The A8 and the A4 were both introduced to the U.S. market in 1996. The A8 had already been out in Europe two years prior to that.

The A8 came to the US is 1997. The A4 came in '96. The A4 came first. So what if the A8 looks like an A4 - that's the look that brought Audi back from the dead (at least in the US).

I bought a 96 and 97 A4. I own a 99 A8 and I love the look. If anything but an A4, the A8 has some original Lexus LS400 lines.

I was getting my A4 serviced today and while looking at all the pretty Audis on the lot it occurred to me that the A8 is a stretched and crunched A4 (or the A4 is a squished and heightened A8.) I did not see this as a bad thing. In fact, I was quite taken by the beauty of the A8 (except the $70k sticker) and I thought it made the A4s parked next to it look a little anemic. If I can find that lottery ticket I bought last week maybe I will find out that I won a couple mil (after taxes, friends begging for $, etc)and I can buy one of each.

parkerpt
99.5 1.8T qms looking like A8s kid brother.

nt