswagen acquired the Ingolstadt factory, it just needed more production capacity for the Beetle. But the Audi already had the Model 80 on the assembly lines, so VW principals didn’t rush but thought about axing the model and the brand. In complete secrecy, Audi’s engineers developed a new sedan based on the same platform as the 80: the 100. After they showed it to the new management, they received an ok for that. That’s how the story of the 100 and the A6 begun in the late ‘60s.

The Audi 100 appeared on the market in 1968 and, a year later, it came its first sibling: the 100 Coupe. It was more of a two-door sedan than a coupe, but the carmaker had something to show to the growing market. The car featured the same front fascia as the 100, with chromed trims and four round headlights. From its sides, though, the carmaker made longer doors and installed new side windows for the rear passengers.

Inside, the carmaker kept most of the 100 sedan’s interior, albeit it mounted tilt-forward front seats. Thanks to its front-wheel-drive architecture, it could provide plenty of room for the occupants since there was no transmission tunnel to cross the car from front to back.

When Audi introduced the model, it used the engine’s power as a nameplate. For those times, a 100 hp vehicle was considered quite powerful. Its standard transmission was a four-speed manual, while a three-speed automatic was offered later on as an option.