Dear Ebbro, in case you are wondering what your next car kit should be, following the Citroën DS kits, her is a suggestion: the NSU RO80 - the Wankel-engined large saloon that was not only daring technically, but also a beautiful design far ahead of its time. The fact.that it brought NSU to its knees financially is a shame, but there it is. And when your'e done with that, there's the Jaguar XJ6, and the Rover 2000 and.....I hope you can have it ready in time for Christmas!😀

Well I try to learn something new every day, and today it is the NSU Ro 80. Totally unknown car to me until now.

I will do some Googling and have a bit of a look at this model, but a quick "Wiki" gave me a basic story. A short (10 year) life span with a lot happening during that time, except for a succession plan! All 37,398 cars built were in single generation.

European Car Of The Year in 1968, it's second year of production, was a definite highlight.

Cheers, D

Some more homework for our overseas friends: The last NSU, the K70, became the VW K70 after VW took over. That was moderately succesful. But I believe that the RO80 inspired the design of the series 2 Audi 100. Discuss!

Hans,
Even I would buy and build a kit of the NSU R080. the car was so far ahead of it's time, it was like it was in a different world. What I think hurt it sales here in the USA was the fact that it was a Twin Rotor Wankel.

Back in the 1960s we were all about big V8 Blocks with tons of HP and Torque to drive those really big body cars which the Big 3 were cranking out. Gas was really cheap as it generally went for 30 cents/gallon !! So no one really cared about fuel mileage back then. Most people had no idea of what a Wankel engine was. And the fact that it had 4 wheel disc brakes wasn't a selling point either. The concept of disc brakes was just alien to my father when I used it as another reason to buy my 1st MGB.

To be honest about it, I'd kill for a well detailed model of a
Jaguar XJ6.

With Ebbro, who knows what's on their drawing board now.

Joel

Now, Here's an idea for a scratchbuild: when Citroën designed the DS, it was planned to have a flat-six engine ahead of the front wheels -this idea was scrapped on cost grounds. Instead, they had to soldier on with the inline-four from their pre-war Tractions - hente the big intrusion into the footwell og the DS. Now, if one could find an appropriate flat-six in 1/24 scale.......and by the way, Citroën built a development Traction for testing the hydraulic suspension for the DS......Another idea!😊 So little time, so many Citroëns......

Lots of good ideas Hans.
I would also like the idea of a NSU rotary, also other Citroens, esp. a "big" 15. And Joel, definitely any XJ salon, starting with a C.

cheers
Michael

Pardon this intrusion by someone who knows just enough to be dangerous on the subject:

Submitted for you approval: NSU Spider as seen at the 2012 San Diego Auto Show.







Just sharing a bit of reference / inspiration.

Cheers

A little jewel! Oddly, you could also order it with a piston engine. In fact, many RO80 owners swapped their Wankel unit for a Ford Taunus v-4...,,

Cheers

Michael,
Thanks for the info and pics on the Spider. I just plain totally forgot about it.

As for swapping out the Wankel for a Ford V4, I'd have stayed with the Wankel @ 50 hp while the V4 was only rated @ 40 hp. But I'm willing to bet that the Wankel was way more reliable over the long haul.

Joel

The trouble with the early Wankel engines was always keeping the space between the block and the edges of the rotor sufficiently tight - the equivalent of piston rings, if you will. Mazda seem to have worked it out, though...,

Hans,
Excellent point, I'm so use to Mazda being the king of the Wankel and how reliable those engines always were, I just took it for granted about the reliability issues.

Joel