History Off the Honda CB series

In 1969 Honda launched the first Honda CB model the CB750, acknowledged as a landmark motorcycle which combined, for the first time, outstanding performance, reliability and engineering sophistication.

The CB750 was the first inline four cylinder motorcycle and the first with disc brakes. The CB750 was in production for nine years during which more than 400,000 machines were sold.

In 1979 the redesigned CB750 sported a 749cc four cylinder, twin cam engine with double overhead camshafts with the rocker arms replaced by bucket and shim adjusters. The performance was significantly boosted with these modifications most significantly for the CB750F Super Sport model which was outstanding for its class.

By 1981 the CB900F was introduced with a shorter wheelbase with 20% increase in displacement for only 22.5 pounds increase in weight. The 902cc 16 valve engine had larger valves and carburetors the bike frame was stiffer with larger diameter tubing, a weightier fork and adjustable damping shocks.

By 1983 the CB1100F was introduced with all the best parts of the CB900F plus a 1062cc engine, larger engine bores, adjustable handles and a new swing arm box section. The next model, the CBR1000 - the Hurricane, was introduced in 1987 With a liquid cooled four valve inline engine it was quieter, had more consistent power output, a longer engine life and reduced emissions. With great handling and brakes the Hurricane was good for long distance riding and was lighter then its predecessor.


The next model, the CB750 Nighthawk, with an air cooled 750 four cylinder in line engine echoes the design of the original CB750. Engine displacement was 747cc with four valves per cylinder and double overhead cam shafts With solid state ignition and hot road styling the Nighthawk was a popular model.

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Ariel Square Four

Ariel Square Four

The Square Four had a lifespan of over 25 years, and several incarnations of all sizes from 500cc to 1000cc. If you thought that all old British bikes were 650 twins then read on...



Ariel's Square Four started life in 1931, designed by a young Edward Turner who drew his original idea for the Square Four on the back of a fag packet, and then took it to several manufacturers. BSA weren't interested but Ariel were willing to try it out. Turner was hoping to 'provide a four-cylinder engine small enough for use in a solo motorcycle, yet producing ample power for really high performance without undue compression, racing cams or a big-choke carburettor. I was aiming at the ultimate reliability with the minimum of attention'


When introduced, the Square was as 500, with its remarkably compact powerplant slotted into a twin front downtube chassis similar to that used by Ariel's 500 singles, using girder forks and a rigid back end. The original OHC engine can be viewed as being similar to two parallel twins which shared a common crankcase with the two crankshafts geared together at the middle pinions, and a common cylinder block and head. The overhead camgear was chain driven. Early bikes used a hand-change, four-speed Burman gearbox.

The Square grew to 600cc in 1932 to give it a little more power, and was intended to be used mainly as a sidecar tug. It was very smooth but somewhat sedate, and the engine was not easy to tune for peppier performance.

By the late 1930s the 997cc Square was introduced with an OHV pushrod, all-iron engine, alongside a similarly-engineered 600cc version. The front end still used girder forks but the rear utilised Frank Anstey's sprung rear suspension system.




Postwar, the Square adopted an alloy engine, saving some 30lb in weight. The 1949 machine weighed around 435lb dry, produced 35bhp at 5500rpm and matched oil-damped tele forks to the Anstey link rear end.

In 1953 the most famous four-piper Mk2, still with Anstey link rear suspension, was introduced. Although Ariel built prototypes of a Mk3 with Earles forks in 1954, the model wasn't put into production, so the Mk2 ended the line when it was discontinued in 1959. The final factory incarnation of the Square cost £336.16.6 new in 1958. A non-running 1955 Mk2 4-piper was offered for private sale at the end of 2005 for £4000.

Ariel Info


THE ARIEL OWNERS' MCC welcome all Ariel enthusiasts, be they owners or simply admirers. See www.arielownersmcc.co.uk for details about the club's excellent monthly magazine, spare part scheme, badges, transfers and regalia, technical information, machine dating service, annual rally and concours competition and numerous other rallies and scenic runs. For membership info send an SAE to Andy Hemingway at 80 Pasture Lane, Clayton, Bradford BD14 6LN


DRAGANFLY MOTORCYCLES manufacture and stock a vast array of spare parts for Ariels made between 1926 and 1965. Roger and Graham have been specialising in the marque for over 20 years and offer a 130-page catalogue for 4-stroke models (available on cd or as a booklet, both for a fiver). See www.draganfly.co.uk or call 01986 894798


TO READ UP ON THE BREED we recommend Brooklands Books' Ariel Square Four Limited Edition Extra (ISBN 1 855 20623 4), and Mick Walker's Ariel The Complete Story (published by Crowood, ISBN 1 86126 645 6). There are some great older publications, too, but these are very much sought after and hardly ever cheap! See www.realclassic.co.uk/books to search Amazon's stocklist


JOHN BUDGEN'S STOCK OF ARIEL SPARES frequently turns up that magical NOS part which you thought you had no hope of finding, ever. John also has new items, like Ariel petrol tanks and Lycett-style saddles, made. See www.johnbudgenmotorcycles.co.uk or call 01242 621495




1958 Ariel Square Spec

Engine: Air cooled 4-stroke ohv square four
Displacement: 997cc
Bore x stroke: 65 x 75mm
Compression ratio: 7.2:1
Carburation: single SU carburettor
Claimed power: 42hp @ 5800rpm
Transmission: 4-speed
Electrics: 6V 20A/h battery, coil ignition
Frame: Steel diamond
Front suspension: Telescopic forks
Rear suspension: Twin link-and-plunger units
Front brake: 8-in (203mm) sls drum
Rear brake: 8-in (203mm) sls drum
Front tyre: 3.25 x 19in (Avon SM)
Rear tyre: 4.00 x 18in (Avon SM)
Wheelbase: 56 inches / 1422mm
Seat height: 30 inches / 787mm
Fuel capacity: 5 gallons / 23 litres
Weight: 425lb / 197kg dry

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Ariel VB600

Ariel VB600: Slogger!

The Ariel VB is a plodding old sidevalve single, with plenty of torque but with no power and no brakes. Right? 'Borrow mine…' suggested Tony Page. Frank Westworth took up his offer...



Everyone knows all about bikes. This is a Great Truth. Somehow and mysteriously, we all know everything there is to know about bikes, even bikes we've never owned, and in many cases have never ridden. But we know that we know, because we read about it once in an old bike magazine, or we spoke with a bloke who once had a mate who rode one once or who thought about buying one once but bought something sensible and reliable instead.



I'm the same, in fact. For years I read about and believed in The Classic Myth, which assures us all that sidevalve singles are suitable only for be-whiskered, rollie-puffing long gabardine mac-wearers who need to haul either their squalling families or their window-cleaning ladders about with them. And they need a gargantuan sidecar for that, and the sidevalve single gets the unique joy of hauling that sidecar.

That's fine. I knew it to be true. As a consequence, I've never owned a running sidevalve, and although I've ridden several over the years, the only one which felt in any way handy was Steve Wilson's BSA M21. And I think that I only rated that because it had hauled Steve across continents, and therefore was a distinguished personality all of its own!

But a couple of years ago, I was accosted at the same old bike show by three separate, but somehow similar, riders. These guys were all mid-late 30s, were all wearing proper high quality riding kit, and all rode trick modern tackle. One rode a Triumph Daytona triple, one a Ducati 996, and … I've forgotten the other. They all wanted to know which was the better bike, an Ariel VB or a BSA M21. That was a tough one! On a desirability scale of 0 - 10, I would have rated both around the 2 to 3 level. Because I knew all about them. Well…

I was talking about this strange occurrence with Tony Page, rider of more miles than anyone else in the known universe (400,000 miles on a Norton Interpol 2!) and fast lad indeed. Tony also owns far more bikes than I do, and his bikes all appear to work. Where's the challenge in that? Etcetera. Anyway, talking with TP, and he says; 'I've got a VB. Why don't I lend it to you for three months?'

Speechless…

So, a couple of wet weekends later, there is this strange steam engine sort of noise in the lane and Mr Page appears through the healthy rain aboard this elderly (50s, but only just) Ariel. It looks like a 'just found it in a barn, ideal for restoration' sort of bike, but sounds like a sidevalve single built by BMW: very quiet mechanically, inexorably confident and constant.



I talk with Tony, put his Ariel into the old Big Shed, and leave it there for however long it takes for the rain to cease. Then, it's pull it out and see whether I can start it. I have a poor knee and it is no great fan of big singles. Flood. Retard, Kick.

Ignition.

Tickover.

Leave engine ticking over, and go haul on riding kit. Climb aboard relentless Ariel and head off up the lane and out into the drying, steaming countryside. Return one entire lifetime later, scales dropped from eyes, preconceptions cast asunder, mind full of humble recognition that I have talked (and indeed written) nonsense about sidevalve singles for years.

Happily, the only thing on Tony's VB which is conspicuously non-functional is the odometer, so he has to this day no knowledge of how far we travelled. Well…

I can't offer you chapter and technical verse about this splendid machine, because all my reference books are buried somewhere between three houses at the moment, so this is riding impressions. Hope that's OK?

First impressions: not a lot of compression. You get the impression that there is about a hundredweight of flywheel inside those handsomely cast crankcases (and there probably is), but that once your right leg has overcome the inertia, got them spinning with the valve lifter working, that dropping the lifter will always start the engine. This is in fact true. Forget all you know about ohv big singles; this is very different. Once the VB is running, it's running, and you can advance the ignition again. In fact you don't really need to use the ignition control any more than you need to use the valve lifter, but it soon becomes part of the ritual and part of the confidence that were you stuck up an Alp, mid-winter, and all other vehicles had failed, the VB would just boff into life and sit there ticking over while icicles melt (slowly) from the cylinder's cast-iron fins.




As soon as you sit on the Ariel you understand that it is physically small, but in the way of rigid old iron the riding position is bafflingly roomy. You sit in total comfort, astounded that the controls do in fact fall readily to hand, that both your feet are flat on the floor, that the footrests are where your feet somehow expect them to be, and that the clutch is dead light, first gear engages with a healthy smack and that you can - bizarre but true - pull away on a whiff of throttle. If you don't know what a whiff of throttle is, take a ride on a bike like this!

Ariel were unusual in the post-war years in that they carried on using a dry clutch. Most manufacturers got rid of dry clutches as soon as they developed relatively leak-proof primary chaincases. In the case of all Nortons prior to the Commando (and excluding the light twins and 750 hybrids) they managed wet clutches and dry primary chaincases, but we will not carp on. Ariel, slightly famously, developed a very handsome primary chaincase (handsome and similar to the pre-unit Triumph equivalent, which is hardly surprising, as the same bloke probably designed both - and no, I doubt it was Edward Turner), and that chaincase is commendably leakproof. Ariels are not famous for destroying their primary chains. The clutch runs in a compartment of its own, outside of the case, with a chromed steel cover to protect it from the elements. And to protect the rider's foot from whirling gubbins, too.

Like a lot of dry clutches (very common on pre-war motorcycles) this one frees off easily, not least because there is no oil between the plates to gum them up, and engages in a neat linear way, no doubt for the same reason. Combine this with the solidity and hefty construction of the Burman gearbox, and all is well in the transmission department. Not that you need to use the transmission much once you're under way.

This is because the engine is remarkably flexible. Digging into my well-thumbed copy of Ace Road Test Clichés For Old Bike Roadtesters, I discover that sidevalve singles are supposed to deliver all their power low down the rev band and that torque and power peaks are much closer together than with a similar ohv design. And this is true.

What it means in practice is that once you're in top gear of the four available ratios, well, you tend to stay there until you want to stop. Things would be different were you pulling a sidecar, or possibly a caravan, but when you ride a pre-war design like this you really do get an opportunity to understand how things were different then.

Into top, then, at say 30mph, ride the throttle up to 50mph or so, and then stay there. You steer and adjust your speed with throttle and brake. There is little point in changing down to overtake, for example, because there is no more power available at 40 in third than there is in top. And if you want to slog up a long hill and feel lazy, just ease back on the ignition advance; the exhaust note flattens, deepens, the engine vibrates a little more, and you tug yourself up that hill in top. You could change down if you wanted, but hey, you know, life's too short for rushing!

If you do choose to ride like this, then you will notice that the engine gets hot. Sidevalve engines get hot when they work hard, and sometimes they can get so hot that they can seize their exhaust valves. This is because the sidevalve design (so-called because the valves live in a case at the side of the cylinder, next to the piston, rather than above it in the cylinder head ) offers little opportunity for effective cooling fins. Hmm… Maybe so, but things were never less than swimming with Tony's VB.

Steering is a treat on smooth roads. On smooth roads, the comfort of your posterior is taken care of by a capacious sprung saddle, which has you bouncing amusingly and gently up and down as you progress about the place, and the rigid rear frame and softly-sprung, lightly damped front fork provide a high degree of precision when bendswingin' is called for. The narrowness of the motorcycle, the excellent steering lock and the impeccable balance also combine to make the Ariel a very smart-steering machine, too. Loved it. Does it show?

Just at the point when you start wondering what all the fuss about sprung rear suspension was all about, I'd suggest that you attempt a few fast corners on lousy frost-cracked and broken road surfaces. Everything is fine up to a point. The saddle will take a fair bit of bouncy stress before it can take no more, and the rear tyre grips as well as it should, given the decent rubber now available for old bikes! However, you will reach the point at which the back wheel hops, the tyre leaves the ground (or the pressure upon it from bicycle and rider departs vertically, letting it slide, which is the same thing), and life becomes much more exciting!



Once you know this is going to happen, it becomes nothing to worry about, because the Ariel is entirely predictable. But the first time you experience this, the bike pulses sideways, your bottie leaves the saddle's plushly-sprung pad, and when grip is restored, coccyx hits the unyielding steel of the saddle's frame, and you swear a lot. And you're more careful in future, tipping your hat towards the McCandless brothers.

Likewise, there is a tendency to become blasé about the brakes. Used in conjunction with the engine, they regulate the Ariel's progress pretty well. And so they should; after all, these brakes were expected to haul up the Square Four, which is both faster and heavier. Once again, there is a limit, and for riders used to the performance of more modern stoppers that limit can come as a surprise. The front brake in particular can just fade away to nearly nothing, which is un-nerving! The back stopper is a lot better, though, and once you've understood the limits of the machine you're riding, you will have few worries.

But let me tell you this. I like big noisy twins. I've not been a particular fan of singles since my distant school days, and have always somehow associated them with plodding, pedestrian machines; none of the rasp and rort of my favourite 650 and 750 twins. But I was utterly seduced by this Ariel. I begged Tony to sell it to me. I even offered him money! He refused. So would I in his position. This completely unrestored survivor, with its peeling chrome, wearing paint, and big silly silencer, is completely excellent. I want one. No, I mean that; I really want one. This is a motorcycle to transport you without fuss over as many miles as you have the time to ride. It is utterly unpretentious, utterly without frill and bauble.

In fact, the only bike I'd prefer to find, as I sit here typing this, would be a Matchless Model X, because that is not one but a pair of sidevalve singles on a common crankcase. Twice the delight? I wonder…

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Motorcycles help keep you young: software expert

TOKYO (AFP) - - Riding motorcycles helps keep drivers young by invigorating their brains, the scientist behind popular "Brain Training" computer software said Wednesday, citing a new scientific study.

"The driver's brain gets activated by riding motorbikes" in part because it requires heightened alertness, Ryuta Kawashima said after his research team and Yamaha Motor conducted a string of experiments involving middle-aged men.


"In a convenient and easy environment, the human mind and body get used to setting the hurdle low," he warned. "Our final conclusion is that riding motorcycles can lead to smart ageing."

Kawashima is the designer of "Brain Training" software, which incorporates quizzes and other games and is available on the Nintendo DS game console under the name "Brain Age" in North America.

A self-professed motorcycle fan, 49-year-old Kawashima cited a new study conducted jointly by Yamaha and Tohoku University, for which he works.

One experiment involved 22 men, all in their 40s and 50s, who held motorcycle licences but had not taken a ride for at least a decade.

They were randomly split into two groups -- one asked to resume riding motorcycles in everyday life for two months, and another that kept using bicycles or cars.

"The group that rode motorbikes posted higher marks in cognitive function tests," Kawashima said.

In one test, which required the men to remember a set of numbers in reverse order, the riders' scores jumped by more than 50 percent in two months, while the non-riders' marks deteriorated slightly, he said.

The riders also said they made fewer mistakes at work and felt happier.

"Mental care is a very big issue in modern society," said Kawashima. "I think we made an interesting stir here as data showed you can improve your mental condition simply by using motorbikes to commute."

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Invitation From MACI Jakarta

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DKW - A Brief History

The origins of DKW go back to the early 1900s. Jorge Skafte Rasmussen, a Dane went to Saxony to study engineering at Chemnitz. With his friend Ernst he set up, in 1904, ‘Rasmussen & Ernst GmbH’ a company trading in exhaust steam oil traps and pipe fittings.
During the 1914-18 War Rasmussen experimented with a steam powered car: Dampf-Kraft-Wagen.
This project was abandoned at the end of the War for cost reasons.



Rasmussen’s next venture involved the production and successful marketing of a small (40cc) two stroke engine, originally intended as a power unit for toys, and given the name Des Knaben Wunch (every boy’s dream). The initials DKW being retained as the company name.
The engine was developed as a stationary power unit and soon found its way into vehicles made by other manufacturers. DKW also produced light weight motorcycles and bicycles powered by an auxiliary motor. The good performance given them by the DKW engines soon earned the nickname Das Kliene Wunder (the little wonder). Rasmussen’s company flourished, it was soon exporting motorcycles and engines all over the world, producing over one million machines by 1938 to become the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer at that time.
Many companies were acquired by DKW, the most memorable was Audi-Werke AG, giving DKW increased manufacturing capacity and an established car manufacturing base. In 1928 DKW’s first production car appeared, a two seat roadster with conventional rear wheel drive, and a two stroke engine. The first production DKW with front wheel drive appeared at the 1931 Berlin Automobile Exhibition.

This DKW front, or F1 was to prove the forerunner of an automobile engineering concept which has retained its significant advantages over the years. Front wheel drive, independent suspension, a unit engine and gearbox and a light overall weight, giving reliability, economy, safety and performance.

In 1932, Horch and Wanderer were brought into the Rasmussen empire to form Auto-Union GmbH With its emblem of four intertwined rings representing DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer. The only cars to bear the name Auto Union in the 30’s were the amazing V16 and V12 rear engined racers designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche and Eberan Eberhart, which with Mercedes gave the Third Reich complete domination in Grand Prix racing from 1934 to 1939.
The various small DKW cars, from F1 to F8 were to become the most popular of their type in Northern Europe, as well as being exported all over the world. Several Danish and Swedish companies had plans to make their own post-war adaptations of them. Saab, was the only one to be developed for modern times.

All but the Berlin factories of Auto-Union came within the Russian zone, (East Germany) when the war ended. Pre-war type 2 cylinder DKW’s being produced at Zwickau from 1948 to 1956 as IFA F8s, along with the pre-war 3 cylinder design as the IFA F9. Trabants and Wartburgs being a development of these. A new West German Auto-Union company was formed, retaining the DKW marque for its 1950 Meisterklasse (2 cylinder F89) and 1953 Sonderklasse (3 cylinder F91) produced in Dusseldorf and Ingolstadt, along with a range of motorcycles and light commercial vehicles. In 1958 a one litre version of the 3 cylinder DKW was introduced, named the Auto Union 1000, remaining in production until 1962. The 3 cylinder two stroke was a fine performer, and several formula junior racing cars used this unit.

DKWs were well known for rallying, winning the 1956 East African Safari Rally and the Finnish Thousand Lakes. The Auto Union 1000 had outright victory in the 1958 Safari and 1959 Acropolis Rallies.

By the late 50s Mercedes Benz had acquired 88% of Auto-Union shares. In 1958 the Junior model was produced. This and its successors went through to 1966, along with the F102 a more modern 1175cc two stroke machine, and the Munga, a 4 wheel drive ‘Jeep’ like vehicle.
In the mid 60s Volkswagen took control of Auto Union GmbH from Mercedes Benz, and the days of two stroke DKW and Auto Union cars were over. The F102 being adapted to take a four stroke engine to become the first post war Audi.

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NSU History

It all actually didn´t begin in Neckarsulm but in Riedlingen an der Donau. In 1873 two young mechanics by the names Heinrich Stoll and Christian Schmidt started a "Mechanical shop for manufacturing knitting machines". Rather soon they found more suitable facilities in Neckarsulm and they took the name NSU from the first letters in the names of the rivers surrounding the plant: Neckar and SUlm.
The knitting machines sold pretty good ,but in the surrounding world the bicycle became the latest "craze" and the young entrepreneurs were not late in adopting that and they became "Neckarsulmer Fahrradwerke". The NSU bicycles immediately became popular and the development from high wheeler to more modern, ballbearing equipped, bicycles went fast.

From the bicycle the step was not far to the motor- cycle and already in 1901 the very first NSU motorcycle was ready. It had a 1,5 hp motor, imported from Zedel of Switzerland.


In 1903 NSU started their own production of motors and already in 1904 there were six different model to choose from. NSU was early aware of the importance of racing their products and that doing so had a positive effect both for developement, and sales. And many were the records and victories.
Did anyone believe that the V- twin was a new invention? Nope, in 1905 NSU had a very popular 3 hp version and in 1909 a nearly 1000cc large V-twin was introduced


Along side the successful motorcycle production the manufacturing of automobiles slowly began. In 1905 the first car was presented and only a couple of years later several motor alternatives rangeing from 1300cc to almost 4 litres were available. Soon also taxicabs and small lorries (trucks) were put in production. WW 1 slowed the speed of development down as NSU contributed with both cars and motorcycles to the "Wehrmacht".
During the years 1923-27 the NSU car racing era was at its peak, and several Grand Prix victories were a fact. One of the race cars, a 1926 6/26, can bee seen on a picure here. Maybe You also believed that Audi A8 was the the first car with a body made intirely from aluminium? No way, already in 1923 NSU built an aluminium bodied car, the 8/24

After having had economical difficulties the car division was sold to Fiat in 1928. This was shortly after the "running band" was introduced at the production plant. FIAT comitted to build NSU cars until 1932.

1933 NSU again built a car - "the beetle"! For Ferdinand Porsche NSU built three prototypes "Typ32", one of them is in the VW museum.

1931 NSU again motorized the bicycle with the Motosulm. 1936 is another honorary year for NSU. Then the bicycle production of Adam Opel was taken over and the two major sales successes Quick and Pony were introduced.
Then came WW II and yet again NSU was ordered to produce for the military: the 250ZDB motorcycle and the Kettenkrad, a half track vehicle equipped with an Opel Olympia motor were the two main items.

The factory at Neckarsulm was partly destroyed in a bomb raid only a couple of weeks before the end of the war. The plant was used as a "repair- shop" for the allied forces right after the war, but from the wreckage 98 Quick were built in 1945 as a perfect restart of NSU.


In 1948 NSU celebrated it´s 75year anniversary and the Fox was presented , 4 stroke and 100cc. It was marketed with the slogan: Fixe Fahrer Fahren Fox (smart riders rides the Fox), in a huge, seldomly seen, advertising campaign.
Development and the raise from the ruins went rapidly, and in the early 50´s NSU began manufacturing the Italian Lambretta scooter by license

Quick continued beeing popular and Konsul I and II , 350 and 500cc, basically pre- war contructions, were put to life again in an effort to compete with BMW and Zündapp. The "oldtimers" disappeared in 1953 when the Max, 4- stroke, 250cc, was introduced. The Max rapidly got a reputation of beeing an extremely well built and driveable motorcycle. Later that year the Moped (50cc), Quickly was set on wheels. It does probably not need a closer presentaion, close to one million were made!

In the 50´s NSU had great success on the race tracks all over the world with their motorcycles. Many records were broken, and, as a matter of fact, NSU still holds a couple of records today.
The license to build Lambretta scooters expired in 1955 and the NSU constructors created their own version, 147cc large Prima D, which hit the market in 1956. The scooters developed fast and soon the 150cc Prima III and the 175cc Prima V (Fünfstern) were put on the market.

NSU even had a 4- stroke, Max motor- based scooter, the Maxima, almost ready for production in the early 60´s, but as the scooter sales dropped the project was scrapped

During the 50´s the thoughts of yet again making cars were realized. The first draft was the three- wheeled entity called the Max kabine. At the start of the car production in 1957 it fortunately had four wheels and was named Prinz I & II. The power source of the minicar was a "double" Max motor at 598cc and 20 hp. The cooperation with Dr Felix Wankel was already in progress and the experiments with the Wankel motor were a fact.

In 1959 the smartly looking Bertone designed Sport Prinz was introduced. The first 2.400 cars were actually assembled in Torino in Italy. The Prinz motor was stressed to 30 hp and this engine was also placed in Prinz III which basically was a refreshed Prinz II. Not to forget: the bicycle production was still in full operation parallell to all the above!.

NSU built the first Wankel motor that was ready to be tested in a car in 1960, and in september of 1963 the Wankel Spider was presented at the Frankfurt fair. It looked good, like a small, open, Sport Prinz if You like. Some 2.400 cars were built until the production seized in 1967. The Spider was a source of many problems, the one rotor engine was simply not a completely finished, and enough tested, product. And, besides, the owners were pretty hard on the throttle, against the written instructions in the manual. The engine was simply soo rev- happy!
The same year, 1963, the "mini- Corvair" Prinz4 was introduced. It shared motorization with the small Prinzes, ca 600cc/30 hp. The P4 was in production all until the bitter end of NSU car production, 1973. It was the most produced cars of all the NSU:s, and at some point it was the most sold import car in Italy!

Prinz1000 came in 1964. As the model designation suggests it was equipped with a 1 litre (996cc), fan cooled, straight 4 cyl. OHC, 45 hp motor. With it´s merely 700 kgs and truly good roadholding, it was a fast car that became popular for racing. Some ,even sportier, versions were the TT, which came in 1965, with 1085cc/65 hp (which later developed into 1200TT with 1177cc) and the TTS which was only produced in ca 2.400 units and most of them were sold as racing cars. It was 997cc large and with two Solex 40:s it delivered 70 hp.

The very last scooters left the band in 1964 and the motorcycle era was terminated in 1965 with Quick50. Not even the bicyles were genuinely NSU anymore as they were license made by Heinemann.

The long nosed Typ110 (1085cc) saw the streets in 1966. It was the limousine of the NSU- family. Shortly after came 110SC which was the first car to have the 1200 engine (1177cc) and 60hp. In 1967 the follower logically was designated 1200, also 1177cc, but reduced to 55hp. NSU 1200 was together with Prinz4 and 1000 continued until 1973.

NSU Ro80 was uncovered in Frankfurt autumn of 1967. It was a revoulutionary car in a quite new size bracket for NSU. The two- rotor Wankel motor, with a displacement of nearly one litre, gave 115 hp. It was a modern, streamlined, car carrying a design that almost stands up still today. Unfortunately the engines also here suffered from many childrens diseases and that cost both effort and money for the NSU company.

In the mean time NSU also worked on the model K70, yet another modern family car, size wise just below Ro80 and with an NSU- first: a watercooled engine. The engine looks a little like the 1000- 1200 motors at first glance, but covers 1600 cc. Only 23 prototypes were made under the name NSU. Already at the Frankfurt fair in 1969 the emblems were changed to VW. It was made as VW K70 until 1975.

Under preassure from one of the main stock holders, a large German bank, NSU was sold to VW/Audi in 1969. The Wankel cars had, simply put, cost NSU too much.

Much of the R&D work on the Wankel motor was done at NSU in Neckarsulm. Ro80 was produced as long as until 1977, in a total of about 33.000, unfortunaley without implementing any of the things they discovered during the developement process. One can put it this way VW/Audi choosed to kill the Wankel- project!
The fine technicians and constructors, the key to NSU:s succesful years, who VW previously had a total lack of, spread in the VW/Aud sphere. Some of them continued working on the new generation of cars: Golf (in the US: Rabbit), Passat and many more. The first to hit the streets was Audi 50, that more or less took over from the small NSU:s in 1973. One can clearly see it´s heritage, as with the Passat, that claims to have been on the NSU- drawing tables already in 1969! The 100 year- anniversary in 1973 wasn´t a happy one at NSU!

By 1984 the name NSU was discontinued within the VW/Audi concern.

But still today, Audi- Werke in Neckarsulm, were Audi A2, A6 och A8, are produced, has the address: NSU- Strasse! In 1998 Audi held the 125- year anniversary as a tribute to NSU. And as You probably know there is car that bears the name TT currently in production . Audi has now realized the value of knowing, and recognizing, one´s history and they have founded NSU- GmbH, a department serving under Audi Traditions GmbH.

Sadly though, the old NSU show room at the entrance of the plant in Neckarsulm in the corner of NSU- Strasse and Felix Wankel Strasse was torn down autumn of 2001.

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