COBI Audi quattro Group 4 Set 24666

COBI's Audi quattro Group 4 is a 1:35 set built from 167 blocks under official Audi licence: the 1981 rally car at 13 cm, plus a finish-line archway with two chequered flags, a winner's podium with a banner, a gold trophy and flowers, and a driver figure in period racing overalls.

The other driver of 1981

The figure in the box is Hannu Mikkola, who took the quattro's first wins that season. There was a second works car, and the person in it changed the sport in a different way.

Michèle Mouton had joined Audi for 1981, and at the San Remo Rally in October she won outright — the first woman ever to win a round of the World Rally Championship, and still the only one. The following year she won three more and went to the final round of the season with a mathematical chance of the drivers' title, finishing second overall.

The 1981 car was not easy to drive. It was longer, heavier and more nose-led than the rear-drive cars it replaced, and the first half of the season was spent learning what four-wheel drive actually wanted from a driver. Once they knew, the rest of the field had about two years to catch up, and did not.

In the COBI range

Part of the 1:35 Audi collection, with the road quattro in red (24664) and white (24665), and the later Sport quattro S1 E2 (24667 and 24668).

Specifications

Pieces: 167 · Figures: 1 driver · Scale: 1:35 · Officially licensed
Model dimensions: car 13 × 6.5 × 4.5 cm (5.1 × 2.6 × 1.8 in)