In memoriam: Audi TT bows out after 25 years

As the last-ever Bauhaus beauty struts out the door of Audi's Györ plant in Hungary, we honour the illustrious life of one of the world’s most recongisable sports coupes.  

Queue the melancholic organ music, the TT is officially dead. But you’re probably not surprised. Sure, once upon a time Audi’s stylish coupe was the hottest thing since sliced bread, however, over the last decade the TT’s appeal fizzled out almost entirely as consumer demand switched from coupes to crossovers. Rather than mourning its passing, though, let’s take it back to the start and celebrate those halcyon days when TT reigned supreme.  

The year is 1998. Boyzone’s No Matter What tops the UK charts; a computer company in California has just unveiled some newfangled machine named ‘iMac’. Meanwhile, in Germany, Audi is about to irrevocably change the sports coupe landscape with the release of an all-new, impossibly en-vogue two-door: the TT.  

Compared to the contemporary competition ( Toyota’s Celica, Ford’s Cougar, Vauxhall’s Calibra, and Honda’s Prelude, to name but a few) Audi’s new smoothly sculpted sports car looked positively extraterrestrial. Despite its humble Mk4 VW Golf underpinnings the TT was quickly considered an automotive work of art, with press and public alike lapping up every angle. Even a series of well-publicised high-speed ‘incidents’ afflicting the 1999 model year did little to dampen buyers’ enthusiasm, as the baby coupe continued to rocket in sales at the turn of the century.  

Over the next 20 years Audi would build every TT configuration imaginable. From manual to DSG gearboxes, two or four-wheel-drive, engines spanned from a 1.8-litre petrol all the way up to a 3.2-litre V6 – and, shock horror, a diesel even made the cut.  

Andrew Doyle, Director of Audi UK, emphasises the coupe’s influence, stating “The TT was such a pivotal model for Audi back in the Nineties, and we’re still basking in its afterglow almost three decades after the original concept car became an overnight sensation.”  

So, what form does the final encore of TT take? That would be a special edition TTS ‘Tourist Trophy.’ Sporting a hopped-up version of the firm’s venerable 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo, a 288 bhp output and 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox will happily dispatch 0-60 mph in the low 4 seconds range, while styling and tech inside and out are equally impressive. It’s somewhat ironic then, that despite being a far better car than it ever was in its heyday, the mark three TT has consistently posted the lowest sales on record. Hence, sadly, its retirement from the range.  

Will you miss the TT, or do you think it’s about time Audi gave us something new? 

Hero image credit: Audi