

Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter featuring the very latest from Petrolicious. Don’t be left out—join the ranks of those who Drive Tastefully.
Already a member? Log in
We're glad you're back.
Not a member yet? Sign up
We'll get you back on track.
Though it was voted “Car of the Year” by three journals when it came out, the now-rare Audi Fox seems to have fallen through the cracks among vintage car enthusiasts—it definitely isn’t the most popular of Audi models. The Fox was built in-house in Germany and debuted as the Audi 80 in Europe in 1972, where it received critical acclaim. When it came to Australia and the United States in 1973, it was marketed as the Audi Fox.
The Audi Fox was significant, because it helped revive Volkswagen, which had been in a financial down swing since the end of the 1960s. The Audi 80/Fox helped set the stage for a range of successful front-wheel drive, water-cooled cars like the Golf, Jetta, Passat/Dasher and Scirocco.
During the 1970s, art director/designer Helmut Krone (1925-1996) was behind the look of the Audi brand (as well as the Volkswagen “Think Small” advertising campaign). For the Audi Fox advertising campaign featured below, Krone created a very smart, fun, and beautifully designed campaign for Audi, which highlights all of the positive aspects of this little car. It’s too bad the European markets, who knew this car as the Audi 80, missed out on this fun campaign.
Ads/brochures found via Allan Peters, Tenth Letter of the Alphabet, Fine Grains, Vintage Ad Browser, Old Car Manual Project, and Amazon.
I have wanted an Audi Fox since I read the first road test in Car and Driver in 1978. Unfortunately there was also a test of the just down sized ’78 Coupe De Ville. Two years later I bought a beautiful light yellow 1977 Coupe de Ville of my own. It was a great car but my desire for a Fox is still not satiated. When VW started building “their” Fox somewhere other than Germany, so much of the mystique was lost. Today I still find myself cruising through Craigslist on a perpetual Fox hunt.
This reminds me of my old Volkswagon Derby in terms of it’s styling. The Derby was a sure sign of the collaboration between the two marks. It was a fun little thing to drive, with a thristy yet punchy 1.1 litre 4-Cylinder engine. Despite it’s ‘basic’ specification it was quite nimble and fun to drive.