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Arrow instead of wedge - NSU Ro 80 in an Italian tailor-made suit

Name: NSU Ro 80 2 porte +2 Pininfarina 1971
Brand: NSU

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Created on December 18, 2024

Text:

Martin Sigrist

Photos:

Robin Adams - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

Courtesy Autovision

AUDI AG

Archiv

Robin Adams - Courtesy RM/Sotheby's

Courtesy Autovision

AUDI AG

Archiv

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NSU ro80 2 Porte + 2 by Pininfarina (1971) - as lot 302 at the RM/Sotheby's "The Junkyard - The Rudi Klein Collection" auction 2024

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In Turin, there was criticism of the angular rear section

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The wider pavilion of the Pininfarina-Ro 80 brings plenty of light and air into the interior

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The Pininfarina dashboard resembles the original Ro 80

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Original panel of the NSU Ro 80, Pininfarina didn't change much about it

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The interior of the 2 porte +2 by Pininfarina exudes the spirit of the 1970s

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Oops, the adhesive has come off over the years

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A separate cassette radio for the rear passengers

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In contrast to most of the lots at the Rudi Klein auction in Los Angeles, the Ro 80 was in very acceptable condition

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Individual rear seats and plenty of legroom

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Self-defeating doors for the backbenchers

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The rear door only opens after the front door

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As surprisingly orange as the colored belly of an octopus

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More light through the C-pillar thanks to gills

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The Ro 80 2 porte +2 was exhibited in Turin in 1971 and Brussels in 1972

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With its 1971 study, the Italian design studio Pininfarina showed what the next generation of the NSU Ro 80 could look like.

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NSU Ro 80 (1970) - simple elegance, designed by an expert

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NSU Ro 80 (1970) - transparency drawing - special attributes of the Wankel sedan

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NSU Ro 80 (1967) - Sketch shows the body from the side

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NSU Ro 80 - design sketches with partly still very different front design

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NSU Ro 80 (1967) - the final interior design chosen

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NSU Ro 80 (1967) - large windows and plain surfaces in the interior

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NSU Ro 80 (1967) - at the presentation at the IAA in Frankfurt as a cutaway model

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NSU Ro 80 - The Wankel engine in sectional view - the two rotors and the flange-mounted semi-automatic gearbox are clearly visible

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - Drawing of the sports car designed by Gandini

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - Mid-engined coupé with Wankel engine

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NSU Ro 80 Trapèze Bertone - already shown in Paris, the offset rear seats promise more legroom - at the 1974 Geneva Motor Show

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - the drawing reveals little of the interesting room layout

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - the engine sits longitudinally behind the second row of seats

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - interesting prototype with use of the NSU Ro80 mechanics

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NSU RO 80 Trapeze (1973) - the trapezoidal arrangement of the seats created additional space

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Summary

The NSU Ro 80 2 porte +2 Pininfarina offered a huge surprise at Rudi Klein's auction to empty his junkyard near Los Angeles on October 26, 2024. Instead of fetching between 50,000 and 80,000 dollars, the concept car, which in contrast to some of the badly dented heaps of misery from the Klein collection was in very good condition, fetched around 460,000 dollars - almost ten times the estimate. But what is the fascination of this unique piece?

This article contains the following chapters

A revolutionary as a starting point
Debut in Turin 1971
Museum loan
Concept cars in the wild

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Apparently, someone fell in love with the quirky shape or the intense orange of the fully preserved interior of the car by Pininfarina in-house designer Paolo Martin, which was first exhibited in 1971. In any case, a somewhat offbeat taste probably helped to get hold of this car for the price it cost. The Ro 80 was revolutionary in many respects when it was launched in 1967. First of all, there was its twin-disc Wankel engine, the internal front brake discs and the semi-automatic transmission, as well as an extremely modern body shape with a long wheelbase, wide doors and a pronounced, aerodynamically optimized wedge shape. The design came from Claus Luthe, then in-house designer at NSU. However, it was not foreseeable at the time that the Ro 80 would lay the formal foundation for almost all saloons since the 1990s. The original Ro 80 was certainly not lacking in visionary foresight.

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