Following many months of rumours, at the end of 2011 Audi unveiled a super-exclusive high-performance derivative of its compact A1.

The much-anticipated hot hatch helped pave the way for the series-produced (and less powerful) S1, but would intentionally remain a very rare beast.

Badged A1 quattro, only 333 were made available worldwide, guaranteeing cult status among Audi cognoscenti.

The aggressive WRC-inspired styling echoed Ingolstadt’s one-off A1 clubsport, but that car’s mid-mounted five-cylinder engine gave way to a front-mounted four.

Developing 252 horsepower and a massive 258 lb ft of torque, the turbocharged 1,984 cc EA113 could propel the quattro to 100 km/h in just 5.7 seconds.

Top speed was just shy of 250 km/h, although raw figures tell only half the story.

As the legendary quattro name suggested, drive was distributed to all four corners (via a lightweight carbon fibre propshaft).

Under normal conditions, the front wheels did all the work but, if the nose came ad...