Spy shots: Audi A1 spotted wearing swirlies and not much else
by Sam Abuelsamid on Oct 18th 2009 at 11:55AM 
Audi probably won't be taking the wraps completely off its new small car until the Geneva Motor Show next March but the spy shooters are already out there hunting down the prototypes. The clearest image we've seen yet shows a mini-car that appears to have changed very little from the MetroProject concept that first appeared at the last Tokyo Motor Show two years ago. The new A1 is expected to go on sale around the middle of next year in Europe although its not clear if it will ever come state-side. To keep costs down, Audi is expected to build the A1 with a conventional steel structure as opposed to the aluminum space frame of the A2 of a few years ago. Power is expected to come from a range of gas and diesel engines likely topping out at about 1.4-liters. Some of the unseen mechanical bits will likely be shared with the new VW Polo, but this is definitely more than just a re-badge job as evidenced by the completely different shape.
[Source: Car]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Flahooler 10:22AM (10/19/2009)
I've always been puzzled by these prototype vehicle disguises. Certainly, it must be clear to the manufacturers that painting their super-secret prototype car in swirlies is going to draw attention. So, the question is ... do they deliberately slap all sorts of junk and bizarre paint schemes on their vehicles so that they'll be noticed (and, consequently, show up on internet blogs), or are they really trying to disguise the vehicle but just aren't very smart?
It seems to me that if you really wanted no one to notice the car, you would just paint it a dull gray ... not that many people would be savvy enough to recognize an upcoming prototype in the wild, especially if it didn't stick out like a sore thumb.
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