Guilty Pleasures – The Audi A2

Choose your guilty pleasure says the ed. What, only one? Just one car from like, ever? Well I was a teenager in the 1980s, so my list runs from the Ford Fiesta XR2i to the Ferrari Testarossa and a whole load of cars that start with letters other than F. I badly want a Matra Rancho because my dad had one and it’s finally being recognised as the first real crossover. Sadly finding one these days is near impossible. I’d really like an E30 BMW 333i. You’ll have to look that one up, but I warn you, you’ll want one too.

So many choices, but you know what, it wasn’t actually that difficult. To make things easier I asked the wife and she gave me an answer without any hesitation. The Audi A2. I freely admit that I have not yet owned one and disappointment could be in my future when I do, but it’s the car I spend more time looking through classified and auction ads for than anything else, or at least so she says. 

But why, I hear you say? Well any great classic, whether vintage, regular or modern, needs to have something to say for itself and the A2 has lots. Firstly just look at it. It won design awards for goodness sake. Designed by Luc Donckerwolke who designed cars like the Lamborghini Murciélago and the beautiful Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept, it was totally different to anything else, a concept car that became reality. It couldn’t uniquely be defined as a hatchback, nor was it an MPV, not really. It was an A2. 

Audi could have made it cheap and cheerful but it didn’t, it made everything feel posh and comfy. Later versions were available with a panoramic glass roof, something that’s really only come into fashion with other car companies in recent years. Then there were models like the Storm which wasn’t very stormy and the body-kit wearing Votex version, available as a dealer-fit option.

Behind all that design Audi got really clever with the engineering, much more so than rivals like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class or Renault Scenic. The headline of course is that the A2 was the first mass-production car to have an all-aluminium body shell, the Audi Space Frame, which was 40% lighter than steel. Not only does that mean zero rust, but less weight means less fuel and better performance.

Performance? Surely not. Actually, the A2 claimed three international speed records in 2001 for the highest average speed in its class over 100km, 100 miles and one hour. Yes it’s not exactly in the GTi class, but still, it was a smug holder of speed records.

Then there was the thinking that went into the engine bay. The engine is well hidden with Audi choosing to provide a Service Module, an opening flap where the grille should be that gives you access to the basics like topping up the windscreen washer fluid and engine oil. There is a bonnet, but you can’t open it in the traditional sense, instead release clips allow the whole bonnet to be removed. Cynics could say this was all a clever ploy to make sure that you had to take your A2 to a franchised Audi dealership for servicing. They’re probably right.

There’s even more cleverness. The A2 didn’t have a rear wiper, with Audi claiming that the spoiler could channel the air to push the water away from the rear window to keep it clear. That’s nearly 20 years before Land Rover did the same thing on its Evoque. 

There was a double layer to the floor, called a Space Floor Concept, almost like a Rolls-Royce Phantom, sort of, or some modern electric cars. This was done to be able to create more footwell space for rear passengers so they didn’t have their knees up against the headrests of the front seats. It’s surprisingly spacious inside an A2.

The boot was available with a double layer too, allowing you to hide precious things away beneath the floor. There was an optional Space Floor box which could be removed from the boot to fit neatly into a passenger footwell for keeping the kids’ lunch in. The boot space was also rather good for a compact little car at 390 litres, but it had another ace up its sleeve, you could remove the rear seats altogether to create an A2 van with loads of space to cram in flat pack furniture. There was even a 12V socket in the boot meaning you could run one of those little fridges that 4×4 people have.

Engine choices were spot on, engineered to be slightly spritely but to sip fuel slower than a nun with a glass of sherry. The 1.6 FSi petrol was a bit thirstier, but the 1.4 petrol and 1.4 TDi diesel allow you to enjoy an evil henchmen laugh as you pass petrol station after petrol station. Low emission zones can dampen that wicked laugh slightly these days if you go with the oil burner, but the 1.4 petrol is a sweet thing with enough power for whizzing around town and then some. 

Across the Channel, Europeans also had the option of a 1.2 TDi, often referred to as the “three-litre”. This wasn’t a reflection of its engine size, although that could be interesting, but rather that it could achieve a remarkable 3.0l/100km (94.5 mpg) consumption figure. Take that, hybrids. Audi even made an A2 hydrogen fuel cell prototype.

The A2 wasn’t short on luxury either. There were standard, SE (Special Equipment) and Sport versions. You could have sumptuous Nappa leather seats, a Bose stereo system and navigation. It was all very premium, very, Audi.

All of this is why among its many awards, in 2001 the A2 received an accolade from the UK Institute of Vehicle Engineers. At the time its chairman, Professor Jon King said: “Redefining the small car concept, the Audi A2 demonstrates efficient packaging in a compact and dramatic exterior style. Bringing new levels of build quality to the small car class along with its light weight and environmental credentials, it gives an indication of the future.”

Twenty years later that future seems to have arrived as we look at a world of compact hatchbacks and city cars, but the A2 still looks better than many of them, including some electric cars. If Audi put batteries in it they could probably put it back on the price list today. They did consider it with the A2 concept in 2011, but it never made it to production and frankly it was never going to be as cool as the original anyway. Audi didn’t want to make the same mistake that Volkswagen made with the rebirth of the Beetle.

Having rambled on, now you know why the Audi A2 is my guilty pleasure. As a symbol of innovation in design and engineering, there’s much more to it than meets the eye and let’s be honest, often it’s the stories behind a car that make us love them more.

If you want to make us jealous and actually buy one of these, here’s where you can find all the Audi A2s for sale.