First footage of Audi Quattro Concept

Audi has released some actual real life footage of its 700bhp Quattro concept - last seen lurking ominously on a show stand at the Frankfurt show - to (a) thank its growing legion of internet fans, and (b) prove that it works.

To celebrate getting over 100,000 likes on its Facebook page (wake us up when you get past 13 million, please), Audi has fired out a short teaser video of the Sport Quattro Concept; that 700bhp, pugnaciously styled yellow nod to the company's past glory. A car that carries with it the hopes of many Thermos flask enthusiasts.

The concept bears the Sport Quattro name as a deliberate homage to the short-wheelbase Sport Quattro from 1983. The SQ is powered by Audi's delightfully thunderous twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 TFSI petrol engine from the RS6, producing the same 552bhp and 516lb ft of torque.

However, this car gets an electric motor stuffed between that V8 and the transmission, which adds another 150bhp and 295lb ft of torque (which alone is as much torque as the outgoing BMW M3's V8 makes), powered by a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack. Using just this electric motor, the SQ gets a claimed 31 miles range.

Of course, you don't want to use just the electric motor. You want everything. Because with everything hooked up to maximum attack, the SQ produces 700bhp. With four-wheel-drive and an eight-speed auto ‘box, it'll go from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds and on to a top speed of 190mph.

Sure, a Nissan GT-R might hit 62mph in three seconds flat. Can it return 113mpg and emit just 59g/km of CO2? No. But the SQ can.

That said, despite weight saving measures including a carbon fibre reinforced polymer roof, bonnet and rear bootlid, it's still a plumper, weighing in at 1,850kg.

Word is that the Sport Quattro is likely to reach at least limited production, with a price tag to dwarf even the priciest Audi R8. Any takers?