Here’s a rare little beast from NSU, one of a few brands bought by Volkswagen and rolled into what we now know as Audi. The ad text below gives plenty of info which we won’t repeat, but suffice it to say this is a cool little Italian-designed sportster.
This is likely to be awesomely slow, but would be a fun little oddity. We have quite a soft spot for Microcars, after all.
Note: A quick search shows this one formerly appeared on BAT (Bring A Trailer), later confirmed by my full reading of the ad text, where this is mentioned.
Click for eBay ad
Fair Oaks, CA
$7,500 with seven bids and, apparently, no reserve
07/22/2013 update: SOLD for $8,700 with 13 bids (not a bad deal for something so unusual?).
Ad text:
First up, I’m wordy and I’m sorry if that bothers you.
The NSU Sport Prinz was designed by Franco Scaglione at Bertone studios in Turin, Italy. The first few hundred Sport Prinz’ were built in Italy, but I believe this was built in Germany. I’ve heard that the current Audi TT was influenced by the Sport Prinz (that helps when everyone asks you who built the NSU and they’re not happy with “NSU”).
It’s the best looking Sport Prinz that I’ve seen and it’s mostly unrestored. I bought this and the only restored part was a repaint in its original red. I put on new tires (instead of running the originals), replaced the brake hoses, replaced the shift bushings and entered it in the California Melee Rally. Our initial entry had some problems (Fiat 124 Abarth rally car). The NSU wasn’t ready and I got a bit of gasket sealant into the engine at a roadside repair. It made it home and I received the “Will E. Makeit Award”. I’m told that its eligible for European rallies and I’m sure just about any rally in North America would love it. These are rare cars and extremely rare in the US.
It currently has a 583cc engine from a 1959 Prinz. I’ll include the original 588cc engine or I can hold onto it for you or future owners. No charge except future shipping if I hold onto it.
The only spot of rust is an inch sized hole under the battery (see pics or video) and a bit of the front bumper guard on the bottom. The original headliner has some stains (see pics or video) and the floor carpet behind the drivers seat is missing. The interior light is cracked (so it’s in the glove box) and the horn isn’t working. A previous owner played with the electronics but just about everything works except the radio. There’s a toggle switch that turns on the high beams. The wipers work.
It’s shows 8,254 miles, but that’s not correct. It’s closer to 10,000. It has spent most of its 50 years garaged. It has the original finned aluminum drum brakes.
I took it to a vintage Porsche mechanic this week to get it ready to sell. He cleaned the tank, replaced fuel lines and filters, and replaced the battery. The charging system puts out 13.2 to 13.7 volts. It’s now running VR1 20/50 Valvoline oil (recommended for old vehicles). He recommends changing the accelerator cable, wheel bearing service, and a new carb float. He said the tie rods also have some play. Like I said, it has 50 year old bushings (except shift bushings were replaced for the Melee).
It runs but the carb float fills up with fuel and it stalls. I left a message with the Bing Carb service place in Kansas and I hope to have a new float this week.
If it looks familiar, I had it on eBay years ago and it was on BringaTrailer.com but I ended the auction early according to eBay regulations. I love this car and I wouldn’t sell it now, but I bought another Sport Prinz with a 4 cylinder motor and disc brakes from a later Prinz. I always thought about doing that, but this one is way too nice. NSUs are hard to find, but when it rains, it pours. In the last month, I bought an NSU Typ 110 and another 2 cylinder, 588cc, red Sport Prinz. I’ll be putting the other SP on eBay soon, but it’s not nearly as nice as this one.
I’m putting over 50 giant pictures and three videos. https://plus.google.com/photos/114681072987565948759/albums/5900640313204777265 There’s a lot of year old cars that don’t hold up this well. Please look at the short video of the underneath. There’s no rust except minor surface rust on the tie rods. What looks like surface rust underneath the front end is rust repellent spray peeling off. I’m not ever sure if this car has ever seen the rain. There’s photos where I removed the access plates and it looks almost like a new car.
I will help out anyway to ship it anywhere in the world. If you want to rent a truck and trailer, I can probably tow it to you anywhere in the US for cost, a beer, and a ticket back to California. I’m available to show it in person in Fair Oaks, California. My name is Dave and my number is x.