In the UK, there was the choice at launch between a four-cylinder 1.4-litre petrol and a three-cylinder TDI diesel of the same displacement, both of which made 74bhp. Weighing less than 900kg meant that small, efficient engines could be used. But it was also built to answer the very 2019 question of how to transport four people while using the minimum amount of fuel. In the days before premium superminis (this was two years before the first BMW Mini launched), Audi wanted to prove that small and relatively inexpensive didn’t have to mean basic and cheaply engineered. It wasn’t just a car, it was a manifesto piece. Yet Audi did it, building the A2 around what was basically an aluminium spaceframe. Audi had never produced a car in this segment – the first-generation A3 was still a novelty at the time – and the only aluminium car in the line-up was the range-topping A8. When Audi showed an aluminium-bodied supermini concept in 1997, few thought it would make production.
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