[W126 Coupe] 1973 German Car - NSU RO80

[davidfilkins]

Murphy's Law - looks like the advert and photos are gone from the Sarasota Herald Tribune web site this morning, if you want to see a photo email me and I'll send you one.

Dave
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Filkins 
  To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com 
  Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 8:33 AM
  Subject: [W126 Coupe] 1973 German Car - NSU RO80


  I sent the email below to the mbcoupes mailing list but it bounced because the email was larger than 600K due to the photo of the car attached to the email. If you are interested in looking at 4 photos of the car, they are currently posted on the Sarasota Herald Tribune newspaper web site (although I don't know how much longer they will be there). To access the photos, click on the link below:

  http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?CATEGORY=CLASSIFIEDS

  Then enter into the Keyword/ SpotMoreID that comes up: 

  BW08 

  and then click the SEARCH button. Then when the Ad comes up, click on the link shown below that says "click here for more info" and that will take you to the full write-up and the 4 photos of the car.


     

  ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: David Filkins 
    To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com 
    Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 2:35 PM
    Subject: 1973 German Car - NSU RO80


    Hi,
     

    I stopped in and talked with Mike on Longboat Key last week about his interest in German cars, as I own a 1973 NSU RO80. I have owned the car for over 30 years, hate to sell it but am being forced to sell the car now as it has been garaged its whole life, however we now live in a Condo on Longboat Key and the car is parked under a carport and condo regulations do not allow working on cars in the complex and an antique car of this age needs to be garaged anyway. Mike suggested that I post info on the car to the MBCOUPES mailing list, which is the purpose of this email. The car has done 58,000 miles and is in beautiful condition (see attached photo) and has been on display in the Sarasota Classic Car Museum. My phone number is 941-383-1826. Below is a technical write-up on the history of the car and some info on mine.


    1973 AUDI-NSU RO80

    37,340 produced between 1967 and 1977, voted European Car of the Year in 1968. The car was designed in a wind-tunnel and powered by a twin rotor Wankel Rotary engine of 995cc, 129 bhp at 5,500 rpm, rated as roughly equivalent to a 1900cc piston engine. Front wheel drive with dual circuit vacuum servo assisted disc brakes front and rear with the front discs mounted inboard. Front suspension is independent MacPherson damper struts with lower wishbone and anti-roll bar, rears are independent coil springs with semi-trailing arms, telescopic dampers and a cross member. Power assisted rack and pinion steering with a very short steering column. 3 speed semi-automatic gearbox with a torque converter, clutch operated by a micro-switch in the gear lever knob. Max. Speeds 55 mph in first, 88 mph in second and 120 mph in third. The car would cruise effortlessly at 100 mph all day, as one UK motoring scribe wrote the faster it goes, the quieter it gets, until at about 100 mph there is dead silence except for a slight wind noise from the door mirror and the gentle echo of the cash register at the last gas station where the car was filled up. Up to about 3,500 rpm, there was some induction noise from the twin Solex carbs, above 3,500 the car became very quiet and obviously due to the rotary engine was very smooth and vibration free. Red sector on the rev counter starts at 6,500 RPM, a buzzer sounds at 6,800 RPM to remind the driver to change gear!!

    AUDI purchased NSU in 1969 and the car became an AUDI-NSU RO80. AUDI used the RO80 as the design for the AUDI 5000.

    The 1973 oil crisis; and the fact that the rotor apex tip and side seals often wore and the rotor housing surface also often wore meant that the engine had a relatively short life; brought production to an early halt. The recommended way to make the engines last longer was to add Redex to the fuel, this was an additive that helped reduce carbon build-up and to never rev the engine when cold and when warm, gear changing should not take place until the rev counter was in the red sector, i.e. when warm, the engine needed to be driven hard to last. It was Mazda that eventually made the Wankel engine reliable.

    I also owned a 1971 RO80 previously to this one and that car required a reconditioned NSU Wankel engine to be fitted. My 1973 car was first sold in 1975 (sales fell dramatically in 1973 due to the oil crisis) and I purchased the car in 1978 with 10,000 miles on the clock and a worn rotary engine. The car had been used by the first owner just for local shopping trips, the worst possible driving for the NSU Wankel engine. I purchased a Ford engine conversion kit and installed a brand new Ford V4 2000cc engine in the car. At the time, the Ford V4 was the only engine that would fit in the car due to the compact size of the Wankel engine. In 1978, the Mazda rotary engine was also not reliable and the Mazda conversion kit was not available back then. In later years a Mazda conversion kit became available to install either the Mazda RX7 12A, 12B, 13A or 13B engine; however this car still has the Ford engine in it. If I had a garage, now is the time I would contemplate installing an RX7 engine in the car. The car is right-hand drive.

    An NSU RO80 in the same condition as this one with an original working NSU Wankel engine is worth around $10,000 - $12,000 today. With the Ford V4 engine, Im asking only $7500. 


    Some spare parts and a number of tools are included with the car, including axle stands, a garage jack, 2 car ramps and an engine hoist.



    If you are interested in seeing more photos taken from the front and rear of the car, email me and I'll forward them.



    David Filkins



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