Here’s an Audi A6L pickup truck, seen near an Audi dealer in Beijing in 2016. This is a very famous car in China. Audi dealers used several of these converted trucks as service vehicles in the 2000s and 2010s.
Audi based its earliest service vehicles on the C5 Audi A6. The car in the photos is a newer one, based on the 2005–2009 C6 Audi A6L. The A6L was a long-wheelbase variant of the Audi A6 sedan, manufactured by FAW-Volkswagen in Changchun.
The conversion of the Audi A6L pickup truck
The C6 Audi A6L was a large car: 5012/1855/1485, 2945, perfect for a pickup truck! The conversion was a thorough job; everything from the B-pillar towards the rear is completely new.
The fit and finish is great. Just look at the inner side of the rear light, where a neatly fitting black plastic cover finishes the panel. There’s a full rack along the sides of the bed, and the decals match those typically seen on the brand’s service vehicles from that period. The logos were attached to the rear of the cargo area. The quattro badge on the right is a fake.
The bed of the Audi A6L pickup truck
That’s a sizable space! There’s a large window in the back of the cabin, with neatly finished round corners.
The nearby Audi dealer reportedly used the truck to transport wheels and large parts, such as bumpers, from a distribution center to the dealership. Audi also used it for marketing – the pickup truck was a regular appearance on Audi days at the Goldenport race track in northeast Beijing, where I have seen it several times.
The interior
The luxurious leather front seats and dashboard are standard Audi A6L. Note the classy wood panels; you don’t see that every day in a pickup truck. It still has electric windows, but the sunroof was, of course, deleted.
Power
Audi offered many different engines in the C6 A6L. The pickup truck is based on a 2011 2.8 FSI model, which sported a 2.8-liter V6 with 220 hp and 280 Nm. Audi mated the motor to a CVT gearbox, sending horsepower to the front wheels. Audi claimed a 236 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 7.9 seconds.
Legacy
In 2016, the A6L pickup truck wasn’t road-legal anymore, so the Audi dealer had lent it out to the small garages in the background, who occasionally used it to ferry heavy parts around the area. I asked a gentleman working in one of the shops if they ever drove it on the road; he smiled and said, “Only at night, it’s really fast”. I bet! The pickup truck is probably very speedy, without the weight of the rear seats and the roof.