The Audi Sport Quattro has returned as a €500k+, 2.5-litre limited edition

This is the HSR Manufaktur Type 859. It is a new car, obviously. A new car built to honour a really rather old one that must have slipped right through the net when it came to documenting automotive history, because…  Audi Sport Quattro SWB, anyone?

We jest, of course. That 1984 classic – a stone cold, AWD, rally scalp-claiming classic, no less – is the inspiration behind superfan and HSR boss Ivan Garcia’s modern-day reinvention.

And we begin, as with all good reinventions, at the front, where Garcia’s company – that’s the HSR Manufaktur bit – has shortened a B2 Audi Coupe (lovely motors, those) and slotted in a modern 2.5-litre five-cylinder Audi heart. Y’know, the unit that’s the recipient of multiple Engine of the Year awards.

Well actually before it gets bolted into that B2, it’s completely rebuilt with forged componentry, treated to new turbo packaging and topped off with a new intake manifold. Then it gets slotted in longitudinally into the B2’s lengthened wheelbase and ordered to offer up between 500bhp and 600bhp via selectable Modes.

It also offers up Noise via an active exhaust, while all 600-odd horsies are sent to all four wheels – permanently, not just when it can be bothered – via a reinforced Audi S4 manual six-speeder. There’s a Torsen centre diff, and a mechanical LSD on the back axle too, so you’ll be able to give it some.

To that end, it’s been strengthened and stiffened up via a full ‘hidden’ roll cage, given new front and rear subframes, active and passive aero, and carbon fibre bodywork. Speaking of which, it looks… dandy, no? Punchy, blocky, its inspiration obvious. There are vents and wings and inlets and splitters everywhere you look.

Other goodies include carbon ceramic brakes, stiffer bushes, multi-valve coilovers, a projected weight of under 1,200kg, launch control and rev matching, and a fully bespoke interior that features such luxuries as air conditioning, leather, carbon, aluminium and analogue instrumentation.

HSR is only building 84 of these things – to honour the Sport Quattro’s title-winning year – with each car starting from €500,000 plus tax. And while the pictures you see here are all renders, there is, apparently, lots of demand.

“We hold formally signed Letters of Intent and direct inbound inquiries from collectors across several countries,” said HSR. “We are seeing the highest volume of demand originating from the USA, Germany and Switzerland, with additional global build allocations actively managed.”

So it's not quite the HSR Manufaktur Type 859 just yet, because the team is currently hammering out the first physical prototype, so we’ll report back when we hear more…