NSU Ro 80 History

Presented to the public in September 1967, the NSU Ro 80 was a genuinely revolutionary car. Designed by Claus Luthe (later head of design at BMW), its aerodynamic wedge body with a sloping nose, large glass area, and near-flush surfaces achieved a drag coefficient of 0.355 — remarkably low for 1967 — and anticipated a styling language that European cars would not broadly adopt until the late 1970s. Power came from a 995 cc twin-rotor Wankel engine producing 84 kW (113 bhp), driving the front wheels through a semi-automatic transmission with a vacuum-operated clutchless gear change. Journalists were astonished: the Ro 80 won the 1968 Car of the Year award.

The praise curdled quickly once owners drove the cars. Early production engines suffered severe apex-seal wear, with some cars requiring engine rebuilds before 50,000 km. NSU re-engineered the tip seals using ferrotic material and largely resolved the problem by the 1970 model year, but the damage was done: warranty costs were crushing and the Ro 80's reputation — as a beautiful lemon — proved impossible to reverse. The 1973 oil crisis compounded the car's fuel consumption penalty, and annual production fell below 2,000 units from 1974.

Volkswagen had already acquired NSU in 1969 as the warranty liabilities made the company unviable on its own, merging it with Auto Union to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG (later simply Audi). The Ro 80 continued in production at Neckarsulm until April 1977 — the last 37,398th car was sold that month — and the NSU name was never used again. The factory became an Audi assembly plant. The car's styling legacy, however, outlasted the brand: it is cited as a direct precursor to the aerodynamic designs of the 1980s.