Would Audis Still Look Good Without Their Signature Single-Frame Grille?

Through the years, Audi grilles have evolved from the low and horizontal shapes of the 70’s and 80’s to the large single-frame design we’ve all come to know in the mid 2000s.

Compared to 70’s models, the grille got narrower and narrower on newer generation models in the 80’s and 90’s especially. Though the one constant common aspect was that it would remain a horizontal design until the larger, wider trapezoidal single-frame grille was introduced on the C6 Audi A6 and facelifted D3 Audi A8 in the mid 2000s.

Looking at these renderings, perhaps asking if Audis would still look good with a different grille isn’t the right question. Their design evolved from horizontal to trapezoidal grilles, which means that in theory, the old grilles could be brought back and properly integrated into the front fascia a heck of a lot better than in these images.

Still, we appreciate the creativity and talent that went into making these renderings – as always.

But what do you guys think? We know that in reality, Audi isn’t giving up on their trademark grille design anytime soon, but if something of that nature was to happen today (hypothetically), would any of these models still look about as good as they do in real life?

Perhaps the A3 or the A4? Personally I think that A6 Allroad looks pretty nice but some of them are a little hard to look at. The SUVs for example appear a little less imposing than usual, while the A8 could be mistaken for a Chinese creation from a distance.

Renderings courtesy of Theophilus Chin