2009 Audi R8 4.2 Is Our Bring a Trailer Auction Pick of the Day

• This 2009 Audi R8 4.2 has a current bid of $41,226 on the Bring a Trailer auction website.

• The car shows 12,000 miles on its odometer.

• Bidding ends Wednesday, May 11.

The ever-faster march of technology makes it easy to stay focused on the next greatest thing. But it also makes it easy to forget how great some of the automotive world’s “less-advanced” vehicles were not long ago—and, in many cases, still are. Case in point is arguably one of the most underrated modern supercars, the first-generation Audi R8, such as this 2009 model we came across on the Bring a Trailer auction site—which, like Car and Driver, is owned by Hearst Autos.

The original R8, which debuted for 2008, hails from a simpler time, back when Ferrari SUVs and widespread electrification were only fever dreams. True, the R8 still exists in V-10 form as a 562- or 602-hp bastion of internal-combustion fury, but today’s second-gen car has been infected by more computer processors and has lost some of the original’s elegance. In contrast, the soft, sultry lines of the first-gen R8 say exotic without shouting it, and in base form it had a mere 420 horsepower from a 4.2-liter V-8. But that melodious naturally aspirated engine loved to rev and, unlike today’s automatic-only R8, could be paired with a six-speed manual transmission. Just as important is the satisfying clack-clack action you get from working that shifter through its exposed metal gates as you bolt to 60 mph in a little over four seconds.