Month In The Life Of: Audi A2

Given how few were sold here or anywhere else, and the fact that the youngest of them is over 20 years old, it is amazing how frequently you still see Audi A2s these days. These cars, widely accepted to be a commercial failure when new, have succeeded at the one thing mass produced cars of the 21st century are least like to do: survive.

What’s more, the vast majority I see – and I’ve been taking an especial interest of late for fairly obvious reasons – seem at least superficially to be in pretty fine fettle. And that’s not because they’re worth a fortune: you can pick ‘em up for less than a grand without difficulty, and £5000 will secure an absolute peach of a machine.

But the reason for its longevity is not hard to find: it simply wasn’t built like other cars. While they were stamped out of cheap steel, it was formed, skeleton and body, from high grade aluminium which is many times more corrosion resistant than steel. It’s the same reason so many old Landies and Range Rovers survive to this day.