Final Audi R8 rolls off production line as iconic sports car discontinued after 17 years… but nobody will ever drive it

THE final Audi R8 has rolled off the production line, with the iconic sports car being discontinued after 17-years - but nobody will ever drive it.

Uncertainty surround the future of the type, with an electric replacement possibly in the works.

What is for sure, though, is that the Vegas Yellow R8 produced by the brand's Stuttgart factory is the last of the internal combustion models.

It boasts a growling, 612 horsepower "performance" V10 engine inside a "Quattro Edition" body that features bronze alloys and plenty of carbon fibre.

Dubbed the "sensible supercar", the R8 first graced the tarmac in 2006 and went on to be a smash hit for Audi.

It was based on the Le Mans Quattro concept car the brand had unveiled three years earlier, named for the famous 24-hour endurance race.

Indeed, the R8 name is shared with the Le Mans Prototype model that won that race five times between 2000 and 2005.

And the road-going version was described by six-time winner Jacky Ickx as the "best handling road car today" when it came out.

As well as its motorsport achievements, Marvel fans may recognise it as the preferred wheels of billionaire superhero Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., when not flying around in his Iron Man suit.

The model has also had a wide-ranging impact on other high-end motors, with the same platform forming the base of the Huracan and Gallardo produced by sister brand Lamborghini.

However, for all its prowess on the road, the last ever R8 will never be driven.

The car is not set to be put up for sale and won't make it to a customer or collector.

Instead, it is destined for the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt, Germany, to live out the rest of its days as a pristine memorial to the beloved model.

It comes after British manufacturer McLaren's "most extreme road car" ever went up for sale with just five miles on the clock, complete with a huge price drop.

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