One of One

The latest offering from Abt Sportsline is many things, but subtle certainly isn’t one of them. The super-tuner’s take on the new Audi A1 Sportback takes absolutely everything to extremes, from the over-the-top racing inspired bodykit, to the big 19-inch forged alloy wheels and the ‘Harvey Two-Face paint – and that’s before they even touched the engine.

The aptly named, One of One Audi A1 Sportback by ABT, bears precious little in common with the new Audi A1 Sportback aside from its basic shape, which has been widened 55mm at the rear and exaggerated all over with the bodykit. The rear doors have been covered over to create what is effectively a two-door configuration, but then the rear seats are gone too, so the doors would be redundant anyway.

The rear wing is massive and not just for show, while the bonnet is a custom item that features air intakes, but still remains basically true to the donor car – including the front air intakes reminiscent of the cars from the brand’s rally days.

The wheels two are special units featuring what’s called an aero ring, which helps improve aero flow around the wheels as well as adding to their stunning appearance. These are shod in 265/30 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s and the suspension has been replaced with new H&R components.

The split red and black paint scheme was created by Jon Olsson, and gives the car a completely different look depending on which side you’re looking at.

Inside too, the interior has been completely reimagined with plenty of Alcantara applied to just about every surface, and a set of form-hugging race seats installed in the front. The rear seats were removed completely to make way for a roll cage – after all, this is a race driver’s car.

And to that end, the engine has been replaced with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged unit from the Audi Sport TT Cup race cars, producing nearly 300kW of power and upwards of 400Nm of torque. This expels gasses via a straight-pipe exhaust that would wake the dead.

Actual performance figures aren’t available at time of writing, but given the pedigree of the ABT product and the fact that the car was built specifically for Daniel Abt, Formula E driver and son of Hans-Jurgen Abt, owner and principal of Abt Sportsline – there’s no doubting it’a the real deal.