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Not a new driving experience - NSU-Wankel Spider in a (historical) driving report

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Created on October 5, 1964

Reading time 14min

Written by:

Clauspeter Becker

Photos:

Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

2

Audi AG

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Archiv

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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Audi AG

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Archiv

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NSU Spider (1966) – Mit diesem Foto bewarb NSU die Freuden des Offenfahrens. Isadora Duncan wäre damit nicht einverstanden gewesen

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NSU Spider (1965) – moderner Wagen vor historischem Gemäuer

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NSU Spider (1965) – von italienischer Eleganz

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NSU Spider (1965) – eine erfrischende Rast im Grünen

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NSU Spider (1965) – Der Konkurrenz voraus: einfach klappen statt mühsam zeltbauen

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NSU Spider (1965) – charakteristischer zweigeteilter Kühlergrill, von den NSU-Mitarbeitern "Hitchcock-Unterlippe" genannt

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NSU Spider (1965) – der niedrige Schwerpunkt ist mit blossem Auge erkennbar

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NSU Spider (1965) – ein freundliches Gesicht versteckt einen zornigen Motor

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NSU Spider (1965) – Heckansicht, links der einzelne Rückfahrscheinwerfer und die runde Ansauglufthutze für den Motor

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NSU Spider (1965) – farblich auf die Karosserie abgestimmte Kübelsitze

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NSU Spider (1963) – Motor hinten, Kofferraum vorne

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NSU Spider (1963) – Die Motorhaube unter der Motorhaube

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NSU Spider (1963) – "Unterflur"-Wankelmotor im Heck des Cabriolets

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NSU Spider (1965) – auf dem Genfer Autosalon 1965

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NSU Spider (1965) – auf dem Genfer Autosalon 1965

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NSU Spider (1965) – Motor und Getriebe auf dem Genfer Autosalon 1965

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NSU Spider (1963) – Durchsichtszeichnung

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NSU Spider (1963) – Durchsichtszeichnung des 50 PS starken Kreiskolbenmotors

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NSU Spider (1964) – Im Licht der Großstadt

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Summary

The first production automobile with a rotary piston engine turned out surprisingly normal. Even without its unconventional drive, it would have been a nice little sports car with good equipment and excellent handling. The innovative 500-cubic engine impressed above all with its completely uninhibited turning ability. Clauspeter Becker describes his first impressions in this historic driving report.

This article contains the following chapters

1=4
Auxiliary units for low engine speeds
The car itself
Can you buy a Wankel Spider now?
Technical data

Estimated reading time: 14min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Frankly, I had imagined it all to be quite different. Something like a launch on Cape Kennedy: first two hours of instruction in the handling of the miracle machine, then a ceremonial swearing-in to the top speed and takeover of the Wankel Spider, freshly adjusted by a chief meteorologist. In reality, however, it had only been washed. The entire instruction consisted of an explanation of the automatic windshield washer system and the very confident sentence: "You'll see what it does." First of all, the engine then made a few attempts to draw power from its chambers, and on the third the sound as if the engine of a Prima scooter had been installed in the back. In an unmistakable two-stroke dialect, the 700 idle revs pant. It is probably a little ashamed of these pronunciations itself, because it is only too happy to follow the accelerator pedal at higher revs, where its pronunciation is more cultivated. At 2500 rpm, the growl sounds a bit like power, but hardly like what the rev counter is telling us. Slightly distrustful of it, you pull away and realize that you have done well.

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