I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming towards me
suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it neared, I realised
it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining noise it made as it past
me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it could be
argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

Tim

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming towards me
suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it neared, I
realised it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining noise it made
as it past me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it could be
argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

So much so that it is still in use in Mazda RX-8s?

Z

Zimmy wrote:
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming
towards me suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it
neared, I realised it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining
noise it made as it past me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it
could be argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

So much so that it is still in use in Mazda RX-8s?

Yep. Still a technological dead end. Heck, people are still building new
steam engines. Just because a manufacturer happens to produce a car with a
particular engine doesn't make it the future.

Fuel consumption always has been, and I believe always will be, relatively
lousy compared to more conventional engines. Unless you believe in
miracles, there's no way it's even going to replace the present internal
combustion engine except in niche models.

Tim

Z

On 02/09/10 14:55, Tim Downie wrote:
I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming towards me
suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it neared, I
realised it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining noise it made
as it past me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it could be
argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

Tim


That is sad. The Ro80 was ahead of it's time in many ways.

"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
...
On 02/09/10 14:55, Tim Downie wrote:
I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming towards me
suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it neared, I
realised it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining noise it made
as it past me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it could be
argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

Tim



I remember my dad buying one around 1970 then putting in a Ford Corsair v4
engine if memory serves me right. I remember It had electric windows when
some cars still had side sliding fronts.

Gio

That is sad. The Ro80 was ahead of it's time in many ways.

In article ,
Gio wrote:
I remember my dad buying one around 1970 then putting in a Ford Corsair
v4 engine if memory serves me right. I remember It had electric
windows when some cars still had side sliding fronts.

As well it might - it was an extremely expensive car for what it was.

Minis had sliding windows to maximise door storage space. As well as to
save money.

I don't think the RO80 broke much new ground - apart from the engine. Just
a mix of things already offered on other vehicles.

--
*Arkansas State Motto: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Laugh.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,

I don't think the RO80 broke much new ground - apart from the engine.
Just
a mix of things already offered on other vehicles.

It was the styling as much as anything that was years ahead of its time.
It's really had to believe that production stopped as far back as 1977.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gio wrote:
I remember my dad buying one around 1970 then putting in a Ford Corsair
v4 engine if memory serves me right. I remember It had electric
windows when some cars still had side sliding fronts.

As well it might - it was an extremely expensive car for what it was.

Minis had sliding windows to maximise door storage space. As well as to
save money.

I don't think the RO80 broke much new ground - apart from the engine. Just
a mix of things already offered on other vehicles.

--
*Arkansas State Motto: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Laugh.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dad bought it for pennies because the original engine was shot and they lost
loads in very rapid depreciation. I was not intending to give the
impression it was a gadget filled car, just quite a luxury model at the time
that turned out cheap for us. The windows stick in my mind because being
young at the time, they had entertainment value ;-)

Gio

In article
,
Tim wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,

I don't think the RO80 broke much new ground - apart from the engine.
Just
a mix of things already offered on other vehicles.

It was the styling as much as anything that was years ahead of its time.

You mean ugly? ;-)

It's really had to believe that production stopped as far back as 1977.

True.

It might have made more sense to try out the engine in an existing model
before introducing an all new one.

--
*Of course I'm against sin; I'm against anything that I'm too old to enjoy.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Gio wrote:
"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
...
On 02/09/10 14:55, Tim Downie wrote:
I was driving along this morning when I spotted a car comming
towards me suddenly start spewing clouds of blue-white smoke. As it
neared, I realised it was an NSU RO80. Judging from the odd whining
noise it made as it past me, it still had a rotary engine.

It's amazing how such an old car can still look contemporary.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Ro80_1975.jpg)

Way ahead of its time (stylistically at least). Mechanically it
could be argued that the Wankel engine was a bit of a dead end.

Tim



I remember my dad buying one around 1970 then putting in a Ford
Corsair v4 engine if memory serves me right.

That rings a bell. I think the engine bay was too short to fit a
conventional 4 pot engine of that era.

Tim