We've known the 2Bennett boys for almost a decade, crossed paths at various Audi track days, and kept tabs on their latest online Audi project cars. While 2Bennett Audimotive is capable of pure restoration work, their specialty is more slanted toward "restification." None of these cars would win points for historic accuracy, but that seems just fine with 2Bennett clients. "Our customers drive their Audis all the time, and drive them hard," says Andrew Bennett. "We engineer our cars to make sure that's possible."
This trio coalesced over several years, built entirely within the 2B garage. It should give you a good idea what 2Bennett Audimotive can do.
'83 2B Sport long wheel base quattro-
Next to driving a Porsche 917 down the Mulsanne Straight, one should also experience the intoxicating thrust of Audi's five-cylinder, 20-valve turbo engine. Developed jointly with Porsche, this mill was used to power the vaunted Audi RS2 Avant, a gorgeous sport wagon that broke North America's heart (it wasn't imported here). Developing a healthy 315 hp, this engine was something of a poster child of potential for European tuners. A few well-placed mods and that number quickly went north.
As I'm driving down a seldom-used farm trail, I have to wonder just how far north 2Bennett has taken it. In typical old-school turbo style, there's not much torque beneath 3100 rpm. After that it feels like being hurled from the world's biggest slingshot. The power isn't 930-juice-your-spleen-scary, but more progressive, like it'll keep accelerating until it creates a wormhole. The pedals are situated for aggressive left-foot braking, a setup Hans Stuck would dig. The only reason I'm doing so well is my massive work boots cover both pedals. For 20 minutes I'm a star.
