I had the great fortunate of being invited to the LA Auto Show Press Day again this year as a guest of Kelley Blue Book, which meant I was able to catch the debut of the Audi A9 Prologue Concept, an absolutely stunning design concept. This concept is intended to foreshadow design queues for all upcoming models, although they specifically mentioned styling queues coming soon to the refreshed A6, A7 and A8 models. After the unveiling, it was clear to the audience (and likely Audi themselves) that this concept could have a market of it’s own, taking on large coupes such as the Mercedes S Coupe, BMW 6 Series, or even the Bentley GT.
For now, it’s just a design concept – but it’s got some very “production ready” design elements to it, such as the new grille shape (still single frame, like the current models are), the evolved laser headlights, a very clean & simple interior, and very masculine lines and athletic hips.
From the rear, I found it slightly less exciting – while I really dig the integrated exhaust tips, the deck lid seems a little generic and too squared off. The lines definitely emphasize how wide the car is, and as an enthusiast I can only imagine how great it will look with a nice drop. Still, something about the decklid and the tail lights spanning the entire width of the car just doesn’t do it for me quite the same as the RS5.
Inside, the car is futuristic yet classic at the same time – it is definitely more minimalist than current offerings by Audi, yet it all kind of works. Much like the exterior, the interior has some very angular lines that are striking but understated – classic Audi.
The wheels look like they could be an available option anytime, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see these hit the showroom sooner rather than later, if they haven’t already.
I wish I had better pics, and would love to see this car in red, but hopefully this gives anyone who reads it a sense of what’s to come from Audi – personally, I’m very excited. Last but not least, I took a video of the debut, which you can check out on my Instagram:
Looks nice, but too much like a Jaguar or Aston Martin.