Could you put metric units in subtitles, please? For the rest it was very worth watching! I love this car - I've had several Audis, one of type 44. Actually never noticed how similar they look! And an earlier model I had, also had the disc brakes inside the axles. NSU were really ahead of their time! I believe the slogan used by Audi "Vorsprung durch Technik" even originated here.
The car that had make dream thr cars in my childhood, there was cars and the Ro80... And the best design in a sedan / saloon ever, in particular the front
good video covered everything I knew about the car, except lack of mention of the optional pressure cast alloy wheels, or the difference in the sealed headlight vs 4 eye headlight for American market, or about how drivers would salute other drivers with fingers extended to show how many engines replacements they had, or the fact that 4 companies made a whole industry revolving installation of Ford V4 engines into these cars
The design is outstanding even after todays standards. Thanks to Claus Luthe - who worked for BMW in his later career. But this groundbreaking design is also most of a reason, why people don't judge the RO80 as "antique" - it looks like something that could have rolled from a Toyota, Mazda, Audi or Citroen line in the 2000s. The killer wasn't the design. It was the error-prone, almost torqueless engine with its complicated gear and mostliy unfinished operation-, design- and quality-issues. My first boss - an architect - had a RO80, when I started working for him in the mid of 1978. We used to drive almost electro-like with the rotary and the semi-automatic gearbox towards construction sites and back to the office. He had that car (a white one - his second after a green one) for five years and it was already the facelift model with a slightly modified engine and ignition system. But by the end of the year he had to part from it, since it was registered as a company car and tax and sales advantages could only be distributed over five years ... and the RO80 had its share of expensive maintenance. He swapped it for a gold-bronze Mercedes Benz S-Class W116 280S automatic. Moooh ! In around 2010 I stumbled across the exact white RO80 my boss sold off. It had changed owners multiple times but - by wonder - kept some unique stickers on the rear window. The last of the owners had thrown out the rotary engine and gearbox and installed a four-cylinder Audi engine with automatic gearbox (from Audi 80 I guess). The body and interieur was still almost spotless. Lost contact again, but it should still be around.
Nope NSU was bought by VW. Auto Union ( 4 rings standing for four brands: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer) was first forced by the German goverment to "merge" with Mercedes Benz in the early 1950's At that time VW was a small car company and was also almost forced merged with Mercedes Benz by the German goverment to create a German GM. The first exports ( Pon in the Netherlands (the firts importer of VW cars worldwide ever ) also designed and asked to produce the now iconic VW transporter on a napkin!) did prevent that merger. The economic situation in Germany exploded exponentionaly Mercedes Benz sold its medium luxury car subsidery Auto Union to VW. VW became the VW Group (VAG)
@obelic71 It's hard to believe the German car industry has regressed so far in such a short space of time. I'm sure German car manufacturers are thinking about mergers. It will be interesting to see which makes disappear forever. Honda and Nissan are merging and I can see Honda disappearing. Jaguar are finished but hopefully someone will revive the brand. It's a shame all these great car brands were placed in the hands of idiots. 😕
NSU had another groundbreaking sword in its arsenal: The K70. A lightweight frontwheel-driven car with a modern OHC fourcylinder. Too much for their constrained financial situation and only few NSU K70 left the factory. VW - at that time - was still hooked to air-cooled rear-mount boxer engines and was searching for new alternatives. Audi brought the "Mitteldruckmotor" in the Audi 60, 75, 90 line, later expanded to the 100. But these were rather big and expensive cars. The K70 fit the VW bill for a low-medium car far better. They took the technology and the concept - and created the VW Passat / Audi 80 line of cars ... and unceremonially dropped the - now - VW K70 after a brief time.
The solution for the rotary engine existed all along. The battery technology wasn’t there. The Wankel engine was so full of flaws that only cheap oil justified even spending a second thought about it. Just look at the enormous and complex surfaces, compared to the volume, of the space in which the actual work takes place. It can never achieve the efficiency of a piston engine. Besides, I saw one starting up and driving away the other day. Granted, it was a cold day, and I didn’t know what mechanical state this particular specimen was in, but anyone who dares drive one of these collectors items in winter, in the city, must be confident in the state of their car. And for something that was supposed to be more cultured than the ordinary motor, it made an awful racket. It sounded rather two-stroke like. The design of the body is a different matter. It is of course bold and beautiful, and in its day, was right between the Citroën DS and a conventional notchback saloon. It is extremely mid-century modern and elegant, with the lack of preposterous ornaments that comes from trying to make an object both useful and nice to look at from all angles.
A nice video about a beautiful car
One of the best cars ever. Had one but needed to give it away because I lost the place where it was garaged.
Could you put metric units in subtitles, please?
For the rest it was very worth watching! I love this car - I've had several Audis, one of type 44. Actually never noticed how similar they look! And an earlier model I had, also had the disc brakes inside the axles. NSU were really ahead of their time! I believe the slogan used by Audi "Vorsprung durch Technik" even originated here.
The car that had make dream thr cars in my childhood, there was cars and the Ro80... And the best design in a sedan / saloon ever, in particular the front
Loved the NSU RO80
My Opa had one but after its third failed engine he fitted a Ford V4.
Drove it for years after that.
Yeah, it needs a lot of care and consideration.
I met a guy who still has his and drove 300k miles with it.
I was not aware that the RO80 was manufactured on the same assembly line as the Audi 100, as can be seen in the clip at 1:02.
good video covered everything I knew about the car, except lack of mention of the optional pressure cast alloy wheels, or the difference in the sealed headlight vs 4 eye headlight for American market, or about how drivers would salute other drivers with fingers extended to show how many engines replacements they had, or the fact that 4 companies made a whole industry revolving installation of Ford V4 engines into these cars
I also heard that Audi 100 engines were used as retrofit replacements for the faulty Wankel engine.
The design is outstanding even after todays standards. Thanks to Claus Luthe - who worked for BMW in his later career. But this groundbreaking design is also most of a reason, why people don't judge the RO80 as "antique" - it looks like something that could have rolled from a Toyota, Mazda, Audi or Citroen line in the 2000s. The killer wasn't the design. It was the error-prone, almost torqueless engine with its complicated gear and mostliy unfinished operation-, design- and quality-issues. My first boss - an architect - had a RO80, when I started working for him in the mid of 1978. We used to drive almost electro-like with the rotary and the semi-automatic gearbox towards construction sites and back to the office. He had that car (a white one - his second after a green one) for five years and it was already the facelift model with a slightly modified engine and ignition system. But by the end of the year he had to part from it, since it was registered as a company car and tax and sales advantages could only be distributed over five years ... and the RO80 had its share of expensive maintenance.
He swapped it for a gold-bronze Mercedes Benz S-Class W116 280S automatic. Moooh !
In around 2010 I stumbled across the exact white RO80 my boss sold off. It had changed owners multiple times but - by wonder - kept some unique stickers on the rear window. The last of the owners had thrown out the rotary engine and gearbox and installed a four-cylinder Audi engine with automatic gearbox (from Audi 80 I guess). The body and interieur was still almost spotless.
Lost contact again, but it should still be around.
Turned out ok as they became Audi 👍
Nope NSU was bought by VW.
Auto Union ( 4 rings standing for four brands: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer) was first forced by the German goverment to "merge" with Mercedes Benz in the early 1950's
At that time VW was a small car company and was also almost forced merged with Mercedes Benz by the German goverment to create a German GM.
The first exports ( Pon in the Netherlands (the firts importer of VW cars worldwide ever ) also designed and asked to produce the now iconic VW transporter on a napkin!) did prevent that merger.
The economic situation in Germany exploded exponentionaly Mercedes Benz sold its medium luxury car subsidery Auto Union to VW.
VW became the VW Group (VAG)
@obelic71 It's hard to believe the German car industry has regressed so far in such a short space of time. I'm sure German car manufacturers are thinking about mergers. It will be interesting to see which makes disappear forever. Honda and Nissan are merging and I can see Honda disappearing. Jaguar are finished but hopefully someone will revive the brand. It's a shame all these great car brands were placed in the hands of idiots. 😕
A 1988 space ship from 1967
Audi should be the NSU Ro80, in the dreams
The most modem cars was german, apart the Citroen DS, NSU Ro80, VW Beetle and Porsche 911, and the Alfasud of austrian school
NSU had another groundbreaking sword in its arsenal: The K70. A lightweight frontwheel-driven car with a modern OHC fourcylinder. Too much for their constrained financial situation and only few NSU K70 left the factory. VW - at that time - was still hooked to air-cooled rear-mount boxer engines and was searching for new alternatives. Audi brought the "Mitteldruckmotor" in the Audi 60, 75, 90 line, later expanded to the 100. But these were rather big and expensive cars. The K70 fit the VW bill for a low-medium car far better. They took the technology and the concept - and created the VW Passat / Audi 80 line of cars ... and unceremonially dropped the - now - VW K70 after a brief time.
In theory the most advanced car ever, beautiful, modern, rational, with a body 20 years in the future, but with a great failure : the Wankel motor
They should stuck with The K70 modern but reliable.
The NSU RO80 was a good looking car, pity the engine was not really successful.
Vohn-kul
The solution for the rotary engine existed all along. The battery technology wasn’t there.
The Wankel engine was so full of flaws that only cheap oil justified even spending a second thought about it. Just look at the enormous and complex surfaces, compared to the volume, of the space in which the actual work takes place. It can never achieve the efficiency of a piston engine.
Besides, I saw one starting up and driving away the other day. Granted, it was a cold day, and I didn’t know what mechanical state this particular specimen was in, but anyone who dares drive one of these collectors items in winter, in the city, must be confident in the state of their car. And for something that was supposed to be more cultured than the ordinary motor, it made an awful racket. It sounded rather two-stroke like.
The design of the body is a different matter. It is of course bold and beautiful, and in its day, was right between the Citroën DS and a conventional notchback saloon. It is extremely mid-century modern and elegant, with the lack of preposterous ornaments that comes from trying to make an object both useful and nice to look at from all angles.