NSU

The NSU Ro 80 - voted Car of the Year in 1968 - was known for its progressive styling. The large glass area foreshadowed 1970s design and with 0.355 the drag coefficient was very low for the era. Also mechanically it was a remarkable car, most notably because of its 995 cc twin-rotor Wankel engine. The downside however, was an early reputation for unreliability. The engine in particular suffered from construction faults and some early cars required a rebuilt engine before 50,000 kilometres. The fact that the rotary engine design had inherently poor fuel economy and a poor understanding of the Wankel engine by dealers and mechanics did not help this situation. By the 1970 model year, most of the reliability issues had been resolved, but the car's reputation had already undermined NSU's financial situation. Ultimately, it was the contrasting success of the similarly sized Audi 100 that sealed both the fate of the Ro 80, and the NSU brand as a whole. Both were eliminated early 1977 by parent company Volkswagen.