Launched in 1967, the NSU Ro80 had modern aerodynamic styling, a
technologically advanced Wankel rotary engine and was voted Car of the
Year in 1968. However, after the initial positive reception, the car
developed a reputation for unreliability, with problems arising as early
as 15,000 miles and many vehicles required a rebuilt engine before
30,000 miles. Despite the company resolving these reliability issues in
both existing and new vehicles, and offering a generous warranty, the
damage to the car's reputation was done. The NSU Ro80 is the most
celebrated motoring lost cause of the second half of the twentieth
century, outranking the likes of the Edsel and the DeLorean because,
unlike those statements of misplaced optimism and ego, it was a good
car. Not just good: the NSU Ro80 is one of the great saloons. Launched
in September 1967, the Ro80 was an all-new four-door five-seater from a
West German company that - post-war - had never made anything other than
economy runabouts, motorcycles and mopeds. That alone should have been
enough of a risk, but this was also the world's first purpose-built
Wankel-engined family saloon. This compact, refined and elegantly simple
power unit was the first really new concept in the realm of internal
combustion engines to achieve mass production for ninety years. A car
like the Ro80 could only really have come from Germany, where there was
a passion for research and a pride in engineering not found elsewhere in
Europe. With front-wheel drive, superb power steering and four-wheel
disc brakes, the car had top handling and driver appeal. Quite simply,
it was a masterpiece, considered by many to be the finest vehicle of its
type in the world. But with one fatal flaw: its engine. With over 300
archive photographs, drawings and diagrams, this book tells the story of
the NSU
