If you want an Audi A5, S5, or RS5 coupe, you might want to hurry up, because these two-door models aren’t returning to America for 2025. Nor are the cabriolet variants, leaving the Sportback five-door liftback the only body style on sale next year. Another automaker has exited the coupe game entirely, and that ought to make us all sad for two reasons — Audi has a history of brilliant coupes, and the slow death of the coupe bodystyle says something about the light in our collective eyes.
With a choice of turbocharged four-cylinder or twin-turbocharged V6 power, the A5, S5, and RS5 coupes are somewhat left-field alternatives to the BMW 4 Series and M4. Sure, they might not have the sharpness of the BMW’s chassis, but they’re conservatively handsome, feel like they’re made of lovely stuff, and feature the traction of all-wheel-drive as standard. That last point is an Audi hallmark, and the car that made it legendary was an absolutely legendary coupe.
Going back to the 1980s, the one Audi that really put everyone on notice was the Coupe Quattro. This rally-bred four-wheel-drive coupe with locking differentials was unlike anything else on the market when it came out, and it changed performance cars forever. Sure, other manufacturers from AMC to Jensen had experimented with all-wheel-drive passenger cars before, but none with the same competition success and ferocious performance as Audi.
Fast forward to 1995, and Audi put the world on notice with another coupe, this time a concept car. Unveiled at that year’s Frankfurt show, the TT concept was an achingly pretty little two-door liftback, and it caused enough of a sensation to enter production in 1998. While a few incidents involving dodgy high-speed handling put a spot on the record of early cars, the public and the press both went bananas for this sporty little thing. This was David Tracy’s childhood dream car, a testament to how captivating the form of the TT was and still is.
In the 2000s, Audi did it again — twice. See, Audi stopped offering a compact executive coupe in 1996, but it returned in roaring fashion with the A5 and S5, two absolutely gorgeous BMW 3 Series competitors that are still pretty cars today. The S5 even featured a thumping-great V8, enough to cement immediate desirability and get namedropped by the likes of ScHoolboy Q and Freddie Gibbs. For decades after the 60 Minutes debacle, Audi had been a third-choice behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz, but with the first S5, the transformation to a pop culture force was complete. However, it wasn’t even the most jaw-dropping Audi coupe of its time.
Yep, that would be the R8. Mix one part Lamborghini, one part RS4, and one part pure styling genius, and you get one of the most iconic entry-level supercars of all time. No matter that it initially used a V8 compared to the V10 in the Lamborghini Gallardo, the R8 was dressed to kill, priced within a stone’s throw of a nice Porsche 911, and drew a line in the sand. It rewrote paradigms, earned supporting roles in everything from “Iron Man” to “17 Again,” and snatched up just about every award not already claimed by the Nissan GT-R. The R8 wasn’t just a great car, it was an inspiration. A true halo for Audi.
Sadly, good things all come to an end. The final TT rolled off the line in 2023, while the last R8 exited production earlier this year. With the A5, S5, and RS5 coupes disappearing from Audi showrooms, pretty soon the brand won’t offer a coupe at all. It isn’t the only one thinning the herd. Mercedes-Benz has discontinued the C-Class, E-Class, and S-Class coupes, the Chevrolet Camaro is dead, and a whole roster of coupes both aspirational and affordable have disappeared from showrooms over the past few decades.
In the ’60s, ’70s, and even the early ’80s, coupes weren’t just everywhere, they were some of the most popular vehicles in North America. The original Mustang broke sales records, the Personal Luxury Coupe was an entire segment of car, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was at one point the most popular car in America and a ton of them were coupes. Even in the 2000s, coupes were still relatively common. Your NASCAR mum or dad might’ve driven a Monte Carlo, sporty parents drove Mustangs and 3 Series coupes, smart empty-nesters rolled around in Toyota Solaras, and college graduates splurged on Honda Civic Coupes, Acura RSXs, and Toyota Celicas. Driving a coupe said you’re willing to sacrifice a little practicality to have fun. Why? Because fun is fun to have.
Fast forward to 2024, and most of those cars I just mentioned are dead. Sales numbers dwindled as consumer tastes changed, with a simulacrum of a coupe emerging as the predominant replacement — the “coupe SUV,” as it’s often called. While still a compromise in practicality over a crossover utility vehicle, these things aren’t really coupes, yet Audi currently offers two of them, and that says something about the state of the collective psyche.
See, the coupe SUV is the minimum possible concession to the pressures of reality. Cars are seen less and less as things of joy and escape, and more and more as catch-alls for our always-busy, always-connected, no-downtime lives. We’re worried, we’re tired, we’re all hanging on a “what-if?” in the backs of our minds, and our buying power isn’t what it used to be. What if we need to move something bulky? Renting a U-Haul takes time and money, two things many of us are stretched short on. Getting our offspring buckled into the back of a two-door car? We often just don’t have the energy for that. Work doesn’t end at 5:00 p.m. anymore.
This latest coupe discontinuation is sad, but it isn’t our fault. We’re often doing the best we can, it’s just that the best we can do often no longer includes room for the impracticality of two-door cars. It’s not just that the world is changing, it’s that we as a collective are merely trying our best to keep up. Maybe someday, two-door coupes can thrive again. Until then, if you already own a coupe, hang onto it. Keep a little bit of two-door fun in your life if you can.
(Photo credits: Audi)
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