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Originally Posted by MulsanneMike
Oh not this drivel again...I want to know who these "Some" are. I've certainly never heard that and I can put money on that Elleray hasn't either. Wikipedia gone wrong.
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Right, this will amuse you....
When the car that you all know as the Audi R8c was designed at rtn in 1998/99, it was given the project number 'R9' internally, for the simple reason that the open car then being tested by Audi Sport was to be known as the R8... Infact all the R8c drawings, which are still stored on rtn's server, are prefixed R9.. Now, when the car actually sat on its wheels for the first time, somebody in Ingolstadt didnt like the idea of having an R8 and an R9, because the corprorate line was that the two cars were closely linked - which indeed they were from the chassis back, but perhaps not too much from the bulkheead forwards - so the R8 became the R8R and the 'R9' became the R8C. Then, when the coupe was dropped by audi, and a totally new car developed for VW/Bentley that became the exp8, the R8R quietly became the R8 once again..
So, those mischievous individuals who might be tempted to imply that the Bentley exp8 was infact designed by Audi and give it the title R9 with a nod and a wink are actually three cars out in the rtn lineage - R8c (the origional R9), VW, Bentley exp8 mk.1 and exp8 mk2 (the winner in 2003).
All of 'em were designed in Norfolk (engine excepted) ,and none of them fits into Audi's internal design numbering system, not even the R8c!
And i wouldnt be surprised if everyone in Ingolstadt has rather forgotten about the first R9 - no i dont know which project the second one was either.
Peter