Audi Will Sell You An Old LMP1 Car In Race-Ready Condition

Are you in the market for a second-hand Audi? It’s a good day to be you because the company has launched a new used sales programme that’ll see you be able to pick up well-cared-for second-hand cars directly from the manufacturer.

Initial models available under the programme include a hybrid diesel coupe that’s built up some reasonable mileage in the Belgian countryside and a sporty RS5 with one careful German owner.

Those cars are Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro chassis 207 and RS5 DTM chassis 107, which, you may have noticed, are not typical Audis. They’re two of the brand’s recent factory racing cars and are the first two to be offered under its new Audi Sport Racing Legends programme that’s set to refurbish and sell off a selection of motorsport machinery.

The R18 in question hails from 2012, right when the old top-flight LMP1 endurance racing class was starting to reach its most expensive and technologically advanced. Like many of Audi’s hugely successful Le Mans Prototypes, it’s diesel-powered, featuring a 3.7-litre turbocharged V6 paired up with a flywheel-based hybrid system.

The trio of Romain Dumas, Loïc Duval and Marc Gené took this very car to the R18 E-Tron’s first victory at the 2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

As for the RS5, it was the last car Audi built for the German DTM touring car championship back when it was its own wild silhouette formula, before dwindling entries forced a switch to a generic GT3 series a few years ago. This one, from 2015, predates the series’ switch to turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and as such, uses a thunderous 4.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 making around 460bhp. This particular car was driven to victory by Timo Scheider at Hockenheim in 2015.

The new Racing Legends programme will be popping up at various events this summer, including the Le Mans Classic and Goodwood Festival of Speed, before these cars get delivered to their new owners later in the year.

As part of their purchase, they get ongoing technical support, repairs and spare parts from Audi, should they wish to race these cars in historic series. This duo are just the first of a series of former factory racers Audi plans to sell as it consolidates most of its motorsport resources on its upcoming F1 effort.