page_title: Claus Luthe
section_title: Audi
hierarchical_section_title: Claus Luthe / Career / Audi
caption_attribution_description: English: Audi 50 in the Audi Forum, Ingolstadt. Français&#160;: Dévoilée en 1974, la petite Audi aurait dû naitre NSU K50, chez ce constructeur décalé et fourmillant d’idées mais hélas désargenté, implanté à Neckarsulm, racheté par VW à l’aube des années 70 (Audi, résurrection du vieil ensemble Auto Union/DKW avait subi le même sort dès 64). Le repreneur de Wolfsburg, soucieux de diversification et d’accroitre ses volumes de production, réunit les 2 noms sans définir encore précisément les rôles assignés à chacun, laissant en ce sens une grande latitude d’action à ses nouvelles filiales. Dessinée par un certain Marcello Gandini officiant à la Carrozzeria Bertone, en collaboration avec le local Claus Luthe la 50, bien qu’uniquement livrable en 3 p., plaît très vite. Son poids plume de 685 kg lui permet de se contenter de mécaniques 1,1 puis 1,3 l de respectivement 50 et 60 ch pour offrir, à l’époque, des performances tout à fait dans le coup. A tel point que VW décide de lui adjoindre dans la foulée une petite cousine, véritable clône: la Polo... on connait la suite. La seconde ne tarde pas à cannibaliser la première, dont la production cesse dès 78 après un peu plus de 180 000 exemplaires écoulés, engendrant une nombreuse descendance. NSU et ses moteurs Wankel à piston rotatif, trop gourmands dans un contexte de 1er choc pétrolier et à fiabilité aléatoire, sont définitivement liquidés l’année précédente. Quant à Audi, dont le destin est dès lors tourné vers le haut de gamme, il ne s’aventurera plus sur ce créneau des citadines avant le début des années 2000...
context_page_description: Claus Luthe was a German car designer, noted for his design work on the NSU Ro 80, Volkswagen K70 and numerous seminal models from Audi and BMW. Luthe was a pioneer of aerodynamics and digital design within the automotive field.
  On his death in 2008, The Guardian called Luthe "one of the most important figures in postwar European car styling."
context_section_description: Following the takeover of NSU by Volkswagen, Luthe continued to work for Audi from 1971 to 1976. His first project at Audi was the Audi 50, on which the original Volkswagen Polo was based. Luthe completed the styling of the tidy three-door hatchback design, as well as guiding the interior design; the concept of the dashboard design is remarkably similar to that proposed by Luthe (but rejected by the NSU management) in the original Ro 80 prototypes. While the Bertone design house was consulted on the near-final design, only modifying a few small details, such as the upsweep of the chrome trim on the side. The 50 was introduced in August 1974, just three months after the debut of the Volkswagen Golf.
  He subsequently designed the interior of the second-generation Audi 100 C2, and produced the initial proposals for the Audi 80 B2, although the design was modified substantially, and finalized by Giorgetto Giugiaro, after Luthe left Audi.
caption: Audi 50
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