2008 Northeast Audi Spring Bash

By: Kris Hansen

The 2008 Northeast Audi Spring Bash was held Saturday, May 18 at Inskip Audi in Warwick, RI. Put together by some of the same people who were behind the legendary Northeast Audi Group Spring and Summer Bashes in the early 2000’s, this event was the rebirth of a classic get-together.

What makes a good event great is hosting it in a great location, something that was well looked-after in 2008.

Inskip Audi was a most gracious host, providing a spacious parking area and complete access to their service facility. This allowed vendors plenty of space to locate their wares, as well as allowing quite a few new cars to be arranged for gawking. They also brought in some Concours show pieces and a great barbeque for the Bash attendees. Inskip Audi sales manager Barry Bryant and parts and service director Ray Stevens were cruising around, passing out Audi mints and making sure everyone was having a good time.

Inskip Audi’s facility is truly spectacular. The service bays are immaculate, and are so modern and clean that they look more like hospital operating rooms than an automobile servicing facility. There was plenty of eye candy around the shop, not the least of which was an R8 perched high atop one of the service lifts.

Seeing this car up on the lift gave everyone a chance to literally check out the belly of the beast. Given all the protective coverings, hwoever, there’s really not much to see once it’s up there.

Also attracting oohs and ahhs were the other marques that Inskip handles, namely Porsche, Bentley, Smart, Mercedes Benz, and others. Eye candy out the wazoo.

Turnout at the Bash, at around 70 cars, was a bit lower than organizers had hoped. It was thought that the weather forecast had something to do with this, and it rained VERY hard in the morning before the event. Fortunately though, at about the time the show was to begin, the sky started to clear, the sun came out and it turned out to be a most spectacular day! Those who were in attendance were all smiles, people were happy to visit and check out each other’s cars. As it happens, there were several attendees who were eager to show off their new custom exhausts on S5s, S4s and others. And how glorious the 4.2 V8 sounds when it’s uncorked a little, or in the case of the S4 Avant, a lot.

This gathering was especially complete, as pretty much every model/chassis of Audi ever made was represented in the lot. There was a clean UrQuattro. A Coupe Quattro. TT. Allroad. There were 3 S5s. RS4s. S4s. A4s. A6. 2 RS6s. It was an Audi lovers paradise, both old and new school.

There were several tuning vendors on hand: Axis Motorsport from Vermont and ICS Tuning and Swift Motorsports from Connecticut. ICS was busy flashing cars, and all were busy answering questions and showing off their products (including some nice raffle prizes). Having the local tuners present was a boon since it gave attendees a chance to meet them face to face. We’ve always felt it is important to have a local person to work with, and having the tuners present is a big ice breaker for many folks. It’s also nice to be able to look at potential pieces you want to bolt onto your car.

All in all this initial revival of the New England Audi Spring Bash was a pleasant return to old traditions. Plans are already being ironed out for the 2009 Spring Bash, among other events. If this gathering was any indication then the Northeast Audi gatherings are back as good as ever!