The Audi Concept C strives for clarity, drawing on the past to present a new face for the future

There must be something in the water that’s inducing 1990s and noughties automotive nostalgia. Hot on the heels of Smart’s announcement that it’s bringing back a compact city car, the Smart #2, and Škoda’s conceptual reimagining of the cultish, toy-like Favorit Fun with the Day-Glo, Barbie-style Felicia Fun concept, comes this new concept from Audi, an altogether more grown-up proposition.

In addition to spearheading the company's new design direction, one theory is that the Audi Concept C previews a new-generation compact Audi sports car. This would be a triumphant return to a sector the brand once very much owned with the Audi TT. Perhaps the first ‘designer’ sports car, the TT represented the rare distillation of pure design intent into a production model. Can the Concept C do a similar thing?

Naturally, this is an EV, unlike the original, which didn’t last long enough to even be hybridised, let alone electrified. Industry watchers point to a tie-in with sister company Porsche, which is known to be well advanced with the all-electric replacement for the popular 718. Given Porsche’s EV know-how – as evidenced by the Taycan and Macan – the 718 EV was set to be one of the first ‘true’ mass-market electric sports cars. Could it be joined by a related Audi?

If the two cars do share a platform, it’s been well concealed. The lines of the Concept C are pure Audi, owing more to the company’s aesthetic approach in the 1990s and 2000s than recent design studies. You can see a little bit of the original TT Concept from 1995, especially in the solid B-pillar design. The Concept C is presented with a targa-style retractable roof, as well as a solid deck that does away with a rear window.

Although this ‘window delete’ approach was recently popularised by Polestar, it has earlier antecedents in the Audi back catalogue. We see strong hints of the Audi Rosemeyer concept from 2000, a magnificent 16-cylinder powered, polished aluminium hypercar that evolved into one of the technical antecedents of the Bugatti Veyron.

There’s also a nod to 2004’s Audi RSQ, a concept created for I, Robot, that year’s Will Smith-starring action/science fiction film. The car, which gets plenty of screen time during the 2035-set film, has a silhouette closely related to the Audi R8, but the visual expression of solid billets of metal is carried through into this new concept.

Finally, we’d also draw parallels with the 2010 Audi E-Tron concept, an electric two-seater compact sports car that raised hopes of an early EV TT but proved to be something of a stylistic dead end. The new Concept C shares the 2010 car’s proportions, although the earlier design study had more unwieldy light graphics when compared to today’s slender multi-purpose light units. Curves and radii have also been simplified, radically so.

The Audi Concept C is definitely a return to the geometry-obsessed Audi of a couple of decades ago. In terms of overall proportions, the concepts features long front and rear overhangs that are uncommon in today’s EV design language. These proportions also serve to disguise the car’s physical size. Is this a truly compact sports car or more of a grand tourer?

In addition to the geometric precision, subtle, near-flat surfacing and blanked-out rear deck, the Concept C’s other point of difference is the front end. Featuring the same kind of frontal verticality seen in Bentley’s EXP 15 vision concept, with deep-set vents topped by slim lights, it’s also drawn comparisons to the Jaguar Concept 00.

This ‘vertical frame’ is a preview of the new Audi face, a massive simplification of the current complex, almost aggressive approach. Looking a little bit like a small car trying to emerge from a large one, the approach undoes decades and decades of car design that dovetails with face pareidolia, wherein headlights read as eyes, and grilles, badges, air intakes and other elements translate into the rest of the facial features. For inspiration, Audi’s designers have gone all the way back to the 1936 Auto Union Type C and the 2004 Audi A6.

The interior is another minimalist statement, with aluminium controls combined with warm, earthy natural materials and a general absence of extraneous detailing and surfaces. The steering wheel is even perfectly round, a rarity in the current industry, while the 10.4-inch touch touchscreen is designed to fold out of the way for a more analogue, engaging driving experience.

Audi is signalling a shift, having perhaps lost its status as the leading design-focused car brand in recent years. Although the stated four pillars of the new design philosophy (Clear, Technical, Intelligent and Emotional) don’t really transcend typical PowerPoint sentimentalising, the vehicle itself is a step forwards, albeit one that’s been combined with a studious look back.

Audi.com, @Audi