With the technical basis and positioning as a working specification, the next task was to "give the car an appetising look" (Lamberty's words). By mid-November, three possible exterior designs were still being considered, but the interior design had already been signed off. For two weeks on end, vast sets of CAD (computer-aided development) data were compiled and fed to the high-performance computers.
In December 2002 the Virtual Reality (VR) Centre in Ingolstadt was able to project its first animated visions of the Le Mans quattro on to a "powerwall" six metres wide and 2.25 metres high. The car was beginning to take shape, if only in virtual form for the moment. Using the CAD data for the remaining three body versions, 1:4 scale clay models were formed and presented to the Board of Management shortly before Christmas. The choice fell on the most sporty of these versions. Designers from Audi Sport, incidentally, supported the project with their specific motor-sport expertise, as did employees from the Wind Tunnel Centre in Ingolstadt, the Aluminium Centre and Engine Development in Neckarsulm, as well as Lamborghini and Cosworth Technology.
For reasons of secrecy, the car itself was not built at the Ingolstadt plant but at one of Audi's pattern-making suppliers not far outside the city. Secrecy was of course a major concern throughout the F03 creation process. All the team members were asked to sign a separate declaration of confidentiality just for this project, and undertook to impose the same strict conditions of secrecy on their families, partners and colleagues past and present. As a result, only a very small group of people within the Group were aware of the project.
Almost every Le Mans quattro component had to be produced by hand, using cost-intensive and often time-consuming methods. "Every switch, every wheel rim had to be machined out of solid blocks of aluminium!" says Rüdiger Kiehn. Scarcely any of the car's components came out of the series-production parts bin, and almost every component installed on the Le Mans quattro is, like the car itself, unique.
Kiehn: "For a concept car, there is no need to allow for the use of existing parts to any great extent. Developing a one-off prestige object of this kind is quite different from developing a product intended for series production." The designer's task is to explore the absolute limits of what the project permits, and the task of the technical experts is to bring the whole thing into line with reality and make it capable of being driven. It's only to be expected that these different approaches clash violently on occasion. As interior designer Sieber puts it: "We naturally argued a bit about the details!"
Be that as it may: both the designers and the technicians are not only full of praise for the constructive cooperation that was achieved, but also for the highly collegial atmosphere that prevailed within the team. "There was a remarkable strong feeling of trust and motivation. Indeed, we would never have succeeded without it," says Voll. One problem faced them all: the fearfully tight time schedule. Voll sums this up dramatically: "We fought hard to gain even a single hour wherever we could." The small team worked a two-shift day while developing the new car, and presented its latest results once a month to the Audi Board. But it was quite common practice for a Board Member to drop by personally in between times and see what progress was being made.
Until April 2003 the forms and functions were still subject to continual change, but then the fateful day of the 'design freeze' arrived - the moment when the Le Mans quattro's shape was finalised and no further modifications were permitted. The model was scanned and digitised. These data were then used to produce the hardware for a roadgoing version of the new mid-engined sports car.
The aluminium space frame had already been constructed (in January) and the engine, running gear and electronics installed (by the end of February). Next came the outer skin, the interior equipment and trim, the paintwork and many other items. There were often moments, as Kiehn readily admits, "when we thought that we would never manage it in time." The Frankfurt Motor Show dates were looming up rapidly, and whereas in an emergency the production start of a new car can be postponed for a short while, this is unfortunately not possible when it comes to the world's biggest motor show.
Finally came the brief three-day period in which the Le Mans quattro was completely assembled for photo and film shooting sessions in Munich and on Audi's proving ground in Neustadt. Lamberty recalls: "It was a fantastic feeling at 5 o'clock in the morning on August 9th, with the sun just rising and the car being taken out of its transporter and driven under its own power for the first time." The project team only received 'their' Le Mans quattro again for further essential work a few days before the motor show was due to open its doors.
On September 8th, the F 03 project team was finally able to declare: "We've made it!" They all travelled to Frankfurt to attend the presentation of the F03, an event almost as spectacular as the car itself. Audi's Chief Executive Officer drove it in front of a racetrack stand specially erected in a Frankfurt city street closed for the purpose, and the flash bulbs went off in their thousands - a fitting tribute and reward for eleven months of hard, unceasing work.
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