I bought my first Prinz 4 in 1995. In 1997 it was written off by some thugs in Mile End who tipped it onto its side (with us inside). In 1998 I bought my current Prinz 4 from its original owner in Surrey. I love the car so much that when I moved to Canada, I had the car shipped over. I now drive her (she is called Stella) in Vancouver BC where she causes much confusion. Because she is rhd, most people guess English or Japanese manufacture and not German!
Amazed that Canada let you in after serving such a long sentence for murder..I assume you murdered them thugs? I mean… who wouldn’t have.. a bit of MDK? Anyhoo, got to go It’s ‘Lights out’ jn 10 minutes…
My dad had an NSU RO80 which was a horse of a different colour! It may have been disastrous financially but it was an amazing car which still looks modern and futuristic today.
@@malcolmyoung7866 Actually my dad had two of them. The first one failed due to the well known engine problem. So NSU gave my dad a very good deal on the later model and that one was great and didn't suffer from any problems. I remember going down to Spain in it and it was a real head turner because of its beautiful and futuristic design.
Oh! Memory Lane!! My first car was a 1964 blue NSU Prinz 4L. Fabulous thing, so advanced for the time - as you mention, all sycro box, discs up front and an absolute DELIGHT to drive. I was in a band at the time & we could get a full drum kit in it! Once it got going, the handling was surprisingly good, if a bit susceptible to wandering about a bit in a cross-wind... Also, it was pretty quite in the ....erm...."cruise"...with all the noise generators well behind you. Loved that little car - SO much character, and it never let me down ever, despite having almost 90,000 miles on the clock! I also loved the Drivers handbook that came with it, reminding that checking the tyres regularly (with the tyre pressure gauge in the supplied tool kit) not only enhanced the safety, but also endowed the driver "The Air of The Expert". Best watch on here for ages; made my evening, thank you.
I had Prinz 4 in 1980. Its clutch had gone and I was told I could have it for free if I picked it up before the tax and MOT expired. It turned out that the clutch cable was way out of adjustment, and I drove the car home. It needed very little for a new MOT and I really liked it. I don't recall it being as noisy and shaky as this one, but time fogs the memory. They were quite popular in the UK being economical and unusually rust resistant for their time. IIRC Prinz 4s sold in the UK prior to us joining the EEC were assembled in the Irish Republic. Great to see this. A bit of nostalgia for me!
Ian should do a comparison test on a Zaprozhets ZAZ-966 and let us know. I imagine it would run along the lines of Russian reliability and toughness versus German precision.
My friend had one in the late 90s Our favourite thing was the way the manual described the capacity of the glove box. “The Glove compartment is a useful size. It will hold a thermos flask (full). or an airbed (empty),” and they say Germans don’t have a sense of humour!
My primary school teacher had one like this and I loved it - and her (yep, little boy crush). I think its colour was mustard. I used to wait for her to leave, so I could hear the engine come to life. Fond memories of car (and of teacher, yes).
My dad had one of these cars , his was the 1000cc version. It was an up-spec version that looked a bit like the TT. Beautifully made cars. His was a 1969 model so 6V electrics of course. The last production year of the model was 1972/73 and by that stage the engine was 1200 with 12V electrics. You'll need to keep the king pins greased because they tend to seize and affect the steering. I remember the exhaust system being incredibly expensive and quite complex. My lasting memory of the car is the whisky bottles clinking around in the bonnet because that's where he kept his stash so my mum couldn't find it!!
The Prinz 1000 was the only one with 6 Volt electrics. This was a big mistake, especially in the wintertime. Prinz 4, 1000 TT and TTS and the 1200 were all 12 V.
Here the "schoolteacher" 😅: Prinz 3 = 583 cc. Prinz 4 = 598 cc. Max speed (from test in an old review, Quattroruote 12/1970 - Italy): 120, 647 km/h (only driver) and 115, 448 km) h (full load). Actually the first Prinz 4 version in 1962, same review, did 123,323 km/h at medium load. Anyway, Prinz 4 was my dad's car, that dynastart and engine sound... how much nostalgia! 1975, I remember my father have a problem with a bushing in the gear lever... stop at the roadside, checking, show me the bushing, fixing and on the road again! Thx for the video!
I used to deliver them out of Shoreham late 60s. I owned a Prinz 2L when stationed in Detmold 65 to 67. The 1000 TTS was the one to drive, it rivaled many quick cars
I used to work at an NSU dealer in the 60s and came down to Shoreham on a couple of training courses. If my memory serves me correctly the Service Manager/Trainer was Greek and Octav Botnar (of Nissan GB fame) owned the importer. Yes, the TTS was fast.
I had the bike with the NSU Prinz engine, the Munch Mammoth TTSE 1200. What a beast! I rode it around Australia and then sold it to a famous museum on Hamilton Island in The Whitsunday Island chain. I miss it..
The old car of our neighbours. Back seats were good enough for their two kids. When taking wife and kids to church on sunday mornings. Later switched to THE favourite automotive vehicle of the Dutch during the late sixties/early seventies; the Opel Kadett B. Beige of course.
In German though, Prinz means heir apparent or just "son of a ruling monarch". The English prince would be a Fürst (yes, from the same root as the English first).
My Dad had one about 1968 painted Blue...It got the Family from Bradford to Mabelthorpe and back with Roof rack on the roof..Fully loaded..never failed
That is adorable, and I love the colour. My Grandfather had an (Larger model, as you said) NSU Prinz 1000 TT, and loved it. He later sold it, for a used 1976 RO80 and regreated it. Wasn't as smooth and refined in his view. Great video.
The Prinz was kept on the Market by the Italian customers. Because Volkswagen wanted to cease production around 1969, but there was still more than 50.000 orders open from Italy so until early 1973 about 70 percent went directly to Italy from Neckarsulm factory
The OHC drive was an NSU "thing"; they used it on their sportmax and Rennmax motorcycles. It gives very accurate can timing but seems to be a solution looking for a problem for a small family car.
It's the opposite of the fuel pump rod drive off the camshaft that used to be typical for American V8s (and others?) before electric pumps in the tank.
@@NeilBarrattit's not a problem but Honda's OHC engines were chain driven which would have been much cheaper to make. The ?Ultramax? System seems almost wilfully complicated and expensive to make. Ok, it's cheaper than shaft and bevel and maybe a gear train but nowhere near the value engineering of a chain OHC.
What a cute little brown thing! I didn‘t even know there was a two cylinder Prinz. Hope you‘ll also find a Prinz TT to drive. Quite a difference in power and fun!
For NSU: they also brought the NSU K70 into the band with VW, which was a 4-cylinder, watercooled, frontwheel driven sedan - which directly competed with the Audi 80 / VW Passat that were just on the brink after the VW / Audi merger. It was sold for a few years and then discontinued, even though it was more modern and spacier than the Audi 80 was. But it was just a stepchild of a former competitior and handled as such. The bigger rear engined NSU 1000 / 1200 was used as a racecar. The 1200 TTS and TTS-E dominated round track races or slalom. The 4 cylinder engine was the technical base for the Münch motorcycles - the first "Superbike" of sorts. NSU had a rich history - all eliminated for and by VAG mediocrity. Thanks for showing though !
Welcome 🤗 in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Ian ! And yes we’ve got also lovely rainy weather! 😢 So you must feel al little bit at home 😂😂😂 Sadly without your lovely family! What an amazing 🤩 brown super car! Lovely lines , so sad that so many brands don’t exist anymore! Luckily there are still survivors like this example! Looking forward for your next adventure here in the Netherlands 🇳🇱! And don’t forget to buy something nice for the family! Iets lekkers 😋! Stroopwafels, Jodenkoeken, drop , zwartwit! And eat some poffertjes! 👍🏻👍🏻🆙
That method of spinning the camshaft via connecting rods was first employed by NSU on their motorcycles. I can remember the first time I saw an NSU Prinz in a photograph, or rather a slide, sometime in the late 1960s. A family friend had returned from a vacation in Italy and was showing slides of his trip. There in the background was a white Prinz. My brother and me got quite excited in the manner that only car-mad little boys of single-digit age can get, over this little European Corvair. We knew all about Fiat 600s and 500s also visible in that pic because our relatives in the old country drove them and Corvairs were a common sight in Canada at the time, but now the existence of this shrunken Euro Corvair was a new and exciting development. I remember we had a hard time processing that it wasn't a Corvair at all, but some obscure (to us) European brand.
The camshaft drive was actually designed by an English bloke called Walter Moore for Norton motorcycles. The bike was called a CS1 (camshaft 1!). He was lured away by NSU and designed a very similar bike, the NSU 500 SS. The joke back in the day was NSU stood for Norton Spares Used....so there ya go..
Another brilliant review. Lovely car so well made for its day. When I was 8 my dad had an NSU 1200C. Great car and very nippy and rare even then. Would have one now.
My dad had a 1968 NSU 1200C between about 1971 and 1975. I see lots of retro stuff about the Prinz, but nothing ever about the 1200C. I was starting to wonder if I imagined the car as I was only 9 when he sold it. Do you know if there are any still in existence?
Not seen any for a long time and have looked for adverts for sale in UK but mostly all in Europe I think. Ours was a 69 I think, (H) bright red it it felt very fast! I remember working on it. Great fun. Still got the owners manual. Remember seeing them being raced. It was sold to a family member and can never remember it breaking down. Always liked them so you are not imagining things!
In the 70s my mate's mum left her husband & lived with someone else, this man bought her a NSU Prinz but even though she didn't have a car she turned her nose up at it & got him to take it back! I can't remember what she drove after that for certain but I think it was an old Ford Anglia, so she went from a new car to a 2nd hand one!
Funny that you mistook the heater for the starter where the Fiat 500 has one, because there is a strange link between Fiat and NSU. There was a factory in Heilbronn, Germany, which was spun off from NSU in 1929 where they assembled NSU-Fiat badged cars based on Fiats, but when NSU started to build the Prinz, there were two entirely different companies building cars with the same name! They eventually settled the conflict and NSU-Fiat became Neckar and finally Fiat until production in Germany ended in 1973.
Fiat 600 (and Zastava 750 licence derivative in Yugoslavia) had a choke and a hand-operated throttle(!) levers (beside normal pedal) placed there. It was a great aid on going up hills and in the winter in snowy conditions (fine tuning it to the slip point and for engine breaking).
In Germany, France and Spain it is illegal. Same for slippers. And i do NOT agree. It IS dangerous, specially slippers and high heels. In NL and B it's your own responsebility however you are expected to be in proper full control of your car.
You can't get enough pedal pressure by using your bare feet; the sole of the shoe transfers the braking power of the whole foot whereas bare foot pressure is mostly transfered by the ball of foot or other parts and it is painful to apply enough pressure for a panic stop so you would most likely not apply full pressure. So yes, it is dangerous and there is a reason for it to be illegal in some countries.
My dad had one in the sixties. Bought him the model 10 years ago and shared the Dutch version of the Hayes manual with the NS U club. My son still has my grandfather's Quickly moped.
I owned a NSU 1200C whilst in Germany in the early 70’s. My very first car, did several trips to and from UK with no problems, with the exception of my 18 month old son being car sick on one of our return trips back to Germany, so not the cars fault (could have been my enthusiastic driving). In conclusion a great little car.
Lots of these things still around here in the Desert/Countryside. You'll still find them in Arizona and New Mexico and other Southeastern States. Noisy little bastard's though 😮😅! I just sold my 30+ year collection of old Scooters and Mopeds including several of these NSU and PUCH examples. We still have a few NSU's in the various scrapyards @ work. Right now, with the Temperature's hovering around the 115+Degree mark... air-cooled cars are your friend. I drove my own 69 Corvair to work these past few days. It's HOT out there 😮!
Omg, id give my eyeteeth for another! If you find one up for grabs that's restorable, let me know! I've had 2 of the first generation, a 59 and 60 2 cyl ones...I'm pretty much an expert on them with about 40 years experience on them...I can quote their stats out of memory...78 inch wheelbase,1090 lbs, $1398 brand new, 36.8 cu in, 20 HP, 6 gal gas tank...ohc dbl cams, hemi head, eccentrics and straps,dynamo ignition,Bosch twin ignition coils, only one piston fires per revolution, 56 mpg at 60 mph....😊
@@TelegraphRoadWhittier Hello. I'll keep your Screen name on here. There's quite a few in our Yards here, nearly complete because really, nobody wants them. But we have the room... hundreds of acres of cars .....so they don't really get in the way.
I once read one part of a series about two Czechoslovakian journalists travelling the world (except Australia and New Zealand I think) in an air-cooled Tatra in the late 40s. You've got to imagine that, an executive car with an air-cooled V8 in the rear! Anyway, they loved their air-cooled car in the desert because it never overheated. Water-cooling has come a long way since the 40s though. I'll have to try and get my hands onto the other two books from the series one day, it's quite well-written.
A very nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. The first crash that I remember being involved in was when my mother turned our NSU Prinz onto it's side at a junction near our home.
@@HubNutactually, I tell a lie. First crash was when she drove a Daimler Conquest into a wall. Second was the Prinz, third was driving a Scimitar GTE into a bus. In her 80s now, still driving. Yoiks!
Better to be able to see than to crash because the pillars were so thick you couldn't see a cyclist - or another car. (It hasn't happened to me but I've feared it could.)
@@Summers-lad Toyota Wish early 2000s, Toyota Previa 1990s...all with triangular "windows" in the base of the "A" Pillar to allow you sight lines on awkwardly angled intersections/turning corners... and still that thick A pillar blocked a huge amount of traffic... turning out of driveways near corners in the road can be diabolical...
The Prinz has a lovely look. Yes, it is cute. Mid 1970s I went with three friends from the Netherlands to Switzerland, in the middle of winter. The NSU Prinz had a slightly bended passenger door. I was seated just behind that drafty door, on the rear bench. From that trip I mainly remember my legs being frozen from that cold draft, while we drove over the German highways. I still like the Prinz.
But, that was not the worst trip on German highways. That was with a Reliant. Because of the low speed we were forced to stay in the lane where the big trucks drove. That was intimidating, especially when they overtook us, (because we were so slow). Those trucks had created two deep gutters with their tyres, and thus a huge protruding ridge in the middle of the lane. The Reliant's single front wheel wanted to continually skid off that ridge to the right or to the left. Struggling with the steering, while the trucks pressing on around us, made that the worst ride. Hooray for the four wheeled Prinz🙂
That may be the brownest car I have seen. Delightful! I used to see a few of these around in my mechanining days in the eighties, completely forgotten about them till now so thanks for the reminder👍
my mates dad had an NSU the bigger one i can remember it being very smart and a lovely ride we spent most of our time in it playing hot wheels so dont remember much more
Remember these being quite common- place around my district, which might sound surprising , as they were foreign , and pre common market there would, no doubt been a tax levy on the purchase price. A very interesting little motor car.
There were a lot of these around Sevenoaks in Kent in the Seventies. They were always filthy, because, I imagine, being so tiny meant they had all the road dust and mud flung at them! Some interesting colours mind too!
Absolutely your best review yet on a fantastic little car. I'm totally biased in this as an NSU Prinz 4L was my first car in which I learnt to drive in 1982. It was totally gutless, but this just taught me how to anticipate. Also, much like I believe Citroens of the time, the indicators are not self cancelling. So to this day I always cancel the indicator myself, no matter what I'm driving. It had its flaws, but I have nothing except fond memories of my NSU.
my mum and dad had one. Then it was off road for a few years in the back garden, then my dad decided to get it back on the road again. It was a funny old car. One time fumes entered into the car itself and i remember winding down the windows.
It's like a miniature version of the 1964 Renault R8 I bought in high school. Lovely little car, as long as you didn't lift in the middle of sharp corners (swing axles!).
Corgi produced a toy NSU Sport Prinz, a coupé version of this car. As NSU cars were thin on the ground in the UK, most kids hadn't heard of them so probably not a great seller. I always wanted one, obviously.
The first car I bought was 64 Corvair. Always felt it was styled like small European cars of the era. In ‘65 they were restyled to be like the rest of the Chevy line.
Back in the day I used to buy and sell a few of the most unusual cars at the local auction rooms (Shoreham) and the Prinz was one of them. A fascinating little car however the 1200 SC was so good that I was asked to supply a second one. I found one with a slipping clutch which I mention because changing the clutch was a 30 minute job achieved by removing a cover unit under a rear wing . Why arent they all so simple! I wish I still had the immaculate 2 stroke Saab I bought and sold. Those were the days.
Thanks for the review!!! My dad had bought one new as his first car!! (He was in his late 20's though or early 30's)... However he gave it to my aunt and drove it till the early 90's when the gear box/clutch gave out sadly! :( (This was also in Italy) I do remember as child the big chrome dials and steering wheel though it was so cool! (bit like your Morris Oxford) I now understand more as to why there were no parts available and I thought it was just because of no equivalent clutch but yeah that gear box looks complicated! Well done to Marcel for keeping this one on the road!!!
'A little tight in the rear'. That is a selling point. I have wondered about these for 45 years. Seriously. I fell in love with the little red Spider when I saw it as a kid in the Science Museum (Wonder if they still have it)? So naturally I wondered about these. They were few and far between even in 1979 and not one Spider, as I looked for my first car having saved up a bit and sold my beloved Nikon FE. (Warning: Deviation and old mans waffle). I missed out on a MK3 Spitfire by 10 minutes. I told the guy I was coming with cash and had to get a train and bus and walk... I went home fuming yet, lo and behold, in the local garage at the end of my road was sitting a convertible Vitesse 2L Mk1... £395.00 so I paid up (most of it) and drove it 100 yards home. It really taught me how to drive what was in part a dodgy handling vehicle, though when sorted it was wonderful..The sagging rear spring was a godsend for grip. I spotted it on the cover of Classic Car Weekly a few months ago. The bloke exaggerated how long he had owned it! Anyhow I deviated and I have to make a complaint. I'm not sure which was worse. The Jesus sandals or the bare feet? ( It was the bare (bear) feet, we are used to your sandals). For the love of god get your lovely Mrs to invest in some dainty driving shoes for you. Just to continue the complaint, I was hoping to hear something about the engineering. We did get some nice info on the engine and gearbox and boot prop device. I noticed there was no sign of suspension or steering parts intruding into the bonnet or boot space, all seemingly being hidden under the tiny wheel arches, apart from a single anchoring point at one end. How was the steering? Is it a rack? I had gained the opinion that these cars were very nicely engineered. Did it feel well put together? I waffle on like this and sound like a total bore when I have had no sleep for 36 hours. Which I haven't. Apologies and of course I'm not really complaining, apart from about the feet. Edit: Yes I am hallucinating now.
A dynastart always sounds so civilised compared with the raucous din of a starter ring ! Nice car - I remember seeing them about quite a lot when I was a youf in the 70s...thanks for showing us this gem.
I remember these as a child, the styling always has been attractive to me. Nice to see one of the humble small version preserved like that, usually it's the NSU 1000 and then especially the TT/TTS models which get recognition.
That diagram of the engine was useful, I was wondering whether it had the pistons going up and down together or were 180 out, but nope, they're together, hence the vibrations with everything rattling away at low revs...
If the crank was 180, then there'd be 540 degrees of crank rotation without a power stroke, then teo bursts, then that lull. This MSU parallel twin gives one firing stroke per revolution, the best compromise. Used by everyone from old BSA twins to the Fiat TwinAir. But of course you end up with two pistons bounding up and down in unison, so not smooth. The 2CV and BMW motorcycle engines are flat-wins and avoid the mechanical imbalance at the expense of mechanical bulk.
I bought my first Prinz 4 in 1995. In 1997 it was written off by some thugs in Mile End who tipped it onto its side (with us inside). In 1998 I bought my current Prinz 4 from its original owner in Surrey. I love the car so much that when I moved to Canada, I had the car shipped over. I now drive her (she is called Stella) in Vancouver BC where she causes much confusion. Because she is rhd, most people guess English or Japanese manufacture and not German!
How did the tipping over story start and end, it deserves more of an explaination, I feel.
Amazed that Canada let you in after serving such a long sentence for murder..I assume you murdered them thugs? I mean… who wouldn’t have.. a bit of MDK?
Anyhoo, got to go It’s ‘Lights out’ jn 10 minutes…
The first American to orbit the earth, John Glenn, drove a NSU Prinz. The other six Mercury astronauts drove Corvettes.
My dad had an NSU RO80 which was a horse of a different colour! It may have been disastrous financially but it was an amazing car which still looks modern and futuristic today.
Did it have any of the faults that RO80’s were known for or was it reliable etc.
One of my dads favourite cars although he never owned one.
@@malcolmyoung7866 Actually my dad had two of them. The first one failed due to the well known engine problem. So NSU gave my dad a very good deal on the later model and that one was great and didn't suffer from any problems. I remember going down to Spain in it and it was a real head turner because of its beautiful and futuristic design.
That's an impeccably preserved NSU PRINZ. Here in Uruguay they were commonly seen running back in the early 80's.
Oh! Memory Lane!!
My first car was a 1964 blue NSU Prinz 4L. Fabulous thing, so advanced for the time - as you mention, all sycro box, discs up front and an absolute DELIGHT to drive. I was in a band at the time & we could get a full drum kit in it!
Once it got going, the handling was surprisingly good, if a bit susceptible to wandering about a bit in a cross-wind...
Also, it was pretty quite in the ....erm...."cruise"...with all the noise generators well behind you.
Loved that little car - SO much character, and it never let me down ever, despite having almost 90,000 miles on the clock!
I also loved the Drivers handbook that came with it, reminding that checking the tyres regularly (with the tyre pressure gauge in the supplied tool kit) not only enhanced the safety, but also endowed the driver "The Air of The Expert".
Best watch on here for ages; made my evening, thank you.
From America it sounds like a lawn mower lol
welcome to the new channel... Hobbitnut & the Frodo road-test
😂😂😂
Lord of the Piston Rings
One does just simply drive to Mordor
I had Prinz 4 in 1980. Its clutch had gone and I was told I could have it for free if I picked it up before the tax and MOT expired.
It turned out that the clutch cable was way out of adjustment, and I drove the car home.
It needed very little for a new MOT and I really liked it. I don't recall it being as noisy and shaky as this one, but time fogs the memory.
They were quite popular in the UK being economical and unusually rust resistant for their time.
IIRC Prinz 4s sold in the UK prior to us joining the EEC were assembled in the Irish Republic.
Great to see this. A bit of nostalgia for me!
That engine has a lovely burble about it. A cutey, without a doubt... Thank you Marcel for letting hubnut show it to the masses.
I love this thing. It sounds amazing. Soviet zaz zaporozec looks totally like NSu prinz 4 but with v4 engine. Maybe little bigger
Ian should do a comparison test on a Zaprozhets ZAZ-966 and let us know. I imagine it would run along the lines of Russian reliability and toughness versus German precision.
My friend had one in the late 90s
Our favourite thing was the way the manual described the capacity of the glove box.
“The Glove compartment is a useful size.
It will hold a thermos flask (full).
or an airbed (empty),”
and they say Germans don’t have a sense of humour!
Some Germans most certainly do, and quite a dry, witty one too. Just don't confuse Cologne carnival shows with German humour.
My primary school teacher had one like this and I loved it - and her (yep, little boy crush). I think its colour was mustard. I used to wait for her to leave, so I could hear the engine come to life. Fond memories of car (and of teacher, yes).
My dad had one of these cars , his was the 1000cc version. It was an up-spec version that looked a bit like the TT. Beautifully made cars. His was a 1969 model so 6V electrics of course. The last production year of the model was 1972/73 and by that stage the engine was 1200 with 12V electrics. You'll need to keep the king pins greased because they tend to seize and affect the steering. I remember the exhaust system being incredibly expensive and quite complex. My lasting memory of the car is the whisky bottles clinking around in the bonnet because that's where he kept his stash so my mum couldn't find it!!
The Prinz 1000 was the only one with 6 Volt electrics. This was a big mistake, especially in the wintertime. Prinz 4, 1000 TT and TTS and the 1200 were all 12 V.
Here the "schoolteacher" 😅: Prinz 3 = 583 cc. Prinz 4 = 598 cc. Max speed (from test in an old review, Quattroruote 12/1970 - Italy): 120, 647 km/h (only driver) and 115, 448 km) h (full load). Actually the first Prinz 4 version in 1962, same review, did 123,323 km/h at medium load. Anyway, Prinz 4 was my dad's car, that dynastart and engine sound... how much nostalgia! 1975, I remember my father have a problem with a bushing in the gear lever... stop at the roadside, checking, show me the bushing, fixing and on the road again! Thx for the video!
What a little sweetheart!
it looks so like my DAF 44, even the same colour, It also shares the washer bulb as they were only fitted to DAFs and NSU cars. lovely
There were a few about in the 70s and I remember them well. Mind you, haven't seen one on the road for 40 years. Thanks for the memories.
@@alanhunter2009 if you were in Austria 4 weeks ago there were loads in Fieberbrunn
I used to deliver them out of Shoreham late 60s. I owned a Prinz 2L when stationed in Detmold 65 to 67. The 1000 TTS was the one to drive, it rivaled many quick cars
The Cooper S competitor.
I used to work at an NSU dealer in the 60s and came down to Shoreham on a couple of training courses. If my memory serves me correctly the Service Manager/Trainer was Greek and Octav Botnar (of Nissan GB fame) owned the importer. Yes, the TTS was fast.
I had the bike with the NSU Prinz engine, the Munch Mammoth TTSE 1200. What a beast! I rode it around Australia and then sold it to a famous museum on Hamilton Island in The Whitsunday Island chain. I miss it..
The old car of our neighbours. Back seats were good enough for their two kids. When taking wife and kids to church on sunday mornings. Later switched to THE favourite automotive vehicle of the Dutch during the late sixties/early seventies; the Opel Kadett B.
Beige of course.
I was convinced THE favourite vehicle of the Dutch during that period was the DAF (Any model but Daffodil sounds funny).
@@martinda7446 Sounds even funnier in German because it's closely related to crocodile (the flower has a completely different name in German).
That is drop dead gorgeous
The NSU Prinz , the car for the kings !
In German though, Prinz means heir apparent or just "son of a ruling monarch". The English prince would be a Fürst (yes, from the same root as the English first).
Fahren eine prinz, und du bist eine konig! Or so the old slogan said...😂
What a great example of one of these cars. The exhaust note sounds great, especially on downshifts.
My Dad had one about 1968 painted Blue...It got the Family from Bradford to Mabelthorpe and back with Roof rack on the roof..Fully loaded..never failed
That is adorable, and I love the colour. My Grandfather had an (Larger model, as you said) NSU Prinz 1000 TT, and loved it. He later sold it, for a used 1976 RO80 and regreated it. Wasn't as smooth and refined in his view. Great video.
Absolutely brilliant video Ian ❤👍 what a beautiful car love the colour brilliant
I remember these well…..but don’t forget the early Skodas… also rear engine . Great little car 😎👌🏽
The Prinz was kept on the Market by the Italian customers. Because Volkswagen wanted to cease production around 1969, but there was still more than 50.000 orders open from Italy so until early 1973 about 70 percent went directly to Italy from Neckarsulm factory
What a great little car and in fabulous 70s brown. Awesome 👌
Sat there all chocolatey like a luxury biscuit 😀
These are my favourite HubNut videos! Where you go abroad and test drive different cars on different locations 😃
The OHC drive was an NSU "thing"; they used it on their sportmax and Rennmax motorcycles. It gives very accurate can timing but seems to be a solution looking for a problem for a small family car.
It's the opposite of the fuel pump rod drive off the camshaft that used to be typical for American V8s (and others?) before electric pumps in the tank.
W O Bentley did it with his six cylinder engines in the 20's because it was quiet. But then he learned his trade in locomotive engineering.
Why is it a problem?
Honda used small OHC engines which were extremely reliable and often were given little care.
To clarify, because I can't remember the dates - 20's/30's. Bentley served his apprenticeship at the GNR works in Doncaster.
@@NeilBarrattit's not a problem but Honda's OHC engines were chain driven which would have been much cheaper to make. The ?Ultramax? System seems almost wilfully complicated and expensive to make. Ok, it's cheaper than shaft and bevel and maybe a gear train but nowhere near the value engineering of a chain OHC.
Another one ticked off the list Ian. Beautiful car
Great video I like the older cars more better than the newer ones the good old days of the car with no computers on board 😂
What a cute little brown thing!
I didn‘t even know there was a two cylinder Prinz. Hope you‘ll also find a Prinz TT to drive. Quite a difference in power and fun!
For NSU: they also brought the NSU K70 into the band with VW, which was a 4-cylinder, watercooled, frontwheel driven sedan - which directly competed with the Audi 80 / VW Passat that were just on the brink after the VW / Audi merger. It was sold for a few years and then discontinued, even though it was more modern and spacier than the Audi 80 was. But it was just a stepchild of a former competitior and handled as such. The bigger rear engined NSU 1000 / 1200 was used as a racecar. The 1200 TTS and TTS-E dominated round track races or slalom. The 4 cylinder engine was the technical base for the Münch motorcycles - the first "Superbike" of sorts. NSU had a rich history - all eliminated for and by VAG mediocrity. Thanks for showing though !
Welcome 🤗 in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Ian ! And yes we’ve got also lovely rainy weather! 😢 So you must feel al little bit at home 😂😂😂 Sadly without your lovely family! What an amazing 🤩 brown super car! Lovely lines , so sad that so many brands don’t exist anymore! Luckily there are still survivors like this example! Looking forward for your next adventure here in the Netherlands 🇳🇱! And don’t forget to buy something nice for the family! Iets lekkers 😋! Stroopwafels, Jodenkoeken, drop , zwartwit! And eat some poffertjes! 👍🏻👍🏻🆙
The rotating knob for the quarter lights is similar to the Rover P6 and Triumph Stag. Nice
That method of spinning the camshaft via connecting rods was first employed by NSU on their motorcycles.
I can remember the first time I saw an NSU Prinz in a photograph, or rather a slide, sometime in the late 1960s. A family friend had returned from a vacation in Italy and was showing slides of his trip. There in the background was a white Prinz. My brother and me got quite excited in the manner that only car-mad little boys of single-digit age can get, over this little European Corvair. We knew all about Fiat 600s and 500s also visible in that pic because our relatives in the old country drove them and Corvairs were a common sight in Canada at the time, but now the existence of this shrunken Euro Corvair was a new and exciting development. I remember we had a hard time processing that it wasn't a Corvair at all, but some obscure (to us) European brand.
By the way, theyre called eccentrics and straps, not rods. I've had 2 of these, a 59 and 60 with the first body style
The camshaft drive was actually designed by an English bloke called Walter Moore for Norton motorcycles. The bike was called a CS1 (camshaft 1!). He was lured away by NSU and designed a very similar bike, the NSU 500 SS. The joke back in the day was NSU stood for Norton Spares Used....so there ya go..
Been wanting to review one of these for ages.. my uncle in Italy used to have a blue one just like this..
What a lovely little thing from Neckarsulm in Baden-Württemberg… Thanks guys for this trip! 😊 See you soon ///// Martin
Lol, yup...I still have the nsu hood badge from my 1960 prinz 3!
Had a red one did an engine overhaul, novel cam drive system. Later on went to work at a VW dealer and worked on lots of NSU RO 80s !
Another brilliant review. Lovely car so well made for its day. When I was 8 my dad had an NSU 1200C. Great car and very nippy and rare even then. Would have one now.
My dad had a 1968 NSU 1200C between about 1971 and 1975. I see lots of retro stuff about the Prinz, but nothing ever about the 1200C. I was starting to wonder if I imagined the car as I was only 9 when he sold it.
Do you know if there are any still in existence?
Not seen any for a long time and have looked for adverts for sale in UK but mostly all in Europe I think. Ours was a 69 I think, (H) bright red it it felt very fast! I remember working on it. Great fun. Still got the owners manual. Remember seeing them being raced. It was sold to a family member and can never remember it breaking down. Always liked them so you are not imagining things!
Cool little cute car! It even looks cute in brown,not usually a car colour I like! 😍😍
The Prinz 4 was quite a popular car in Italy at the time. There were still plenty on the road in the 80s.
I HAD A NSU LAMBRETTA SCOOTER BACK INTHE DAY.VERY NICE LITTLE CAR AND A LOVELY BROWN.
Love these cars. Always reminded me of a bathtub...in a good way
I've always admired the curved rear window and rear roof detail on these. A lovely thing.
Gloriously delightful!
What a lovely exhaust note!
Nice one Ian, keep them coming, thank you!🙏
In the 70s my mate's mum left her husband & lived with someone else, this man bought her a NSU Prinz but even though she didn't have a car she turned her nose up at it & got him to take it back! I can't remember what she drove after that for certain but I think it was an old Ford Anglia, so she went from a new car to a 2nd hand one!
Funny that you mistook the heater for the starter where the Fiat 500 has one, because there is a strange link between Fiat and NSU. There was a factory in Heilbronn, Germany, which was spun off from NSU in 1929 where they assembled NSU-Fiat badged cars based on Fiats, but when NSU started to build the Prinz, there were two entirely different companies building cars with the same name! They eventually settled the conflict and NSU-Fiat became Neckar and finally Fiat until production in Germany ended in 1973.
Fiat 600 (and Zastava 750 licence derivative in Yugoslavia) had a choke and a hand-operated throttle(!) levers (beside normal pedal) placed there. It was a great aid on going up hills and in the winter in snowy conditions (fine tuning it to the slip point and for engine breaking).
What a delightful little thing.
what a swet little car and despite the naysayers, driving barefoot is not illigal and no way dangerous and is very pleasant on long trips
In Germany, France and Spain it is illegal. Same for slippers. And i do NOT agree. It IS dangerous, specially slippers and high heels.
In NL and B it's your own responsebility however you are expected to be in proper full control of your car.
@@jfv65 That's like saying you'd have better control wearing gloves than using your bare hands.
I agree about high heels and platform shoes though.
@@NeilBarratt exactly, equating barefoot to high heels and slippers is plain stupid
You can't get enough pedal pressure by using your bare feet; the sole of the shoe transfers the braking power of the whole foot whereas bare foot pressure is mostly transfered by the ball of foot or other parts and it is painful to apply enough pressure for a panic stop so you would most likely not apply full pressure.
So yes, it is dangerous and there is a reason for it to be illegal in some countries.
@@jfv65 There is no such law in Germany.
It may be brown but it is cute, like the Imp and Beetle. I can see the Corvair influence, having seen both a Prinz 4 and a Corvair in my time.
My dad had one in the sixties. Bought him the model 10 years ago and shared the Dutch version of the Hayes manual with the NS U club. My son still has my grandfather's Quickly moped.
I owned a NSU 1200C whilst in Germany in the early 70’s. My very first car, did several trips to and from UK with no problems, with the exception of my 18 month old son being car sick on one of our return trips back to Germany, so not the cars fault (could have been my enthusiastic driving). In conclusion a great little car.
A few weekends ago, I was parked next to a Prinz TT. These had a very successful Motorsport career.
Lots of these things still around here in the Desert/Countryside. You'll still find them in Arizona and New Mexico and other Southeastern States. Noisy little bastard's though 😮😅! I just sold my 30+ year collection of old Scooters and Mopeds including several of these NSU and PUCH examples. We still have a few NSU's in the various scrapyards @ work. Right now, with the Temperature's hovering around the 115+Degree mark... air-cooled cars are your friend. I drove my own 69 Corvair to work these past few days. It's HOT out there 😮!
Omg, id give my eyeteeth for another! If you find one up for grabs that's restorable, let me know! I've had 2 of the first generation, a 59 and 60 2 cyl ones...I'm pretty much an expert on them with about 40 years experience on them...I can quote their stats out of memory...78 inch wheelbase,1090 lbs, $1398 brand new, 36.8 cu in, 20 HP, 6 gal gas tank...ohc dbl cams, hemi head, eccentrics and straps,dynamo ignition,Bosch twin ignition coils, only one piston fires per revolution, 56 mpg at 60 mph....😊
@@TelegraphRoadWhittier Hello. I'll keep your Screen name on here. There's quite a few in our Yards here, nearly complete because really, nobody wants them. But we have the room... hundreds of acres of cars .....so they don't really get in the way.
I once read one part of a series about two Czechoslovakian journalists travelling the world (except Australia and New Zealand I think) in an air-cooled Tatra in the late 40s. You've got to imagine that, an executive car with an air-cooled V8 in the rear! Anyway, they loved their air-cooled car in the desert because it never overheated. Water-cooling has come a long way since the 40s though.
I'll have to try and get my hands onto the other two books from the series one day, it's quite well-written.
This is my first time learning about this car and I instantly want one! Thanks for the great video 👍🏻
And of course the Renault 8. My granny had one, and I almost fell out the back door having found how the door handle worked... I was young.
A very nostalgic trip down memory lane for me. The first crash that I remember being involved in was when my mother turned our NSU Prinz onto it's side at a junction near our home.
Aw!
@@HubNutactually, I tell a lie. First crash was when she drove a Daimler Conquest into a wall. Second was the Prinz, third was driving a Scimitar GTE into a bus. In her 80s now, still driving. Yoiks!
Those slender A and B pillars are a delight (safety aside)
Better to be able to see than to crash because the pillars were so thick you couldn't see a cyclist - or another car. (It hasn't happened to me but I've feared it could.)
@@Summers-lad
Toyota Wish early 2000s, Toyota Previa 1990s...all with triangular "windows" in the base of the "A" Pillar to allow you sight lines on awkwardly angled intersections/turning corners...
and still that thick A pillar blocked a huge amount of traffic...
turning out of driveways near corners in the road can be diabolical...
The Prinz has a lovely look. Yes, it is cute.
Mid 1970s I went with three friends from the Netherlands to Switzerland, in the middle of winter. The NSU Prinz had a slightly bended passenger door. I was seated just behind that drafty door, on the rear bench. From that trip I mainly remember my legs being frozen from that cold draft, while we drove over the German highways. I still like the Prinz.
But, that was not the worst trip on German highways. That was with a Reliant. Because of the low speed we were forced to stay in the lane where the big trucks drove. That was intimidating, especially when they overtook us, (because we were so slow).
Those trucks had created two deep gutters with their tyres, and thus a huge protruding ridge in the middle of the lane. The Reliant's single front wheel wanted to continually skid off that ridge to the right or to the left. Struggling with the steering, while the trucks pressing on around us, made that the worst ride. Hooray for the four wheeled Prinz🙂
That may be the brownest car I have seen. Delightful! I used to see a few of these around in my mechanining days in the eighties, completely forgotten about them till now so thanks for the reminder👍
simply wonderful ! when cars were fun 😎
And slow, awful, and totally unsafe in this case. But cute.
@@emjayay At least it did not burst into flames like EV's
@@emjayay bet you wear a gas mask when go to the toilet
@@emjayay It's the nut behind the wheel that makes a car unsafe!!
my mates dad had an NSU the bigger one i can remember it being very smart and a lovely ride we spent most of our time in it playing hot wheels so dont remember much more
Remember these being quite common- place around my district, which might sound surprising , as they were foreign , and pre common market there would, no doubt been a tax levy on the purchase price. A very interesting little motor car.
There were a lot of these around Sevenoaks in Kent in the Seventies. They were always filthy, because, I imagine, being so tiny meant they had all the road dust and mud flung at them! Some interesting colours mind too!
They were pretty popular throughout the UK for a "Foreign" car.
Love these simple utilitarian cars but which also have an element of elegance attached to them.
drove a 1964 Corvair convertible with A/C, in mid-1990s
lovely + smooth
I wish my car was painted in this wonderful brown colour.
My Renault 16 was...
What a charming little thing!
My first car was a 1959 prinz, I later had a 1960....very rare in the states....I loved it , also had a 65 Renault dauphine gordini....
Thank you for sharing your adventure.
Beautiful, humble car!
Absolutely your best review yet on a fantastic little car. I'm totally biased in this as an NSU Prinz 4L was my first car in which I learnt to drive in 1982. It was totally gutless, but this just taught me how to anticipate. Also, much like I believe Citroens of the time, the indicators are not self cancelling. So to this day I always cancel the indicator myself, no matter what I'm driving. It had its flaws, but I have nothing except fond memories of my NSU.
my mum and dad had one. Then it was off road for a few years in the back garden, then my dad decided to get it back on the road again. It was a funny old car. One time fumes entered into the car itself and i remember winding down the windows.
It's like a miniature version of the 1964 Renault R8 I bought in high school. Lovely little car, as long as you didn't lift in the middle of sharp corners (swing axles!).
Corgi produced a toy NSU Sport Prinz, a coupé version of this car. As NSU cars were thin on the ground in the UK, most kids hadn't heard of them so probably not a great seller. I always wanted one, obviously.
I do know of a Sport Prinz in the UK. Possibly a Wankel Spider too...
Another fantastic review of a car I've never seen or heard of. Very interesting and entertaining. Thanks 😊
I love small cars! My first car was a 1966 VW Beetle. It was blue with a white interior.
My dad had one :) it was before I was born. First car I remember was the fiat 127 he bought new after the NSU.
Lovely little car
What a great step back in time Ian, a lovely little car that is great to see on the road. I really like it. Many thanks for sharing.
@5:50 That oddly reminds me of The Flintstones. 😘
The first car I bought was 64 Corvair. Always felt it was styled like small European cars of the era. In ‘65 they were restyled to be like the rest of the Chevy line.
Wow, what a stunning example.
'Ooh, that's quite hot!' - Bit of a 'John Noakes in Blue Peter' moment!
Back in the day I used to buy and sell a few of the most unusual cars at the local auction rooms (Shoreham) and the Prinz was one of them. A fascinating little car however the 1200 SC was so good that I was asked to supply a second one. I found one with a slipping clutch which I mention because changing the clutch was a 30 minute job achieved by removing a cover unit under a rear wing . Why arent they all so simple! I wish I still had the immaculate 2 stroke Saab I bought and sold. Those were the days.
Lovely little car❤
Thanks for the review!!!
My dad had bought one new as his first car!! (He was in his late 20's though or early 30's)... However he gave it to my aunt and drove it till the early 90's when the gear box/clutch gave out sadly! :( (This was also in Italy)
I do remember as child the big chrome dials and steering wheel though it was so cool! (bit like your Morris Oxford)
I now understand more as to why there were no parts available and I thought it was just because of no equivalent clutch but yeah that gear box looks complicated!
Well done to Marcel for keeping this one on the road!!!
'A little tight in the rear'. That is a selling point.
I have wondered about these for 45 years. Seriously. I fell in love with the little red Spider when I saw it as a kid in the Science Museum (Wonder if they still have it)? So naturally I wondered about these. They were few and far between even in 1979 and not one Spider, as I looked for my first car having saved up a bit and sold my beloved Nikon FE. (Warning: Deviation and old mans waffle).
I missed out on a MK3 Spitfire by 10 minutes. I told the guy I was coming with cash and had to get a train and bus and walk... I went home fuming yet, lo and behold, in the local garage at the end of my road was sitting a convertible Vitesse 2L Mk1... £395.00 so I paid up (most of it) and drove it 100 yards home. It really taught me how to drive what was in part a dodgy handling vehicle, though when sorted it was wonderful..The sagging rear spring was a godsend for grip. I spotted it on the cover of Classic Car Weekly a few months ago. The bloke exaggerated how long he had owned it!
Anyhow I deviated and I have to make a complaint. I'm not sure which was worse. The Jesus sandals or the bare feet? ( It was the bare (bear) feet, we are used to your sandals). For the love of god get your lovely Mrs to invest in some dainty driving shoes for you. Just to continue the complaint, I was hoping to hear something about the engineering. We did get some nice info on the engine and gearbox and boot prop device. I noticed there was no sign of suspension or steering parts intruding into the bonnet or boot space, all seemingly being hidden under the tiny wheel arches, apart from a single anchoring point at one end. How was the steering? Is it a rack? I had gained the opinion that these cars were very nicely engineered. Did it feel well put together?
I waffle on like this and sound like a total bore when I have had no sleep for 36 hours. Which I haven't. Apologies and of course I'm not really complaining, apart from about the feet.
Edit: Yes I am hallucinating now.
A dynastart always sounds so civilised compared with the raucous din of a starter ring ! Nice car - I remember seeing them about quite a lot when I was a youf in the 70s...thanks for showing us this gem.
Driving barefoot like The Toecutter from Mad Max! Watch out for Dutch V8 Interceptors. 😁👍
As a kid in the 70's, there were two NSU cars in the village - a green Prinz and and blue Ro80. The Ro80 seemed to have an awful lot of problems!
Lovely little car Ian
Awesome little motor for pootling around the polders. I don't remember seeing them back in the day. Mother had a Fiat 850 which was quite similar.
That's such a charming little thing, absolutely delightful 👌
I remember these as a child, the styling always has been attractive to me. Nice to see one of the humble small version preserved like that, usually it's the NSU 1000 and then especially the TT/TTS models which get recognition.
That diagram of the engine was useful, I was wondering whether it had the pistons going up and down together or were 180 out, but nope, they're together, hence the vibrations with everything rattling away at low revs...
If the crank was 180, then there'd be 540 degrees of crank rotation without a power stroke, then teo bursts, then that lull. This MSU parallel twin gives one firing stroke per revolution, the best compromise. Used by everyone from old BSA twins to the Fiat TwinAir.
But of course you end up with two pistons bounding up and down in unison, so not smooth. The 2CV and BMW motorcycle engines are flat-wins and avoid the mechanical imbalance at the expense of mechanical bulk.