As the popularity of Sport Utility Vehicles (or SUVs) grew in the 1990s, Nissan realized it needed a small four-wheel drive SUV to augment sales of its larger Nissan Patrol.
The Nissan S-Cargo was first shown at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show. From 1989 until 1992, only about 8,000 were produced. The small size but tall cargo area made it an ideal delivery vehicle in urban areas, with payload limited to 660 pounds.
Designed in Finland and built in China, the Norster 600R seen here may look like, and even drive like, a normal passenger car but it is actually registered in Europe as a “heavy quad” (All Terrain Vehicle in the US).
In the 1950s, NSU was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Management was still looking into the future, and was concerned that small cars were going to replace the motorcycle as a means of transport.
While the NSU Prinz 1, 2, and 3 were inexpensive, economical cars, they were not considered stylish. NSU realized that if they sought to sell small cars in volume numbers they needed a car with a more appealing style.
The NSU trademark was first used in 1892. Motorcycle production began in 1901, and the first NSU-badged car was introduced at the Berlin Motor Show in 1907.
The Ro-80 was a truly advanced front-wheel drive saloon. It combined the first commercially developed twin-rotor Wankel engine with front-wheel drive and semi-automatic transmission, a spacious interior, and a low-drag body shape.
A derivative of the Prinz, the Sport Prinz was built on the Prinz platform. Designed by Franco Scaglione while at the Bertone studios in Turin, this new sporty NSU was a hit at the 1958 Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Wankel-Spider was the world’s first rotary-engined production car. NSU had been experimenting with Wankel-patent rotary engines since the mid-1950s.
Due in large part to the oil crisis of 1973, many startup American car companies were developing and producing electric cars in small numbers into the early 1980s. The Omega Electric Car Company of Huntington Beach, California, was one of these companies.
Opperman was a tractor manufacturer that decided to expand into the microcar business. They commissioned Lawrie Bond (who designed and built the Bond Microcar) to design a car for them.
Otas offered two FIAT-based sports cars–most were based on a FIAT 500, 850 or 128. While this car was more costly than FIAT’s 850 coupé, it was far more exclusive.
Brothers Gilles and Olivier Prévôt began P.G.O. (Prévôt Gilles et Olivier) Automobiles in 1985, but production started in earnest in 2000, building Porsche 356-inspired sports cars.
