“Ride prince and you are king”

“Drive a prince and you're king”, it was once an advertising slogan of NSU. And this year they have something to celebrate at NSU. Did you already know that? The brand has officially disappeared from the market, but in reality it just lives on. It's in the genes at Audi, that's not a small and unknown brand, right? The name Audi nowadays stands for a high-quality premium car brand that is sold worldwide. And Audi is a calling card for innovative technology from Germany. “Vorsprung durch Technik” is shouted from the rooftops. But with the brand with the four rings you could mention NSU in the same breath. And so in 2023 it's party time with the NSU enthusiasts.

From knitting machines to cars

Let's start at the beginning. In 1873, Christian Schmidt (1844 – 1884) and Heinrich Stoll (1847 – 1914) took over the mechanical workshop for the manufacture of knitting machines in Riedlingen an der Donau (Germany). But three years later, the two went their separate ways. In 1880 Schmidt moved the manufacture of knitting machines to Neckarsulm. From that came the NSU engine factory. NSU's path to becoming an automaker is similar to that of many companies at the time, who entered the mobility industry. You start with something outside the industry, move on to two-wheelers and eventually to cars. Although founder Schmidt died in 1884 at the age of only 39, NSU started producing bicycles soon after and developed motorcycles from 1901 onwards. In the beginning together with the single-cylinder four-stroke engines from the Swiss manufacturer Zedel. Already in 1886, the first vehicle was produced by the company that later became known as NSU. Based in Neckarsulm, Germany. In the beginning it was about the production of bicycles, in 1901 they produced their first motorcycle. The first car followed in 1905.

Largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world

NSU persevered and in the mid-1920s managed to become the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. They also set many economy and speed records with the unconventional design of Gustav Adolf Baumm (1955 – 1963). The driver was lying on his back on the two-wheeler. There were also many NSU victories to celebrate in motor racing. When the German economic Wirtschaftswunder later demanded more cars and fewer mopeds, the production of NSU motorcycles in Germany ended in XNUMX. However, NSU motorcycles continued to be built by 'Preduzece Tito Sarajevo'. These two-wheelers were sold as NSU Pretis in what was then Yugoslavia for a few years. But eventually the motorcycle business was no longer profitable.

Difficult car production

The development of the cars took a lot of effort and was certainly not as successful as that of the two-wheelers. NSU had already started car production in 1906. But it wasn't until after the First World War that demand increased. However, things did not go well again and a partnership with Fiat was established. Car production of self-built NSUs ceased in 1932. From 1934, NSU-Fiat in Heilbronn produced models under license. The NSU Fiat 1000 is an example of this. After World War II, the NSU-Fiat 500 C appeared. An NSU identical to the Fiat 500 Topolino C. The construction of license-built Fiat models then continued for a long time. Until the seventies, think of the Fiat 124, 125 or 128.

Persevere

But the persistence wins. NSU managed to release a successful car, the NSU Prinz. They immediately added an original advertising slogan: “Drive a prince and you're king”. Little Prinz found his way to many fans. Its successor, the larger Prinz 4, appeared in 1961. More than 1973 of the model produced until 620.000 were built. Because of its typical 'bathtub design' for that time, it was a striking car. And with the Prinz models 1000, TT and TTS with air-cooled engines, the small car manufacturer entered the racing world very boldly in the 700s. The concept was simple with its one-litre four-cylinder transversely mounted engine. It all weighed nothing, at most 70 kg. And the engines lend themselves perfectly to boosting. Standard about 90 hp and in tuned version up to 1200 hp. The racing princes did well on the track, but were especially successful in slalom competitions. At the Zandvoort circuit we saw several NSUs tearing around, including the green-blue XNUMX TT of the Rotterdam NSU importer Henri van Oorschot.  

Shaky becomes death sentence

At NSU they had a preference for dynamics and technology. In 1964 they wanted to conquer the car world with the NSU Wankel Spider. That was the first production vehicle with a Wankel engine. But with just under 2400 copies sold, the success remained below average. It wasn't the technique. NSU continued to believe in the Wankel principle and therefore released the NSU Ro1967 in 80. The Ro80 was immediately voted 'Car of the Year' and was far ahead of its time. In addition to the revolutionary engine technology, the car had a beautiful, futuristic wedge shape. A beauty! But “you can't eat from a nice plate” is the saying. That was true for the Ro80, because it turned out to be very vulnerable. In the beginning, the Wankel engines had many problems and because NSU gave a 5-year warranty on the engines, this resulted in high costs. NSU later got the technology of the double-disc Wankel engine under control, but by then it was already too late. The Ro80 flopped and NSU ran into trouble itself.

Saved and gone

The rescue came from the Volkswagen Group. In August 1969, NSU AG and Volkswagen's Auto Union merged to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG. The very modern K 70, developed by NSU, therefore came into the possession of Volkswagen. It was introduced as the VW K 70 instead of NSU. Unfortunately, this model also turned out to be not very successful. At the NSU factory in Neckarsulm, 1975 jobs were subsequently cut in 4500, after which the ambitious NSU ceased to exist. In 1985, the Volkswagen subsidiary was renamed Audi AG and the name NSU finally died out. But don't forget that the NSU story started more than a hundred years earlier. In 1869 to be exact. And that is what will be celebrated in 2023 with the slogan '150 Jahre NSU Werke Neckarsulm'. Because that's where it all started with NSU, in Neckarsulm!