I drove the final ever Audi TT – it’s an all-singing roadster but there’s a common feature that’s missing

IT’S 1998 and you’re buying a cool little sports car – what are you having?

Audi TT.

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It’s 2023 and you’re buying a cool little sports car — what are you having?

Audi TT.

The same goes for every year in between. Absolute giggle machine.

But I have sad news.

The TT will be scrapped soon after turning 25 next month.

 Finito.

 Because we all favour tall electro-boxes apparently.

So to pay homage to the first and last TT, we hopped on a ferry to the Isle of Man.

Why?

Partly because the car is named after the legendary Tourist Trophy motorbike races. Did you know that?

But mostly because there are no speed limits on the island’s testing mountain roads.

So you can rip the wrapper off it.

So that’s exactly what we did.

Let’s start with the old girl. The silver car in the pictures. Hugh Grant drove one in About A Boy. My missus had an X-reg. We had some good times in it.

Fold the seats, you can fit a BMX in the back

It is basically a Volkswagen Golf in a frock. Nice to drive, stylish, and cheaper than a Porsche Boxster.

Slide inside and you’re instantly transported back to a happier time when the driver was in charge — and not a computer.

Turn-key start. Manual handbrake. Short-throw manual gearbox with six speeds. Plain steering wheel. No distractions.

The 225hp 1.8-litre engine is fizzy and fast. Quattro all-wheel drive prevents a code brown.

Please indulge me because I’m still smiling at that cabin.

Audi concert tape deck. CD multi-changer in the back. Ashtray with fag lighter. Cup holder in the flip-down glovebox. Metal turbine-style air vents. Buttons where they should be. Fold the rear seats flat and you can fit a BMX in the back.

You know what? I might buy one. They’re as little as £2k on Auto Trader. Although this is one of the rarer models without a rear spoiler.

Now we come to the red car. The Final Edition. The name says it all, really.

The coupe starts at £42k. But this all-singing TTS roadster is £56k. Thumping 320hp 2-litre turbo, quattro all-wheel drive, seven-speed S tronic gearbox with flappy paddles.

Hurry it roof down on the TT course and you soon appreciate just how heroic/nutty those bike racers really are. I was getting slapped about by the wind in a car — and they’re doing stupid miles an hour with zero protection on two wheels.

The TT record average speed is 136.358mph. Over 37 miles. Mind blown.

If you haven’t been to the Isle of Man, you must go.

The TT course is littered with angled black and white kerbs, mile markers, signs for all the famous corners, grandstands, crash ­barriers, marshals’ huts and, er, memorials. Honestly, there’s nowhere else like it. Monaco has the glitz and glamour. But this place is raw, real and naturally beautiful. It makes my neck hairs all tingly.

Back on topic. The cabin of the TTS Final Edition is predictably excellent. But with more than a passing nod to the original.

Those turbine-style air vents now have buttons embedded in the middle. And fair play to Audi for resisting a central touchscreen. It doesn’t need one. The driver’s display has Google maps and talks to your phone.

Now you may notice there is a third car in some of these ­pictures. The grey one. That’s because the TT’s retirement is also being marked by a TT RS Iconic Edition. The nuttiest of the lot. Stonking 400hp 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine. Dripping in aero kit. And it sounds sooooo good.

It is basically a baby R8, only a fraction slower off the line, for much less than half the price.

Only 100 are being made with 11 right-hookers for the UK. Price: £85k. All sold.

I think I might have to start a campaign.

SAVE THE TT!

You with me?

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The cafe’s home-made Betty pies are so popular they’ve served 21,586 this year, according to a pie-o-meter on the wall[/caption]

TIP: Stop for grub at the brilliant Victory Cafe, 31st milestone on the TT course – next to the Joey Dunlop statue.

The home-made Betty pies are so popular they’ve served 21,586 this year, according to a pie-o-meter on the wall. There’s also a cinema room and shop.

Owner Benn Quirk said: “The TT is just bonkers, standing room only. The front lawn is one of the best spots to watch, right up close to the bikes.

“Hop over the bridge and you get a completely different perspective.”

The building is an old Cold War rotor radar station.

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