NSU was relatively late in making the transition to a “roof over one‘s head”, which can be explained by the boom in motorised two-wheelers that was particularly pronounced at the Neckarsulm-based company.

Originally, a vehicle that was particularly close to the motorbike was also in mind; a three-wheeled cabin scooter with a drive swing arm was to be offered to more comfort-conscious motorcyclists. Soon, however, the realisation won out that a real car also had to stand on four wheels. It was powered by a 600cc four-stroke engine with 20 hp in the rear, for which the new Maxmotor with its pushrod control was the inspiration. After all, it accelerated the lightweight to 105 km/h! The rear-engine mode required a front boot. The car, which was named Prinz, was available in three versions with different equipment and engines.

In 1963, the world‘s first production car with a rotary engine, the NSU/Wankel Spider, was on display at the IAA in Frankfurt am Main. Externally, it looked like the Sport Prinz, which had been in production for several years, but under the rear bonnet worked a 50 hp Wankel engine, which made the car 150 km/h fast!

The NSU Prinz 4 had already been introduced in 1961. It had a completely new body, which corresponded better to the taste of the time than the previous rather round bodies. The air-cooled, overhead-controlled 30 hp engine was still located in the rear. The car was very well received; in 1963, about 74,000 of them had already been sold.

When the NSU Prinz 1000 L was presented the following year,

dealers and technicians were quite optimistic. The car was supposed to meet higher demands in terms of its liveliness and dynamics. This was mainly due to the new 43 hp engine, which was now positioned transversely in the rear, but still air-cooled. In 1965, two new models attracted attention at the NSU stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show. One was the NSU Type 110 with a 1,100cc engine and larger body as a more expensive and larger model.

The other car was the NSU Prinz 1000 TT with 55 hp as a sporty version of the Prinz 1000. Its successor in 1967 was the NSU TT with a 1,200 engine and 65 hp. The last new car in this series was the NSU TTS with a 1,000 engine and 70 hp (1967). Finally, in 1967, the NSU stand was the magnet of the entire exhibition.

The RO 80 with rotary piston engine excited the minds not only because of the 115 hp Wankel engine, but also because of its other innovations, which were outwardly visible above all in the aerodynamically favourable body shape.

The car, which was equipped with an elaborate chassis and had a completely new design, had front-wheel drive and thus also marked NSU‘s departure from the much less favourable rear-engine design. In 1968, the RO 80 was honoured with the “Car of the Year” award. In fact, this was a great success for the NSU engineers. They wrote automotive history with this car, certainly not for the first time, but now for the last.