This past weekend, Otto and I piled into the Pao and determinedly tootled an hour and a half to the NC Transportation Museum where the RAD Carolina car show was being held. I drew a bunch of quick car drawings for the good people, helped judge, and generally devalued the property with my presence. As always, it was a blast, with some great cars showing up, some of which I’ll likely be featuring in future Cold Starts. Right now, though, I want to focus on one very unexpected and very tiny car, which you can see above.
The museum has pretty extensive model railroad setup, and in the process of scrutinizing it, a tiny model car caught my attention, because it’s a really unexpected car to see, both in reality and in miniature, especially in America. It’s this:
You know what I think that is? That filthy, tiny, plastic little car? I think it’s one of these:
An NSU Ro80! Arguably the finest full-sized rotary four-door sedan ever made, the Ro80 is one of those few cars of the 1960s that, were you to update details like bumpers and mirrors and maybe some lighting, could pass for a modern car, even today.
The Ro80 was built for 10 years, from 1967 to 1977, with well under 40,000 examples made, so it was never a common car. It was always wildly rare in America, too, so seeing it represented so casually in a model railroad is a shock as massive as the model car is tiny.
It’s likely the only Ro80 in Spencer, NC. I’m actually not certain there’s a real Ro80 in the entire state, even?
Also, I think this may be the smallest subject of any Cold Start, so please annotate the event accordingly.
I don’t recall ever having heard about this car before, though I can’t swear to it. It looks like a bit of an 80s Audi crossed with a Puegot 505 from around the same time. It’s very handsome: the large, light greenhouse, the strong character line that runs the length of the car forming a sort of shoulder, the chrome window surrounds and slim bumpers… all quite pleasing to the eye. đ
Oh man! Upon first glance at the lead image I thought we were gonna get an article about the model cars in âMister Rogers’ neighborhoodâ.
I have to admit I was a little disappointed that wasnât what it was about.
Now I have to try and figure out the makes and models on my own.
I spy a 1928 Ford Model A Sport CoupeâŚ
I canât do this alone.
Well nothing like 2 poor photos from different angles but the gas flap is missing on the model. Funny thing is a dull worn model with shiny front tire gave away it was a model.
NSU was a brand I wasn’t really familiar with until my dad started sharing his UK auto magazines with me. I think Saturn in the early days cribbed a bit off NSU style. More obviously Citroen, but also NSU.
I’m really liking the green greenhouse on the Ro80!
I have the 1:87, bought it in a Berlin hobby shop in 1977, the wheels are like very fine spoke design. In fact, I have a whole shoe box of Wikings from that era. The detail is exemplary. Went on a tour of the factory, saw the process of designing and making the molds, and met the owner. Very interesting guy.
RAD Carolina was a fun reason for my first visit to the NC Transportation Museum; seeing Torch’s Pao (and later Torch) was a great surprise. Here is my (unedited) gallery from the show, I think I should have driven my ’95 F150 instead of my Father-in- Law’s (RIP, ALS sucks) ’96 Miata.
(to clarify, My truck could have won the 90’s Stock/Production Full Size Truck class, as there was no competition – as compared to 90’s Stock/Production Import.)
This is the same circumstance that led to Torch taking home a trophy from last year’s RAD Carolina. He showed up in The Marshal and won the award for ’80s Stock Domestic Pickup, as there was no competition. All the other trucks of that vintage were modified.
That is a very nice collection of photos. Thank you for sharing.
That looks like a Wiking 1:160 (N scale) NSU Ro80, with the wheels painted black. Commonly came in a set together with a VW Variant, Mercedes 280, and a Citroen DS.
https://www.dba.dk/modeltog-wiking-n-tilbehoer/id-1100365947/
I think you’re right that it’s 1:160. I was thinking 1:87, but the detail is lackingâdoesn’t even seem to have an interior.
Yep. And behind it is a Kato N-scale Toyota Crown, which is unusual while not as weird as an Ro80.
https://www.amazon.com/Kato-USA-23-500-Toyota-Automobiles/dp/B0003JOMDE
RAD Carolina was a great event, made better by Torch’s participation.
My photo gallery from the event can be found here.
I meant to ask @Torch when I returned from the 1PM train ride (but he and his son were heading out by then) if those VW hubcaps were from his old beetle. And to ask if he and David Tracy could develop a coffee table book about tail lights for Jeeps that never existed.
I wasn’t aware the NSU Ro80 was officially sold in the US market until a US-spec version with sealed beam headlights popped up for sale last year. For some reason I have a fascination with Euro car brands having to make major changes to the lighting on their cars for very low sales volume due to US lighting laws, and the Ro80 falls in that category.
Not that surprising because model railways are BIG in Germany. If you’re into German stuff and small scales https://www.herpa.de/de has you covered.
So, immediately below the âI think itâs one of these:â is an ad for Handcrafted Mahogany Pieces (military models) and a picture of a black submarine.
-I think, -for a second there-I inhabited Jasonâs rather interesting alternate reality cause Iâm thinking âPeugeot, maybe? But, itâs whiteâŚthats a black cylinderâŚ???â
Well, aren’t the model trains made by the (west) german manufacturer Märklin? So not so strange they made some contemporary model cars to go with them.
Also a good choice, since the Ro80 was never really updated (on the outside) between 1967 and 1977. All competing Fords and Opels changed all the time. BMW and Mercedes-Benz not so much.
Some say the 80ies Audi 100 (or 5000 depending on your geography…) was the Ro80’s spritual descendant. It also had a sleek roomy shape and lots of glass. Man, my own 1988 2.2E just drove SO well!
This is fantastic. The actual car looks like the greenhouse from something else was grafted on, but in the best way.
Good eye! And that is why the Autopian is such a great car culture site. Thanks for the morning wake up.
Of all the Matchbox cars I have destroyed when I was a wee lad, the Lamborghini Marzal is still my favorite.
OMG I had one too. Those glass doors!
Still have mine. Saving it and the other Hot Wheels and Matchboxes of my youth for my 1/64 car restoration retirement hobby.
I still have one of those! When I was a young teen, I figured out that nail polish remover is also essentially paint stripper, and I stripped the paint off my little Matchbox Lamborghini Marzal. I polished the bare metal until it was shiny bright and then clear coat sealed it. Its still in that condition now…
I used to take my son there all the time when he was young and we lived in Concord. I even read a whole book about how to hop trains, an important life skill.
I had a dream about Torch last night – no joke. We were sitting next to each other at a dinner party and he was talking about the “Hoffman.” I asked him if he remembered me from driving around a runway in a Kei car at the 2013 Nissan 360 Media event in El Toro. He said, ‘No,’ and I immediately woke up. I was crushed. Not a good way to start the week
That was a nightmare! of COURSE I remember you! Dreams are liars!
This looks like 1:87. Most 1:87 cars for HO railroad sets are made in Germany and feature a lot of Euro odd balls. Could be an old Herpa or Wiking or whoever else Iâve forgotten about.
Wiking indeed made an NSO Ro80 model, also in some off-white colours. I would also guess it is one of those.
The model railroad is N-Scale (1:160), built, maintained, and hosted by the Central Carolina N-Scalers, I presume the car is the same.
Yeah, someone else suggested that and I took another look and realized it lacked detail for 1:87. I have a box of 1:87 cars that I haven’t looked at in decades, but I collected them for a brief period because of the extraordinary detail with such a small platform.