Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, the leading man in the Paramount and Marvel Studios movie version of “Iron Man”. Head of a big industrial complex, he owes his super-powers to an indestructible, hi-tech suit of armor of his own design that has a variety of uses and earns him the title “Iron Man.”
When he’s not wearing it, this billionaire technophile relies on his Audi R8. It matches Stark’s super hero guise very well: The slits through which Iron Man views the world resemble the all-LED headlamps on the R8, Stark’s artificial heart with its ring of lights recalls the sports car’s exposed mid-engine and his immensely tough armor is matched by the Audi Space Frame, the high-strength aluminum structure on which this hi-tech automobile is built. The film’s hero and his favored mode of transport both symbolize Audi’s famous technical leadership claim: “Vorsprung durch Technik.”