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Reader Per E enjoys seeing what his fellow car nuts have parked in their barns and garages, so he thought he’d send a photo of his in and let everyone have a stab at guessing what he has in his. Not only does he keep an exceptionally clean garage, but one full of interesting vehicles. Pay special attention to the truck parked on the left, as it is a special prototype. Let the guessing begin! Our thanks to Per for sharing his garage with us!
nsu
Volvo truck
Looks like an NSU TT, Nice
Pinzgauer
2002 bmw.
NSU, NSU and Pinzgauer. very big ,well lit, clean, and interesting garage. thanks for sharing.
I think you’ve got them all correct! I know this guy from a facebook group I’m in.
NSU TT’s and a Volvo c303?
nsu
Those NSU wankles always reminded me of a scaled down version of my Corvair.
That’s no Wankel Spyder… Those are actually NSU Prinz’s. The Wankel Spyder was a 2 seat sports car, these are 4 seaters.
No Prinz’s. These are the larger sisters: NSU 1000, 1200 or TT(S). Bodystyles were very similar so common mistake.
That is an NSU–I think Prinz but would’t swear to that. And, I don’t think they ever put a Wankle in these. I think the Wankle only went into Spiders and the Ro80.
I think the truck could be Land Rover
Love that built-in rear wing—just prop up the engine cover and off you go.
Since the white NSU TT has its built-in wing propped up and a roll cage installed, I’m thinking that a video showing what these little giant-killers can do is in order. This one shows a race at SPA, a fabulous track that is very fast and allows a relativey low-powered car like this to show what it can do. He gets hit, then it rains, and then he spins her, but great fun anyway—-all from a 1200 cc air cooled straight-4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBLsCDCX_5o
The orange car might be another NSU but the taillights don’t look right, so maybe a square-light BMW 2002.
I hope Per chimes in to set us all straight about his cars since it’s good to know exactly what they are, and not every garage owner here does that.
The orange one is another NSU 1000/1200/TT(S) but we’re looking at the front of the car, hence the confusion.
Ummm… Per E.. you win the internet. Thank you for playing. :)
My guesses? Volvo laplander and some kind of nsu/audi/swiss barely legal thing that I secretly lust for. So, there we have it folks, the winner of the internet. :)
Talk about your Wankers? Volvo, indeed. Yes, yes, the wee little NSUs, of course. Its a PINZGAUER that’s the rarity in Per’s garage. Only one of six civilian models built and of two to make it into the USA. And now the ONLY one known in existence in the whole of the New World now. NSUs may be a dime a dozen, but the Pinz certainly isn’t.
I saw those side marker lights and thought that was odd to be on a European car. Now I know.
Greetings fellow Gearheads! It has been fun to read everybody’s comments and guesses! This is what is in my garage:
1978 (Steyr-Daimler-Puch) Pinzgauer 710K. It is a civilian, US proto-type manufactured after a demo-truck was touring the US early 1978 (see various car- & truck magazines from 1978). With independent, coil-sprung portal axles, front & rear (hydraulic) locking diffs, this is a very capable truck.
Next is the 967 NSU 1200TT race car. (NSU & Audi merged in 1969 and the TT is the “father and name-giver” to the current-day Audi TT). It took many years to source the right parts and complete this race car but is has been WELL worth it. The car now has 2 racing seasons behind it and it is a hoot to drive! The in-line, OHC 4 cylinder aircooled engine (and yes, it has a hemi!) is very tuner-friendly and rev-happy. Fellow NSU racers run their cars well past 9,000 RPMs although I cut out sooner to preserve the engine…..!
In the picture you also see an orange 1970 NSU 1200TT. This car donated it’s engine to the race car. Hidden behind the Pinzgauer resides yet a second “back-up” parts car because around here, I cannot just go to my local dealer for parts…… :-)
Thanks for the interest! If anyone has more questions, feel free to contact me.
Dolphin – The NSU TT and TTS cars needed the rear engine cover raised like you see it on the white car, not as a spoiler, but to promote increased cooling of the air cooled engine when run on the track. I’ve had 2 of the TT and TTS cars, (along with about 20 other NSU cars: 1100, 1200 Prinz, Sport Prinz, and 2 Spyder Wankles). The latter were the first & last Spyders to be imported into the USA, and now in a great car collection. Back in about 1976 we bought out the USA importer of NSU; Allied Light Cars of Washington, DC. (And no, I don’t have anything NSU related today!)
Bill, I certainly take your point. I used to do the same thing with the VW Beetle I owned decades ago when the weather was hot. I had temperature sensors on the cylinder heads, and propping the engine compartment cover open about 6 inches definitely made the engine run cooler on the highway. But I will bet that on these NSU TTs there is also a beneficial aero effect from propping the engine cover open, especially at SPA at 9000 RPM in top gear, because it acts like a rear spoiler in helping the airflow to remain attached behind the cabin.
@ Bill McCoskey,
I would love to hear more about your NSU buy-out back then – sorry to hear you have no NSU cars or parts left….. :-(
Please shoot me an email with your phone number when you have a chance and let me know when would be a good time to call you. Please send your number to: scanamerican@gmail.com. Thanks!!
Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to drive two different friends’ NSU TTSs. The first one (1976?) was an ex-SCCA D Sedan racer that was barely street legal. It produced no power below 4000 RPM, then suddenly *BAM*, it came on the cam and took off like a scaled cat. Ultimately it oversteered, but it was quite controllable. More recently, another friend restored one to stock, original condition. Much more tractible and usable. Both great cars. Personally, I’d settle for a stock Prinz 1000 with a factory sunroof. : )
There was one little problem with the TT cars, because of the multiple carb set up directly above the starter motor, any carb flooding or fuel leak could cause gasoline to fall directly on the starter! They did have a remedy – a plate above the starter to direct dripping fuel to where it could drop down to the pavement below. Most of the TT cars I found here in the USA were “burned out” parts cars from this problem, as the shield was often removed.
And Rob – I agree, the torque curve was incredible, even on the stock TT and TTS models.
Sunroof cars were not common, and if the small tubes in the 4 corners of the sunroof recess were clogged with dirt, the sunroofs would leak, especially when cornering during & after a rain!
Don’t hate me for this Per…
I had a orange TTS when I was a teenager. It was my fathers-and it totally rotted out. The floor was almost completly seperated from the sides. So what do you do? It still ran-too oddball for anyone to want it-FIELD CAR! For those of you that missed the era where there was open land-you take some old junk car you got for next to nothing + race it around afield. Its main job was getting beat on and making a kid learn how to drive. The NSU was good in the field-quick + light-wasn’t so good jumping with the seperate floor-a bit of understeer in the dirt-if you rolled it (which we did more than once) it righted easily. We had a engine cooling problem too- the tall field grass would plug up the air cooling. We removed the engine cover + took some stovepipe and ran it over the roof.
@sdwarf36: No worries – what you described as a field car – well been there, done that! And yes, this is how I learned to slide wide and also learned the “Scandinavian flick” (hand-brake turn). I did it in an Ford Prefect (English Ford) as well as an Opel Kapitan back in Denmark during the sixties…..
I am sure you wish you still had your TTS ….!