Rear-mounted, air-cooled cars are a common site at racetracks, persistently challenging their conventional, front-engine, water-cooled competition often with great success. We could be referring to Porsche of course, but in this case no. What was buzzing around Laguna Seca that caught our eye last August was another German air-cooled wonder—a 1967 NSU 1200TT. These diminutive, boxy cars are more common in Europe than in California and not much is known about them on this continent. With interest peaked, I investigated this interesting car to satisfy my curiosity.
The NSU factory at Neckarsulm, circa 1900.
NSU’s roots can be traced back to Riedlingeb, Germany, where in 1873, Christian Schmidt founded the company for the purpose of manufacturing knitting machines. In 1880, the company’s operations were relocated to Neckarsulm where in 1886 they started to produce bicycles that would be the first vehicles to be branded as NSU, around 1892 when knitting machine production ceased. In 1901, the company would introduce its first NSU motorcycle, and would participate in the very first Tourist Trophy race on the Isle of Man in 1907. Then, in 1905, the first NSU automobile was produced.
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