Back in 1967, a car was launched onto an unsuspecting world that set new standards in aerodynamic design, came with disc brakes and independent suspension all round, and offered performance from a sub-1-litre engine that was a match for many cars with engines twice the size, all in a large (4m 78cm long), four-door family saloon. Oh, and not forgetting the unusual three-speed semi-automatic transmission – there was no clutch, but the driver still shifted the gear lever through a conventional H-gate, and power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering was standard.
The NSU Ro80 was on another level entirely from the company’s previous cars, small rear engine saloons and coupés and it was rapturously received. It was hard to believe it came from the same company – just look at these three photographs and you’ll see what I mean.
In February 1968 Autocar summed up the Ro80 as follows: “Superb road-holding and stability. Power steering light with excellent “feel”. Fine visibility and well-placed controls. Selective automatic transmission gives three wide performance ranges. Very advanced and pleasant car to drive”. However, they did criticise its heavy petrol and oil consumption, something that came back to bite the car when the 1973 oil crisis broke.
In 1968 it was voted Europe’s Car of the Year, yet after a ten year run and 37,402 cars later, with only minor modifications during that time and having never sold more than 7,811 examples in any one year (1969), the last Ro80 rolled off the Neckarsulm production line in 1977. Intriguingly, according to the Ro80 Club International, 37,242 cars were sold, meaning 160 never found owners – I wonder what happened to them?
Besides it’s futuristically smooth lines, it’s advanced 995cc twin-rotor Wankel engine pushed out 113bhp. This was sufficient to propel this aerodynamic marvel – it’s drag co-efficient was 0.355; very low for that time – to a top speed of 112mph or 180km/h.
Unfortunately, the Ro80 quickly developed a reputation for unreliability, with engines needing rebuilding after just 50,000km, sometimes less. There were also construction issues and although NSU had fixed most of the problems by 1970, the burden of warranty costs hit the company hard, and in 1969 NSU was acquired by Volkswagen, who merged it with Auto Union to create Audi, whose third-generation 100 launched in 1982 showed clear influences from the NSU – but without the rotary engine.
Fifteen years between these two cars…
Indeed, quite a number of Ro80 owners in the UK replaced the Wankel unit with a Ford Essex V4, which could be fitted without having to make any modifications to the bodywork. Although not as smooth as the Wankel, it was at least reliable and used less fuel. I haven’t been able to establish how many cars had this engine replacement, but it was fairly common.
After several years of falling sales – not helped by internal competition from Audi’s 100 range – the Ro80 was discontinued in 1977, NSU’s Neckarsulm plant became an Audi factory and the NSU brand disappeared from the new car market. Indeed, NSU has remained a fairly low-profile name even in the classic car world – in the UK, at least; I can’t speak for its home market, although the Ro80 Club International claims 700 members across 16 countries – but it does seem to have been on an upward trend in recent years; I’m seeing more NSU’s at shows each year, though still very few Ro80’s, including the gorgeous metallic blue in our photos.
For several years, there were more Ro80’s off the road in the UK than on it – indeed, in 2013 only 19 examples were licensed for the road. Pleasingly, that number has steadily risen, and there are now more on the road than off – 44 and 40 respectively – for the first time in a decade. A clear indication of both rising values and increased desirability, a status the car richly deserves; today it’s seen as a design classic, a trendsetter, and rightly so.
Our Prime Find this week is one of these timelessly beautiful cars, but not the one we originally intended to feature – it’s already been sold, despite the fact that it was in need of quite a bit of work to bring it back to its full glory, indicative perhaps of both the car’s desirability and the fact that so few come up for sale; this was the only one available in the UK.
Indeed we’ve had to look to NSU’s home market to find another one, but this one is in the kind of condition that our original car would perhaps be in in a couple of years’ time. It’s a 1972 example in my favourite colour, yellow, with black velour upholstery and is described as having been fully restored to an excellent standard, although no welding has been done. Originally bought by an Austrian dentist, it was driven for just five years before being put into storage. The car saw daylight again in 2013, from which time it was brought up to its present condition. There isn’t much additional information in the advert, though it does say that a replacement engine was installed – not uncommon in these cars and probably a good thing. The advertised mileage is 84,000km, which if the car was off the road for most of it’s life, seems quite realistic, although it’s not stated that this mileage is warranted. It’s implied that there is some paperwork with the car, including the handbook, but if any of our readers are interested, they will need to contact the dealer, who is asking €19,900 (c. £17.850) for it, still well within our usual £20k limit.
We’ve borrowed a few photos from the advert (above – unfortunately watermarked, but not so much that you can’t see how good the car looks). This car has had the money spent on it so you don’t have to, and despite the Ro80’s rarity, parts supply – should you need any (despite having been restored, it is still a 48 year old car) – is deemed to be good, with more and more parts being produced by the Ro80 Club International. Yes it’s LHD, but even in the UK, that’s not so much of a hindrance and does give you a broader market to sell back into when that time comes. You can see more photos and the advert itself here, and as always, we obviously recommend a proper inspection before buying.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk