With the roll that Audi currently enjoys worldwide, it's difficult to believe that at one time the company was the stepchild--the American Motors, you might say--of the German auto industry. Back in 1965, Auto Union (which included the Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer brands) was sold by Mercedes-Benz to Volkswagen. At the time, VW badly needed production capacity, and the nearly new Auto Union plant in Ingolstadt was a quick solution to the problem.

Yet Volkswagen got so much more than just a plant. With the acquisition of Auto Union, the company acquired a line of front-wheel-drive cars that would provide the foundation for the modern-day Audi brand, once their two-stroke engines were discarded. It would also serve as the basic platform for the water-cooled, front-wheel-drive Volkswagens to follow (especially the Passat and Golf).

So, what does all this have to do with the lovely, almost Aston Martin DBS-esque blue Audi 100 Coupé pictured here and available for sale in the U.K. from 4 Star Classics, specialists in modern classic vehicles? Here's the story.

After the Auto Union acquisition, Volkswagen boss Heinrich Nordhoff handed down the edict that no further Auto Union models (including Audi) would be developed. He believed the Beetle's rear-engine, air-cooled layout was the future. In direct opposition to this order, engineer Ludwig Kraus spearheaded the birth of the water-cooled, front-wheel-drive