Earlier this month the 2012 Audi Expo was held at the headquarters of Griot’s Garage in Tacoma Washington. The Audi Expo has been around for 10 years but this year was by far the best in memory. The venue was set up perfectly for the event and held both the vendors and displayed cars without a problem. It is always so much fun to be a part of these events and meet so many of our forum members and online fans!

The sponsor list this year was headlined by Audi USA who brought out some special treats for the show-goers. They put on display a brand new 2013 Audi S8 with the highly powered 4.0 TFSI twin turbo engine. They also brought out the S8’s little brother, the S6 sedan that is powered by a slightly detuned version of the same engine. Last but certainly not least, they displayed one of the only A3 e-tron cars in the country. This plug in hybrid showcases Audi’s commitment to reducing our reliability on fossil fuels.

One of the highlights of the show was Al Swackhammer’s 1960 Auto Union DKW, which has been converted to a fully electric plug in vehicle. Seeing this car sit next to the A3 e-tron you can’t help but get excited when you see the intersection of one fan’s passion and the similar passion from Audi themselves.

After the show, Audi was able to give Al a rare chance behind the wheel of the A3 e-tron. We will be posting a full interview soon with Al and we will be able to share his thoughts about the A3 e-tron with you. 

There were so many amazing Audis on display at the show, you simply must browse through our gallery and see them all. Some of our favorites included a Aviator Gray TT RS, a Sprint Blue B7 S4 Avant and, of course, Al’s 1960 DKW electric conversion.

The best of show went to Chris Myers’ 1992 Audi S4 that boasts many mods including a custom front bumper, carbon fiber hood, custom rear diffuser, 4″ oval s/s exhaust system with through-the-bumper tips, custom coil-over suspension, Cayenne turbo front brakes, 911 carerra rear brakes, 2-piece rotors front & rear, separate parking brake calipers,  9.5×18 Miro wheels, P265/35-18 BFG KDW-2 tires, stock compression 2.2L engine, Scat forged rods, stock pistons, ported head, 7A cams, Wagner tube header, GT3582R-HTA turbo, internally modded stock intake manifold, front-mount intercooler, AMD tune 480whp pump gas/540whp race gas.

Many other vendors were on site to show their cars and wares to attendees. Achtuning brought out a 20-foot tent, which overflowed with the latest and greatest goodies from APR, Stoptech, H&R and Hartmann Wheels. Achtuning also showcased its daily driven R8 V8 shop vehicle.

Northwest Auto Salon was on hand with a plethora of awesomeness which included three of my favorite cars in the world – a satin wrapped R8 GT, a Sport Quattro, and the “King of the Rings” S4 which won the highly regarded “Ultimate S4 Shootout” in European Car several years ago.

The team here at QuattroWorld was able to join in the vendor festivities and we were able to set up next to Northwest Auto Salon. We brought out three of our project cars to the show: our Stage 3 EPL tuned B5 S4, a Stasis Challenge edition S5 and, of course, our project Q7 TDI which just received a partial vinyl wrap from Northwest Auto Salon.  

Other Vendors at the show included University Audi, Larson Audi, Griot’s Garage, Audi Car Club of North America, Roger Jobs Motors, European Plates, EuroGlass, Accutint, Audi Club NW, Dent Wizard of Bellevue, Audi TT Car Club of America, Motoring Unlimited, Queen City Auto Rebuild and Same Day Inc.

It is worth saying a big thank you to Brian Presser who spends his time for several months planning and organizing this great event every year. Without his commitment to the show, it simply wouldn’t have happened or been nearly as much of a success!

This is one of our favorite shows of the entire year and we can’t wait for next year! 

Stay tuned to http://www.AudiExpo.com for next year’s event.

Visit the sponsors here:

Audi of America (http://www.AudiUSA.com)

Griot’s Garage (http://www.GriotsGarage.com)

QuattroWorld (http://www.QuattroWorld.com)

Audi Car Club of North America (http://www.AudiCarClubna.org)

Achtuning.com (http://www.Achtuning.com)

Roger Jobs Motors (http://www.RogerJobs.com)

European Plates (http://EuropeanPlates.com)

Euroglass (425-883-2989)

University Audi (http://www.UniversityAudi.com)

Accutint (http://www.AccutintSeattle.com)

Audi Club Northwest (http://www.AudiClubnw.org)

Dent Wizard of Bellevue (425-641-3368)

Audi TT Car Club of America (http://www.Audittcca.com)

Larson Audi  (http://www.LarsonPorscheAudi.com)

Motoring Unlimited  (http://Experiencemu.com)

Queen City Audi Rebuild (http://www.QueenCityAutoRebuild.com)

SameDay Inc. (http://www.SameDay-usa.com)

Northwest Auto Salon (http://www.NorthwestAutoSalon.com)

GALLERY:  

For even more awesome photos from the event check out Spina²’s gallery on FLICKR.