Want to win any 90s focused cars & coffee or Radwood? Seeking to be the most obscure car with Audi heritage for your garage? We think we may have found a car that qualifies. It’s a Treser TR1 Roadster and it’s currently for sale in Bauntatal, Germany. So yes, you’d need to import it via the likes of Jamie Orr, but it was produced in 1988 so it wouldn’t be that hard to accomplish all things considered.
As a quick recap, Walter Treser established his own legend in the Audi lexicon during the early rallying era. Following his time at the factory, Treser struck out on his own with a substantial line of aftermarket tuning for the Audi brand. While there were Treser accessories like wheels and tires, the firm also offered full branded builds like the occasional Super 5000 you’ll find in the USA, not to mention convertible conversions of the ur quattro. When coach built wasn’t enough, Treser turned to building a car of his own design. That car was the TR1 Roadster.
Interestingly, Treser turned to the Volkswagen parts bin for his creation. While Audi offered more power and luxury, Treser appeared to be seeking a lighter mix for this roadster. So, the car got the 16-valve 4-cylinder from the VW GTI mounted transversely just like the Golf and unlike the longitudinal fitment of the “16V” that was also going into lower spec Audi models. However, rather than mounting the engine in the front like the Golf, he made the roadster’s chassis a mid-engine configuration.
The roadster also had a folding hardtop, giving owners the option to drive a coupe as well… and long before the likes of the Volkswagen EOS, Volvo C70 or BMW 3-series that would later attempt something similar. The car was a technical wonder for many reasons that we won’t go into here, but you can read more via several key websites we’ve found like AudiStory.com , Treser-Club.de (you’ll need to use a translation tool) and even Yahoo Finance.
Back to the car that’s available on the market, you can find it over on AutoScout24, basically Europe’s version of AutoTrader or the like. All-in-all it looks well preserved. It’s got just 78,000 km, which is about 48,000 miles. Here’s a Google translation of the listing:
A great piece of motorsport history has come to an end. The TRESER TR 1 Roadster is the left-back memory. My little bit was there from the beginning. Now I have become too old for this car, which should continue to be at home on the road. This car does not belong in a collector’s garage for never-a-see.
Where is the buyer who wants to take over this task. I am still available for all questions about this vehicle. If you are really interested, call me on the phone. I tell you from a completely different side about our motorsport ambitions, in the spirit of Walter Treser, the inventor and builder of this dream car without luxury. You are not only buying a car here, but a huge experience in the history of automobile sports. 2 thick folders with pictures and stories put you in never-ending dreams. Let’s hope that the couple of cars, which Walter s. Currently in Berlin has had construction can be seen on the street for a long time to come.
Check out the listing for the car HERE, and if you want to import it then checking in with Jamie Orr and company over at Orchid Euro is a great place to start.
