On a recent filming trip to the west of Ireland, we were invited to see this beautifully kept 1965 NSU Prinz 1000. The Prinz was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1961 and styled in the spirit of the Chevrolet Corvair. Powered by a rear-mounted air-cooled engine, NSU’s trademark eccentric-rod camshaft and built-in dyna start starter/generator gave it real character. For its size, the Prinz had a lively turn of speed, with a top speed of 70 mph (113 km/h) and a 0–60 mph time of 35.7 seconds.
KNITTING MACHINES
NSU Motorenwerke AG began in 1873 making knitting machines before moving to Neckarsulm in 1880, where bicycle production under the Germania name replaced knitting machines by 1892. The firm entered powered transport in 1901 with its first motorcycle and added cars in 1905. During the First World War it built motorcycles and trucks and later sold its Heilbronn car plant to Fiat in 1929. NSU grew through the 1930s, working with Porsche on early small car prototypes. After military production in the Second World War, NSU rebounded and by 1955 was the world’s largest motorcycle maker. As motorcycle demand declined NSU returned to car production with the small air-cooled Prinz in 1957 and went on to develop the rotary engine with Felix Wankel, leading to the pioneering Wankel Spider in 1964, the first production car in the world to use a Wankel engine.
ROYAL PROMISE
NSU built its Prinz car models around a bold promise: “Fahre Prinz und Du bist König”, “Drive a Prinz and you’re a king.” First used for the Prinz I in 1957th e slogan stayed with the brand throughout production.
PRINZ 1000
In 1963 NSU introduced the new NSU Prinz 1000 and entered direct competition with the VW 1200. The car was developed by NSU Motorenwerke AG in-house by, led by technical director Albert Roder and his team at the Neckarsulm factory in south-west Germany. The earlier Prinz 4 car provided the foundation for this longer and more powerful model. Overall length increased by 353 millimetres to 3793 millimetres and the wheelbase grew from 2040 to 2250 millimetres. Both the front luggage compartment and the cabin benefited from the extra space.
EXTERIOR DESIGN
The Prinz 1000 carried a blunt nose with large oval headlight lenses, a chromed strip and a slim chrome bumper that gave the car its instantly recognisable face. A chrome adorned wraparound shoulder line visually stretched the body, while larger wheels and a more upright rear wheel camber improved the stance. The roof retained its thin pillars and the tapered C pillar sat more steeply than that of the Prinz 4.
Cooling air entered through grilles on the left flank of the bodywork and exited on the right. Fine creases beneath these grilles wrapped around the rear quarters and formed brows above two triplets of tail light lenses. These were often called jelly jars because of their shape and colours. The skirting below carried shallow flutes. Although the roof appeared a little high, it remained significantly lower than that of the VW Beetle. Collectively these details made the Prinz 1000 clearly distinct from the Prinz 4 from every angle.
STYLISH INTERIOR
Inside, the instrument panel featured a large round speedometer flanked by two smaller round dials with all controls close at hand. Foot space remained tight due to large intruding wheel wells. The front suspension and steering were largely carried over from the Prinz 4. Wider drum brakes or the optional front disk brakes and wider tyres created a broader track.
PORSCHE TYPE SUSPENSION
At the rear, the earlier swing axles were replaced by semi trailing arms similar to those in the Porsche 911 and 912. Drive shafts connected to the hubs through rubber disks rather than constant velocity joints. Separate coil springs and dampers absorbed road bumps and a stabiliser bar reduced body roll. Weight distribution remained close to equal between front and rear.
REAR-MOUNTED ENGINE
At the heart of the car sat a new transversely mounted four cylinder engine. It combined two cast iron twin cylinder blocks, based on those in the Prinz 4, with a new crank case and a single aluminium head. The head carried one camshaft operating eight valves through rocker arms, each accessed by its own cover. A single carburettor supplied the mixture to the front inlets in a cross flow layout with the exhaust exiting to the rear.
The engine retained the clutch and heater fan unit on the left end of the crankshaft. Power passed through a pair of helical gears into the fully synchronised four-speed transmission which also housed the differential. This arrangement allowed the clutch to be replaced in about thirty five minutes without removing the engine or the gearbox. The earlier Dynastart system was replaced by separate starter and generator units.
The Prinz 1000 displaced 996 cubic centimetres and produced 43 horsepower at 5500 rpm. Later models were rated at 40 horsepower to place the car in a lower insurance group, although top speed remained unchanged at 135 km/h (83.8 mph) with a zero to one hundred kilometres time of 18.4 seconds.
NSU BEATS VW
The Prinz 1000 outclassed its rival, the VW 1200 in all the areas that counted, it delivered more luggage capacity, more interior space, more power and better fuel economy. Around 195,000 Prinz 1000 models, including the L, S and 1000 C, were built between 1964 and 1972. Adding the sportier versions, such as the 14292 Prinz 1000 TT and 2402 TTS, brings total production even higher.
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Sources of Information, Video & Photo Credits:
Curbside Classic
HUBKOLBEN – GESCHICHTEN
NSU 1000 Owners Workshop Manual – Autobooks
WIKI
