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From YourSITE.com Audi News With events like this morning’s grand opening of the Audi Forum New York City, it’s no surprise that the Audi brand is the talk of the town. Audi AG board member Ralph Weyler quoted the headline of the most recent issue of Autocar magazine, describing the Ingolstadt-based marque as ‘one of the hottest brands in the market’. No surprise then that the opening of a brand forum in the heart of one of the hottest cities is done in grand style.
At 10:00 AM on the morning of October 11, Park Avenue came to a halt, with empty streets stretching from 52nd street to the Audi Forum’s door at the corner of 47th. Then, in a moment, the new Audi R8 cruised down the boulevard with Weyler at the wheel and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg riding shotgun. Off the car’s left flank was Audi’s Le Mans-conquering R10 TDI racecar driven by Audi works driver Marco Werner.
An Auto Union Type D grand prix racecar from the 1930’s was also flown in from Germany and it was intended to drive in formation off of the R8’s other flank. Unfortunately, the nearly 70-year old racecar stalled at the staging area and wasn’t able to keep pace with the mayor’s busy schedule. By the time Audi works driver Emanuele Pirro got the car re-fired, the mayor had gone inside the forum for the presentation. No big concern for Pirro, he had Broadway all to himself and gunned the vintage 16-cylinder motor as he spanned several city blocks to the delight of Manhattanites walking down the sidewalks.
Audi had many points to be proud of this morning. The forum will prove one of the hottest pieces of automotive real estate in the auto industry, a certain draw for Audiphiles and car enthusiasts alike who visit Manhattan and likely to help sell many a four-ring adorned car. The as-of-yet unbeaten R10 continues to rewrite the schema of diesel technology with its undefeated record, while the Auto Union pays homage to the 1937 win of the Vanderbuilt Cup on New York’s Long Island by Auto Union legend Bernd Rosemeyer. And of course there is the R8, the buzz of the auto industry – its name readily on the lips of many of the commuters strolling by the Audi forum who stopped for a look.
Shortly after the event, the R10 was loaded onto a carrier, bound for next weekend’s race at Laguna Seca. In the meantime, the R8 and Auto Union have been relocated into the Audi Forum where they’ll be star attendees of a VIP party Audi plans for this evening and where they’ll remain for about one month so that Audi Forum guests can ogle two greats in Audi’s long motoring history.
Coverage of the evening's party will follow. For now, click the Photo Gallery link below for over 300 photos from the day's event with more Audi press photos to follow as soon as they are available.
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