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 r…
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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