Fire up the quattro. Corgi’s latest releases include two models from the hit TV series Ashes to Ashes. The models include the star car of the show, a Audi quattro & Ford Granada 2.8 Mk2 Police car. The models can be bought individually or as a set.
Fire up the quattro! Gene Hunt’s immortal catchphrase has entered British culture with the time-travelling detective series capturing the public’s imagination, like its predecessor ‘Life on Mars’. The iconic mars-red Audi quattro was as much of a star as actors Philip Glenister and Keeley Hawes but, like the characters, was out of its true time zone. Although the quattro was launched at the Geneva Motorshow in March 1980, and European left-hand-drive deliveries started that October, right-hand-drive UK specification quattros were not available until late 1982, 18 months after Gene Hunt is depicted driving one around London! The car was as impossible as the series’ premise; but just as wonderful.
The quattro was the undoubted star of Ashes to Ashes, rivalling actors Philip Glenister and Keeley Hawes as the series’ most recognisable character. A true eighties icon it had the street swagger only World Rally Championship domination could bestow. Even in road going trim it was a 5-cylinder, turbocharged monster of a car with bulging wheel-arches, cool alloys and an air of invincibility; crooks knew they couldn’t outrun a quattro, especially Hunt’s mars-red car. It was the perfect car for the tough cop dedicated to clearing the streets of ‘scum’.
As the last episode of the series slowly unravels the central mystery of ‘The Guv’ and his team’s very existence, Hunt successfully lures them back for one last job to ambush jewel thieves at an airfield. A team of cars, including the Ford Granada Mk2 squad car modelled here, surround the area and Hunt begins the attack by dropping the quattro into the centre of the action with one of his signature handbrake turns. The car is soon shot to pieces by the heavily armed gang prompting him to shout “Oi you! I’m arresting you for murdering my car” then shooting them. The quattro is modelled here as it appeared in its final scene, riddled with bullet holes and, like all good heroes, going down fighting.
For more information visit corgi.co.uk
