What do the Audi RS6 Avant and Alpine A110 have in common? Not much. But that’s a good thing. When it comes to ideal two-car garages, opposites attract. And when it comes to these particular cars, you’re looking at the end of the line. Both are due to be succeeded by electrified replacements in the very near future. In the next RS6, its V8 will be hybridised; in the A110, to begin with at least, there will be nothing but battery. The GT and GTS respectively represent the end of an era.
It is this quirk in the lineage that has brought them together – but what better two cars can you imagine seeing out the decade (and potentially the century) with? The BMW M5 CS and Porsche Cayman GT4 RS offer a terrific counterpoint, yes – but there is something undeniably appealing about the idea of Teutonic all-season estate and waif-like, rear-drive Francophone.
Especially when both are in run-out format. The Avant GT, in its exclusive livery, is a bombshell. No passersby need know what it is to pay attention. Which is fitting because this is arguably the last great testament to the Audi Sport quattro way. A fact that makes the A110 a lovely counterpoint: less outrageously silly than the high-priced R, and created deliberately as a ‘best of’ variant.
Which suits fantasy-grade Welsh roads better? Well, that’s what we’re back at Brecon to find out. Or partly that – mostly it’s about celebrating two icons of a fossilised epoch, one if not quite gone, then certainly about to change beyond all recognition. If we’ve already convinced you of the wonderfulness of either car, you can buy one here and the other here. Or you can reminisce about what a blast it’s been to drive either in the usual spot. Either way, enjoy.