autoevolution
15 Feb 2021, 10:54 UTC ·
by
13 photos
Volkswagen’s first all-wheel-drive passenger car was the second-generation Passat Variant Syncro first unveiled at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show. It used a nearly identical system as the Audi 80 quattro sedan but featured a modified rear-axle taken from the T2 van.
That decade marked a revolution in the use of such systems on passenger cars, which have become widely used by nearly all the Group’s current models nowadays, from hatchbacks or GTs to crossovers and SUVs.
Since 1996, VW rebranded the technology from Syncro to 4Motion, a nameplate that has become nearly as popular as its quattro counterpart.