Audi celebrates its 45th anniversary this year as a Volkswagen subsidiary and it's been 40 years since Audi came to America in earnest. A history of the brand should start, however, with its first car and it came out in 1910. Wait a second. 1910? 45 years old? What exactly gives here? Well, Audi - which brought us left-hand drive (1921), the first mass-produced front-wheel-drive cars (1931), the rotary engine (1963) and the first car with permanent four-wheel drive (quattro, 1980) - dates to 1910 and 1965, as well as 1899. Confused? A look at Audi's history explains things.

August Horch (1868-1951) founded his first auto company in Germany in 1899, and the first Horch car followed two years later. When Horch left his company in a dispute and started another, he couldn't use his name on any new cars. Since Horch is German for listen or hark, he decided to use its Latin equivalent, audi. So the first Audi was the 1910 Type A 10 Sport-Phaeton. A midsize luxury model, it typifies what Audi has been during its two incarnations.

In 1932, in an effort to survive the Great Depression, the Audi company and its DKW brand merged with Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union AG. That company's new logo - four interlocking rings - is now used by Audi, the only "ring" that's still around.

Audis weren't made during World War II and the parent company ceased to exist altogether when the Soviet Union dismantled its manufacturing plants and carted them off as war reparations. Loans from America's Marshall Plan and the Bavarian government helped launch a new Auto Union in 1949 that made DKW and NSU cars and bikes. Daimler-Benz bought the company in 1958 and when Volkswagen acquired Auto Union in 1965, VW decided the first vehicle housing its new four-stroke engine was a good fit for a name dormant since 1940. Audi was reborn.

Audi's second incarnation brought it to America (1969) and brought us Quattro (1980). After some down times, Audi ramped up its American offerings with the A4 (1995), the A8 (the first all-aluminum body production car, 1997 in the U.S.), TT and S4 (both debuting as 2000s) and the A8L flagship sedan (2003). Audi's multitronic Continuously Variable Transmission, a simpler, lighter, more efficient tranny with an "infinite" spread of gear ratios, came out in 2001.

Reviving its strong racing pedigree, which included important wins and speed records before WWII, Audi claimed a world rally championship and Pike's Peak victories in the 1980s, won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003 and recently took seven consecutive manufacturers' championships in the American Le Mans Series.

After bringing the compact A3 here in 2005 and introducing the uber R8 sports cars and its first SUV, the Q7, a year later, Audi completed its current American model lineup with the A5/S5 two years ago. Most current models have a number of high-tech, comfort and performance features as standard equipment. A3 ($26,920 MSRP) is the line's entry car. Starting prices for A4s and TTs are in the $30,000s, though most Audis start in the $40,000s and can top $100,000 (R8 and A8L W12). Today's Audis (S models are sportier versions) are:

Sedans: A3, A4, A6/S6, A8/S8, A8L/A8L W12

Coupes: A5/S5, TT/TTS, R8

Wagons: A4, A6 Avant

Convertibles: A4/S4, TT/TTS

SUV: Q7