NSU Spider
| NSU Spider | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | NSU Motorenwerke AG |
| Production | 1964–1967 2,375 built |
| Assembly | Neckarsulm |
| Designer | Claus Luthe |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | 2-door cabriolet |
| Layout | RR layout |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 498 cc (30.4 cu in) Single rotor Wankel |
| Transmission | 4-speed all-synchromesh manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,020 mm (80 in) |
| Length | 3,580 mm (141 in) |
| Width | 1,520 mm (60 in) |
| Height | 1,260 mm (50 in) |
| Curb weight | 700 kg (1,500 lb) (Measurements approximate) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | none |
The NSU Spider is an automobile which was produced by NSU Motorenwerke AG from 1964 to 1967.
The Spider was the first Western production car in the world to be powered by a Wankel rotary engine. Apart from its water-cooled single rotor engine and standard front disc brakes, the car was in most respects unremarkable.
First appearing at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1964, the Spider featured a two-door cabriolet body based on that of the NSU Sport Prinz coupé introduced back in 1959. In addition to the folding roof, the Spider was distinguishable from the hard top car by a grill at the front. As with all NSU cars at the time, the engine was rear-mounted: in order to improve weight distribution, space was found for the Spider’s radiator and for its 35-litre (9 US gal; 8 imp gal) fuel tank ahead of the driver. The front luggage locker was in consequence small. There was a second luggage area in the rear of the car above the engine. It appears that NSU Spiders were painted either red or white.
Invented by Felix Wankel, the Wankel engine differed from a piston engine because the quasi-oval design of the combustion chamber, containing a rotor that ascribed within the chamber an Epitrochoid shaped trajectory, enabling the combustion pressure to be converted directly into a rotary motion. There was no need to lose energy converting reciprocating movement into rotational movement. The result was a remarkably compact free-revving engine which, in the 1960s, was hailed by some as the next major step forward in automobile design. It was later found that the characteristics of critical materials selected and applied by NSU to build production rotary engines were inappropriate to the stresses they would bear, and rotary-engined cars earned a reputation for unreliability. Engines required frequent rebuilding to replace worn apex seals, and warranty costs associated with installation of the engine in NSU’s second Wankel-engined model destroyed the financial viability of NSU, forcing a merger with Audi in 1969. The only large scale automaker to persist with the rotary engine—and then only for niche models—was Mazda: piston engines continued to dominate the world’s automobile engine bays. These events were not foreseen during the Spider’s production period.
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Wikipedia