It’s 5am on an industrial estate just outside the city of Heilbronn in southern Germany. Never let it be said that this job isn’t glamourous. And yet, despite the smokestack location, the day is set to be filled with fanfare.
It begins with a proper Stars in their Eyes moment, as the painted bodyshell of a Vegas Yellow Audi R8 rises up from the basement below and is then rapidly revealed by an overdramatic garage door. Just missing the smoke machines.
Of course, I wouldn’t be out of bed at this time to watch any old R8 get pieced together, but this is the last ever car. Yep, after two generations and 18 years of production, it’s the end of the road for Audi’s internal combustion-engined supercar. Over 45,000 examples have been built since its introduction in 2006, and while the name could possibly appear on