NSU-Fiat, Neckar

The NSU-Fiat Jagst was a German-built version of the Fiat 600, produced at Fiat’s Heilbronn factory from 1956. Fiat had acquired the former NSU car plant in 1929, subsequently producing cars under the NSU-Fiat name. When the independent NSU company returned to car production in the 1950s, the shared name led to a lengthy trademark dispute. The Fiat 600-based model was therefore marketed as the Jagst, although NSU-Fiat branding continued to be used. Mechanically closely related to the Italian 600, the Jagst combined a rear-mounted four-cylinder engine with rear-wheel drive and compact four-seat bodywork. German-built cars received various detail changes and equipment differences. The Jagst became the basis for a succession of improved models and remained an important part of Fiat’s German-built range.

See also: Fiat 600

Introduced in 1960, the Jagst 770 was an improved development of the German-built Fiat 600. It received the enlarged 767 cc engine already familiar from the Fiat 600 D, providing better performance while retaining the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. Production continued at Heilbronn, where Fiat’s German subsidiary had meanwhile been renamed Neckar Automobilwerke. However, the change of company name did not immediately mean the disappearance of NSU-Fiat branding: depending on period and market, cars and promotional material could still carry the established NSU-Fiat name.

The Jagst 2 appeared in 1964 as the final major development of Neckar’s Fiat 600-based small car. It retained the 767 cc rear-mounted engine but adopted important body revisions, most notably conventional front-hinged doors in place of the earlier rear-hinged arrangement. Other detail changes kept the design aligned with contemporary developments of the Fiat 600. Despite Fiat’s German subsidiary having adopted the Neckar name, NSU-Fiat branding was still used in Germany: the NSU name finally disappeared from Fiat’s German cars in 1966.