There must be something in the water in Norway. The long winters and northern lights must do something to the brains of gearheads in the Scandinavian region, because they seem to be capable of the wildest and most tire-shreddingly awesome race car builds in the galaxy. Take, for instance, Frode Jorgensen’s spectacular Audi Quattro S1 Evo 3 hillclimb car here. It was built on a standard 1986 Quattro chassis, and has developed into one of the most radical speed machines on the planet.
At just 2,425 pounds, this car’s 830-horsepower boost-fed five-cylinder doesn’t have much to push around. Instead of putting all of that power to forward motion, even the legendary Quattro all-wheel drive system can’t keep up and spits it out as wheel spin and ass wiggle. In the video below you’ll see the Gatebil festival favorite taking on the Norges Raeste Bakkelop hillclimb, apparently the toughest uphill race in Norway.
There are many great things about this car, but I think my favorite is the resilience and incredible power delivery of the venerable Audi R5 20-valve turbocharged engine. Everyone loves to talk about the Chevrolet LS or Toyota’s 2JZ as being the best engines for building power, but Audi’s 2.2-liter inline five can make four-digit horsepower on stock internals. If you want more power, you just have to chuck gobs more boost and fuel at it, and it’ll give you pretty much whatever number you can afford.
This car has lived an incredible journey already. I like to think about the origins of builds like this, because back in 1983 someone in Norway walked into an Audi dealer and purchased an all-wheel drive homologation special coupe likely to drive their family around in surefooted confidence. I like to think about who the original owner was, and what they might think of where their car is today. I hope they’re proud of it.