A rare car tucked away in an Angus garage for almost 30 years has become a global internet sensation.
In 1994, Fred Harrison parked his prized Audi Quattro Turbo in a Montrose lock-up and pulled the door down.
And there the white coupe has remained untouched ever since.
Until car journalist and TV presenter Jonny Smith made an excited trip north to unearth the vehicle for viewers of his Late Brake Show channel on YouTube.
Jonny’s ‘barn find’ videos are a huge hit with petrolheads and he has nearly 400,000 subscribers to the Late Brake Show.
So he was contacted by Fred’s younger brother, Jason, who wondered if the Audi might grab Jonny’s interest.
It did – and the video of the car emerging from almost three decades of hibernation has had more than 300,000 views in less than a week.
Sadness behind Audi’s emergence after so long
Jason, 50, says he is astonished by the response to a story born out of tragedy for the family.
Fred passed away last year after a devastatingly short battle with cancer.
He was 65 and had worked around the globe as an electrician in the oil industry.
So the garage was unlocked as the family began to sort out his estate.
Jason said: “We have always been into cars and this was Fred’s pride and joy.
“We still have the receipt for it from August 12 1991.
“He traded in a Mitsubishi Starion, which was a rare car at the time – and handed over £3,995 as the balance for the Audi.
“Fred had loads of great cars but the Quattro was always his favourite.
“But in 1994 he reversed it into the lock-up, took the wheels off, put it up on blocks and that was it.
“I don’t know if he had an idea he was going to do it up, or just tuck it away.”
Never talked about
“We’ve no idea why and he never spoke about it,” said Jason, a welding engineer with Whittaker Engineering in Stonehaven.
“We’re both car mad.
“But whenever the Audi was mentioned he just went quiet or made it clear he didn’t want to speak about it.
“I watch all the car channels and love everything with an engine really.
“So I sent the Late Brake Show a message and didn’t know if it would be of interest, but it’s just gone crazy.
“Jonny was such a lovely guy and despite the circumstances of how it has come out of storage it’s great to see the response the video has had.
“My phone has never stopped with texts and calls from people who have seen it online.
“Some of the comments people have made on the video are brilliant.
“I think Fred would be pretty chuffed his Quattro has got such a lot of interest – and he’d probably say he always told us it was a great car!”
And presenter Jonny is also amazed by the response the Angus find has generated.
He said the Late Brake Show was “ridiculously lucky” to get tips on so many rare cars tucked away.
We are 😲🤯🥳 by how many of you have watched our latest Barn Find (but in a garage) video. We are ridiculously lucky to get so many ‘potential barn find’ emails/DMs and it’s the same with all our content. We – you and us – are ‘literally’ 💯 doing this together. It’s awesome 👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/ru9gTq6u7P
— The Late Brake Show (@LateBrakeShow) May 3, 2022
Why is the Angus Audi special?
The four-wheel drive Quattro was an instant sensation when it was revealed at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show.
And it went on to become a motorsport icon in rally form.
But the Montrose car’s rarity is down to being one of the very limited Ur-Quattros.
The original model’s Ur prefix took its name from the German for primordial, or first of its kind.
And Fred’s car is a survivor of around just 75 right-hand drive machines which rolled out before mass production got underway at the Ingolstadt factory in Bavaria.
WPL 777Y will require a restoration which could cost tens of thousands of pounds.
But its originality, and features including a period body kit and rare alloy wheels, make it special.
“We’re still sorting things out but it’s likely it might go to a specialist auction,” said Jason.
In 2021, an immaculate Ur-Quattro smashed the previous record price for the model at auction.
The car was one of the last off the production line.
