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Busch - Audi A6 (2004)
By Albert Prats

After the Audi A8 and the Audi A3 made by Herpa, the new Audi A6 has now been released by Busch. Audi's decision surprised many 87th scale fans because it looked as if Herpa had become the exclusive partner of Audi. Nevertheless, since Busch had already made a good impression with both the current Audi A4 and A4 Avant, the news that the new A6 was going to be made by Busch did raise expectations.

The new A6 was launched in 1/87 scale, as an Audi merchandising product, some days before the 2004 Geneva International Motorshow. The model is currently available in four colours; light silver, canyon red, night blue and ebony black. The standard model that is expected to reach the modelshops in the last quarter of this year will probably be a 'CMD collection' version, which means that it will almost be identical to the model shown in the pictures.

The model, which is made up of 28 parts, is perfectly dimensioned. All the measures are exactly converted to 1/87 as we can see in the table below:

	Audi A6	1/87	Audi A6 1/87
Lenght	4.910 mm	56,44 mm	56,38 mm
Width	1.850 mm	21,26 mm	21,23 mm
Height	1.460 mm	16,78 mm	16,46 mm
Wheel Base	2.840 mm	32,64 mm	32,66 mm

Like the real car, the model has the enormous grill framed by a chromed profile that definately makes the Audi stand out among other models. The bar where the license plate is placed is a seperate piece in the grid that, in the miniature, is used to clip the chassis to the body. The lights are moulded in clear plastic and set in a chromed piece that gives these parts a realistic look.

The side view shows us the sharp silhouette of the model, with the bodyline that joins the front and the rear lights perfectly represented. The doorhandles and the rear-view mirror are chromed. The frame of the side windows has not been painted, but that is something that can easily be solved by the collector. Let's have a look to the wheels, these are 9 spoked rims with the Audi shield in the center. The tires are made of rubber and both width and profile are perfectly scaled down to 1/87.

When looking at the model from the rear it looks as if you are looking at the real car. Classic, but with subtle details like the lip on the boot that forms a small spoiler, or the chromed strip between the rear lights that Busch has managed to represent accurately in the miniature. The rear lights are made in clear red plastic with a silver strip in the area of the blinkers. Also, the logos 'A6' and '3.2 FSI Quattro' and the Audi shield are present.

The paint of the body has an intense brightness and the quality of the painting is remarkable, there are no grains or irregularities. Nevertheless the silver Audi I have lacks paint on the rear bumper.

The interior, moulded in black, grey or beige depending on the colour of the body, is made of 4 pieces, the best part being the steering wheel with the Audi logo engraved in it. The rest of the interior is correct, but it does not arrive at the detail level of the interior of the Herpa Audi A3 in which we could even see the grids of the ventilation system.

Summarizing, we can confirm that Busch has made an excellent miniature in 1/87, but that there are some minor things that keep it from being the best miniature in 1/87 yet. It would be difficult to say which model is the best anyway, probably the best model would be a combination of various models anyhow. This does mean that all the manufacturers have points to improve and I am sure, and quite confident seeing the evolution of the miniatures in the last years, that they will. Nice ! :-)

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