Back in high school, I was a muscle-car-or-no-car kind of guy. It was only on my radar if it had an American V8.Later, the first Audi TT wowed me. I was perplexed by its one-of-a-kind design. As we already know, the original TT became a game-changer for Audi, especially in the U.S. It was almost a Porsche. Freeman Thomas, the original TT designer, spoke to Cruz. During their discussion, Thomas spilled the beans on the actual TT’s design development and how it almost went to Porsche instead of Audi. Thomas told Cruz that he and Porsche designers were requested to develop two Audi and Porsche versions of one automobile. After that, both brands presented their concepts to the board. Thomas knew Porsche’s designers would bring to the meeting because he had worked there. He and his staff maintained the iconic “Bauhaus” design. Porsche designers wanted Audi to have less power and all-wheel drive due to Volkswagen Group politics. Thomas said the Audi team wouldn’t allow that and cancelled the project. “We had a big meeting in Ingolstadt. Very private. “Just [Porsche’s] and our group,” Thomas told Cruz. Two detailed scale models were ours and theirs. The meeting would forward if successful. Politics ruined the gathering. So Porsche never used the coupe.” Thomas and his team went on to create the Audi TTS Concept, designed alongside the production-ready coupe, and brought it to the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995 without telling Porsche. It was an instant hit. The production Audi TT looked like the Frankfurt concept because it was based on it. Even famed automobile designer Giugiaro told Freeman he wouldn’t change a line. Porsche’s TT design may have changed the outcome. The Freeman-designed Audi TT became a brand icon, and Audi wouldn’t be the same without it.
