Audi reveals IMSA-inspired RS6 GTO

• Audi celebrates 40 years of quattro
• This RS6 pays homage to the Audi 90
• A project from 12 apprentices in Nerckarsulm

How do you improve one of the best looking fast-wagons on the market? If you’re Audi, you make it look like one of the best-looking race cars ever made.

Feast your eyes on the RS6 GTO Concept, a meeting of minds between Ingolstadt’s hugely successful 90 Quattro GTO IMSA racecar, and it’s practical – but insanely quick – RS6 super wagon.

The project was the work of 12 apprentices in Audi’s Neckarsulm plant, and marks 40 years of Audi’s four-wheel drive tech.

The Neckarsulm plant is the home of the R8's production, the brand's V10-powered supercar, and is gearing up for the incoming E-Tron GT, so these upstarts are already living and breathing high-performance.

Under the Audi Sport paintjob, much of the RS6 has been modified with 3D-printed body. Of particular interest are the RS6’s new, turbo fan-esque white wheels – again paying homage to the Audi 90 raced by legends such as Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl.

Inside the RS6 GTO is less practical than its stock counterpart; the rear seats have been ripped out and replaced with a roll-cage, while the standard front seats have been swapped for ultra-light carbon fibre ones.

‘The RS6 GTO concept of our apprentices has turned out to be an incredibly great car. I am very proud of our Neckarsulm apprentices and the results of their work,' said Helmut Stettner, Neckarsulm plant manager and project backer.

‘It was important to the apprentices to build a vehicle with a location reference and to revive the quattro history,’ said Timo Engler, the project manager. ‘The early 80s mark the beginning of Audi motorsport history.’

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This article was originally published at carmagazine.co.uk