NSU is a famous German bicycle, scooter, a motorcycle and a car manufacturer. It was considerably involved in the early development of the motorcycles in Germany.

Enterprise

The enterprise was created 1873 by Christian Schmidt and Heinrich Stoll in Riedlingen at the Danube. Originally they manufactured cord machines, therefore the name "mechanical workshop for cord machines ". 1880 shifted the enterprise its seat after Neckarsulm in close proximity to Heilbronn in a sawing and a gypsum mill. Reason was the higher space requirement. The new name "NSU" is the abbreviation for ''' N ''' eckar ''' CSU ''' lm and the name of Neckarsulm is derived from the two rivers Neckar and Sulm, which flow together here. 1884 died Christian Schmidt and the enterprise into a corporation were converted.

The bicycle production began 1886. Germania was the first high wheel of NSU, later followed also The enterprise called itself 1897 "Neckarsulmer of bicycle works A.G. ". Starting from 1901 also motorcycles were produced. The engine with 211 cm came for it from Zurich of Zurich & . The Neckarsulmer motorcycle had thereby 40 km/h top speed. 1906 began the development of automobiles and therefore 1913 the Umfirmierung in "Neckarsulmer of vehicle works AG "and NSU became officially the brand name. The enterprise busy at the time about 2,000 humans. 1932 were adjusted autoproduction, after the fiat AG had transferred the automobile work to Heilbronn (late NSU Fiats).

During 2. World war in the work Neckarsulm the well-known Kettenkrad type HK 101 was developed, a half-track vehicle with motorcycle fork. During the war for the armed forces and after the end of the war for the land and Fortwirtschaft was produced. The engine came from the passenger car OPEL Olympia, since NSU did not have a sufficient strong engine in the program.

At 1947 motorcycle production began again after the war. First one built again the Vorkriegsmodelle QUICK and 251 OSL. In the year 1949 the NSU FOX 101 OSB came out as the first reconstruction. 1955 were already NSU the largest motorcycle manufacturer of the world. The NSU max of 251 OSB, 250 cm - a machine with obenliegender cam shaft and interesting valve impulse was particularly famous by two connecting rods. For the "small man" there was the NSU Quick (100 cm with pedal drive), Pony (likewise 100 cm with fussrasten), the moped NSU Quickly and the NSU Lambretta, a manufacture under licence of the Italian Lambretta scooter. Further models were the lux (200 cm Zweitakt), as well as the consul with 350 cm or 500 cm capacity (351 EAST and/or 501 EAST).

NSU motorcycles were on many racing courses at home and brought in world records. The duels between Heiner meat man (NSU) and George "Schorsch" Meier (BMW) wrote William heart, in the post-war period motorcycle running history, likewise Werner Haas, the 1954 had an accident Rupert getting louse and the Seitenwagen-Gespann fox. Also 1950 the employment of the Thouret Damentrios with Ilse Thouret and their daughters Elga and Anneliese with NSU Lambrettas had a strong advertising effect with national Rallyes.

Motorcycle production ended however with the dying down of the motorcycle wave 1963, the production of bicycles in the middle of the 1960er years.

Some world records:

• 1954: BAUMM I (49 cm 3.4 HP ~= 2.5 KW), fairing, 127 km/h, 1955 even 151 km/h
• 1954: BAUMM II (98 cm 7.2 HP ~= 5.25 KW), fairing, 178 km/h
• 1955: BAUMM II (125 cm 18 HP ~= 13 KW), fairing, 218 km/h
• 1956: BAUMM III consumption record 1.13 l/100 km with 100 km/h average speed.

1953 became the first postwar car, which develops NSU prince, first as cab scooter with the engine of the max motorcycle, then as four-wheeled car with one (also of the max engine derived) 583 cm - two-cylinder tail engine and 20 HP (15 KW). 1957 were introduced the car on the IAA. It 1961 the prince 4 in the typical "bath tub Design" followed, which offered a good space economics. 1959 came the sport prince on the market. The NSU sport prince was a Coupe with 2 1/2 seats, because it had in the back only a thinly padded board, the so-called flap-up seat. The body was sketched by Bertone. The sport prince looked like the Wankel Spider with exception firm Dachs, which had a sun roof alternatively. It did not have also the lufteinlassschlitze like the Wankel Spider, since the prince engine was not water-cooled like the wankel engine. The chassis was taken over likewise by the NSU prince.

Racing did not ignore also the autorange. Already the prince 4 could keep up with Rallyes, larger successes gave it then with the prince 1000, that 1200 TT and that 1000 TTS, with an air-cooled OHC Vierzylinder transversestanding in the tail, this time with a Kettenantrieb for the cam shaft. These vehicles were conceived as sport sedans, those with small weight per horsepower the later concept VOLKSWAGEN gulf GTI anticipations. Thus the 1000 TTS from 998 cm capacity got in series 70 HP (51 KW, VOLKSWAGEN beetle 34 HP ~= 25 KW), getunt also over 85 HP (62 KW). This corresponded at that time to engine performance of the middle class and upper class elevated by vehicles, the vehicle brought however less than 700 kg on the balance. Because of their agility the TTS was particularly successful with the Slalom competitions, nor are enough, after their production was stopped.

The NSU TT engine served also for motorizing the then strongest series motorcycle the world, the giant.

Also the NSU Wankel Spider, the first vehicle with wankel engine (1964) and the NSU Ro80 (1967) became famous, a sedan of the elevated middle class with wankel engine, indicative wedge form Design of Klaus Luthe and for conditions at that time very favorable cW-value.

AUDI and NSU

1969 fused the NSU at that time AG and the car union GmbH with seat in Ingolstadt, belonging to the Volkswagen company, to AUDI NSU car union AG with seat in Neckarsulm. At the time at that time the straight developed K70 was taken over by Volkswagen and as VOLKSWAGEN K70 gebaut.1985 came renaming in "AUDI AG", the name NSU disappeared from the company. The stock exchange symbol for the share the AUDI AG is further NSU, since the today's AUDI AG is purely legally nothing else, as the several times renamed NSU AG. The seat was shifted after Ingolstadt.

NSU today

The today's NSU GmbH is an AUDI daughter and 1985 for the care of the tradition of the location Neckarsulm was based. In the AUDI work Neckarsulm are manufactured today the AUDI A6, the AUDI RS4 and the AUDI A8. The production of the AUDI a2 was reset in July 2005. In the autumn 2006 in Neckarsulm with the production of the new sports car AUDI R8 (resulting from the Le Mans study) one begins. The four rings of the AUDI character were taken over by the former autounion, a union of the automakers AUDI, Horch, DKW and Wanderer.

Pictures

See also

• German two-wheeler and NSU museum

Literature

• Fr. duke: NSU 1873-1923 - To the existence of the Neckarsulmer of vehicle works corporation Neckarsulm, NSU GmbH, Neckarsulm 1923 (facsimile of the original from January 1987)

• Peter Schneider: NSU 1873-1984 - From the high wheel to the automobile, 1. Edition, engine book publishing house, Stuttgart 1985

• Peter Schneider: The NSU story - the chronicle of a world brand, 1. Edition, engine book publishing house, Stuttgart 1997

• Author team: The wheel of the time history the AUDI AG, 2. Edition, Hrsg.: AUDI AG, Ingolstadt 1997

Related links

• German two-wheeler museum - NSU museum
• Category NSU with the open directory Project
• www.nsu24.de
• www.nsu-schoenhaar.de
• NSU car
• ''' NSU history '''
• NSU prince industrial union
• www.nsu-quickly.de
• www.nsu-greifzu.de
• www.nsu-zweitakter.de
• NSU exhibition in the Monschauer craftsman market (glasswork)

Articles in category "NSU of engine works"

We found here 3 articles.