1971 NSU ro80 2 Porte + 2 by Pininfarina by Colin Wood
Oct 9, 2024
Photography Courtesy RM Sotheby's
No, this isn’t a prop used in Blade Runner or Back to the Future Part II, it’s actually a one-off NSU show car known as the “2 Porte + 2.”
Underpinning the unique Pininfarina-designed 2+2 body–all the rage in Europe at the time–is the basic structure of an NSU ro80, including the car’s Wankel rotary engine and three-speed semi-automatic gearbox.
Aerodynamics and ventilation are major themes in the design, with the car featuring large air intakes on the roof panels, doors and along the front windshield.
A large portion of the roof could be slid backward into a recess behind the rear window and on top of the trunk lid, per the seller, “thus allowing for a nearly convertible experience, while preserving almost all of the available luggage room.”
Displayed by Pininfarina at the Turin Motor Show in 1971 and the Brussels Motor Show in 1972, the show car would later appear in the August 1993 issue of Motor Klassik and take part in an NSU gathering in The Netherlands in 1994.
The NSU would eventually be one of the last cars Rudi Klein obtained for his famed collection, and remains in largely original condition today.
Find this 1971 NSU ro80 2 Porte + 2 by Pininfarina up for auction from RM Sotheby’s on October 26 with an estimated value of $60,000-$80,000.
Holy crap! I've owned numerous NSU's over the years including a couple ro80's and had no idea this car even existed. The transmission was actually a standard 3- or 4-speed, but with a shift lever-actuated electric clutch, similar to Porsche's Sportomatic. It also came standard with inboard disc brakes and numerous other ahead-of-its-time innovations that made the ro80 an amazing road car. Unfortunately, like many early rotaries, insufficient apex seal lubrication led to its demise.
That, possibly, is the ugliest excuse for an automobile design I can remember seeing. It's not even cool ugly, it's just plain repulsive ugly.
In reply to BHPBob :
Thank you for the insight on the gearbox, it makes more sense now with the comparison to the Sportomatic.
And yeah, I think owning and maintaining a rotary car takes a different mindset. If you try to treat it like a quirkier version of a "normal" combustion engine, you're going to have a bad time.
(Or at least that's what I've been led to believe.)
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Price
Price upon request
Color
Silver
