NSU 6 1/2 PS, 830 cc (1912).
NSU, born in 1901, reaches its maximum magnificence between 1912 and 1914, just before the World War I, exporting their motorcycles to the USA and England. Four versions, identically designed, were manufactured with following engines: 500 cc, 600 cc, 830 cc, 1000 cc.
NSU Motorenwerke AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultimately Audi. The name NSU originated as an abbreviation of “Neckarsulm”, the city where NSU was located.
NSU originated as the “Mechanische Werkstätte zur Herstellung von Strickmaschinen”, a knitting machine manufacturer established in 1873 by Christian Schmidt, a technically astute entrepreneur, in the town of Riedlingen on the Danube. The business relocated in 1880 to Neckarsulm. There followed a period of rapid growth and in 1886, the company began to produce bicycles, the first of them a ‘high wheeler’ or ‘Penny-farthing’ branded as the “Germania”. By 1892, bicycle manufacturing had completely replaced knitting machine production. At about this time, the name NSU appeared as a brand name.
The first NSU motorcycle appeared in 1901, followed by the first NSU car in 1905. During World War I the company produced motorcycles and trucks for the German Army.
Moto Bassella museum, Catalonia, Pyrenees, Spain
