Audi city-scoot concept goes topless

It's part light aircraft, part quad, part golf cart - and all fun!

It's part light aircraft, part quad, part golf cart - and all fun!

Published Aug 17, 2011

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It looks like it's part light aircraft, part quad, part golf cart - and all fun! Audi has released these pictures of the spyder version of its ultra-lightweight, open-wheeler urban concept, which will be seen in public for the first time at next month's Frankfurt motor show.

Even more than the Sportback version we showed you last week, the Spyder is predicated on the lightest, most compact package that'll carry two adults in staggered seating, two e-tron electric motors and a lithium-ion battery.

The cockpit is made of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (incorporating the seat bases, which means the occupants will be sitting about a hand's breadth off the road!) with fixed seats (the steering wheel and pedals adjust to suit the driver) and a low waistline for an unbroken, rear-tapered glassed area much like that of a Riva speedboat.

The doors of the Spyder open diagonally upwards like those of the McLaren MP4-12C.

Audi hasn't released any power or performance details (we don't even know whether the concepts are actually runners) but the urban concepts are an intriguing illustration of how mainstream manufacturers are moving closer to the “cycle-car” urban-transport model as proposed by, among others, G-Wiz, Reva, Think and F1 guru Gordon Murrays - despite the scorn heaped on them by Top Gear.

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