Audi does not build many cars like the Audi 50: a 3-door hatchback with 1.1 , built from 1974 to 1978 as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Its designer of record is Marcello Gandini at Bertone / Claus Luthe (final design).
The background
The Audi 50 (known internally as Typ 86) is a small supermini car produced by German automaker Audi from 1974 to 1978, and sold only in Europe. Introduced two and three years after the French Renault 5 and the Italian Fiat 127 respectively, the Audi 50 and its VW Polo twin were seen at the time as Germany's first home-grown entrant in Europe's emerging class of "supermini" hatchbacks, supplanting a generation of small and often rear-engined economy cars.
The engineering
Under the skin sits 1.1 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual. The wheelbase is 2335 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Audi's history is not in doubt: the NSU Prinz / NSU 1200 came before it; the Audi A1 / Audi A2 followed it; it was built at Neckarsulm, Germany. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volkswagen Golf, the Jeep Cherokee, the Lamborghini Countach. Its Audi stablemates include the Audi 200 and the Audi 225.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Audi 50 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.