NSU Ro80 — The Wankel Engine That Killed Its Own Company

#classiccars #vintagecars #automotivehistory In 1967, a motorcycle company from Neckarsulm built a saloon so advanced it made Mercedes and BMW look old overnight. It won European Car of the Year. Then its revolutionary engine started dying at 15,000 miles — and the free replacement engines bankrupted NSU itself. This is the story of the NSU Ro80: the future, arriving ten years early, with a fatal flaw inside. Welcome to DEADCAR — dead cars, forgotten brands, and the stories that killed them. New videos every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Subscribe and join us. 0:00 Cold Open — The Best Car in Europe 0:44 Fact 1 — A Motorbike Maker Bets the Company 1:17 Fact 2 — Felix Wankel Sells the Dream 1:48 Fact 3 — The Spider: 2,375 Guinea Pigs 2:23 Fact 4 — Frankfurt 1967: The Future Arrives 2:59 Fact 5 — Claus Luthe Draws the 1980s 3:40 Fact 6 — The Clutch With No Pedal 4:08 Fact 7 — Car of the Year 1968 4:40 Fact 8 — The Seals That Died at 15,000 Miles 5:19 Fact 9 — Free Engines for Everyone 5:51 Fact 10 — Volkswagen Buys the Wreckage 6:24 Fact 11 — The Ford V4 Shame 6:57 Fact 12 — 37,398. Then Silence. 7:44 Fact 13 — The Irony 8:13 The Verdict — Would You Have Taken the Swap? 8:32 Next on DeadCar: The Simca 1100 Would you have taken NSU's free engines — or the Ford V4 swap? Tell us in the comments. SOURCES & NOTES Production total 37,398 (1967–1977), peak year 1969 with 7,811 built — per Hagerty, SAHB and marque histories. Engine life is genuinely a range in the sources: apex-seal wear reported from around 15,000 miles, rebuilds/replacements common by 30,000; we phrase it as a range, never a single figure. Power 113 hp DIN. The Ro80 won European Car of the Year 1968 ahead of the Fiat 125 and Jensen FF. Claus Luthe (Ro80 designer) later designed BMW's E28 5 Series and E30 3 Series. NSU Wankel Spider production: 2,375 (1964–67). IMAGE CREDITS (Wikimedia Commons) NSU Ro80 front (2017), Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de; NSU Ro80 green front (2017), Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de; NSU Ro80 side profile, Oliver Kurmis, CC BY 3.0; NSU Ro80 rear (1976), Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0; NSU Ro80 interior (1976), Vauxford, CC BY-SA 4.0; NSU Ro80 rotary engine cutaway (1967), Alf van Beem, public domain; NSU Ro80 rotary engine on stand, Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0; Wankel rotor in housing, CC BY-SA 3.0 (see Commons file page); Felix Wankel portrait (1960s), public domain; NSU Wankel Spider (1964), Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0; NSU Wankel Spider (Lane Museum), Aaron Headly, CC0; NSU Prinz 1000 (1966), Rolf Heinrich, CC BY 3.0; BMW E30 cabriolet, Alexander-93, CC BY-SA 4.0; Audi 100 C1 front, Robotriot, CC BY-SA 4.0; Audi Werk Neckarsulm, qwesy qwesy, CC BY 3.0; Ford V4 in Saab 96 engine bay, Charles01, CC BY-SA 3.0; Ford Transit Mk1, Joost J. Bakker, CC BY 2.0; 1973 gasoline shortage (NARA), David Falconer, public domain; Mazda RX-7 FB (1983), Jeremy, CC BY 2.0; Jensen FF (1968), DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0. MUSIC "Sovereign" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 4.0 — Welcome to DEAD CAR — the channel for cars and brands that died, and the stories that killed them. New videos every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Subscribe: — WATCH MORE DEAD CAR: • The jet car Chrysler crushed:    • Chrysler Turbine Car — Lent to Families, T...   • France's best-seller, buried:    • Simca 1100 — Chrysler Buried France's Best...   • The Wankel experiment that bankrupted NSU:    • NSU Ro80 — The Wankel Engine That Killed I...   • Citroën bought them back and crushed them:    • 13 Shocking Facts About the Citroën GS Bir...   • BMW bought it, killed it, stole its factory:    • 13 Shocking Facts About the Glas 1700 — BM...