Jorg Bensinger, a group head of Audi corporation's R&D depart ment, had been waiting for long to find a chance to advertise his idea of a four-wheel drive for passenger cars to one of the board mem bers. Favorable experiences had been collected in drive tests with the lItis, a jeep-like car developed for use in the German army. The ex periences showed extremely good performance on icy roads and in snow. Bensinger's chance came in February of 1977, when he could talk to Ferdinand Piech, then R&D vice president of Audi and a technology buff. At this time Audi wasn't quite considered as a tech...