Bojan Vrbnjak
Some shapes cannot be improved. VW once used this slogan to advertise the Beetle. The phrase also applies to another car: more than 50 years after its premiere in 1967, the NSU Ro 80 seems timeless. That's why it's all the more surprising that Pininfarina started designing a potential successor to the Ro 1971 as early as 80.
The result was presented at the Turin Motor Show: the Ro 80 2 Porte +2 concept car, whose rather unusual appearance still surprises today. Pininfarina, known for its designs for Ferrari, must have had a bad day then. More precisely, Paolo Martin, who also wrote such great things as the Fiat 130 Coupé, the Peugeot 104 or the mega-flat Ferrari 512S Modulo.
One of the last cars Rudi Klein acquired for his collection, the 2 Porte + 2 was purchased in 1995 by his longtime friend and Mercedes-Benz dealer Thomas Taffet of Chatsworth, California. Soon after, after only one or two show appearances on the West Coast, the one-of-a-kind NSU was delivered on permanent loan to Audi's Museum Mobile in Ingolstadt, where it was displayed until it returned to the US. We were able to photograph it there in 2019. The car is now up for auction at RM Sotheby's auction house.
Pininfarina's press release for the 1972 Brussels International Motor Show stated that the study would be exhibited there after it was 'shown for the first time at the recent Turin Motor Show, where it met with great critical and public success'. The car continued to attract attention after shows, for example at the NSU meeting in the Netherlands in 1994. But back to the design: Pininfarina's 2 Porte + 2 show car was based on a later model Ro 80 with a Wankel engine and was based entirely on the original to the body structure, with the sills reinforced to accommodate the new bodywork.
As the name suggests, there is room for two adults and two children inside, in what was then a common 2+2 configuration in Europe, but with four doors instead of two, the last two of which open in the middle. Pininfarina's equally innovative interior featured a dashboard modeled on the Ro 80, with all instruments ergonomically positioned in front of the driver, adjustable visors to protect against strong sunlight and extensive padding to ensure passenger safety in the event of a crash.
When designing the 2 Porte + 2 model, aerodynamics was emphasized with large air intakes on the underside of the windshield and on the sides of the roof panels and doors. But why did the darker area on the side have to reflect the shape of the roof? The angular shape and thick PU foam bumpers with wide beam headlights are also eye-catching today, but this was very fashionable in 1971. The technical data were mostly taken from the Ro 80. A special feature was the rear door, which opened in the opposite direction, i.e. on the C-pillar. These doors, popularly known as suicide doors, have been banned in Germany since 1961, as they are not forced by the air current when they are accidentally opened while driving, but suddenly come off.
Therefore, the rear doors of the Ro 80 2 Porte +2 were somewhat covered by the front doors, so that they could only be opened when the front doors were open. (Hence the name '2 doors +2') Interestingly, more than 30 years later, Wankel's car used this idea again in a modified form: the Mazda RX-8. A special feature was the roof, a large part of which could be folded back and placed on the trunk lid. This design was the forerunner of today's folding roofs. The doors have been specially reinforced for better side impact protection.
In 1971, however, NSU already belonged to Audi, where they no longer saw a great future in the unprofitable Ro 80 model. For this reason alone, a new development was out of the question. Facelifts weren't considered either, except for bigger taillights in 1975. Want a special Ro 80 model? RM Sotheby's has an estimate of US$60.000 to US$80.000.
