- One-off Pininfarina NSU 2 Porte + 2 with a Wankel engine is heading to auction soon.
- This unique concept is based on the NSU Ro 80 and boasts striking design features.
- The interior features bright orange cloth upholstery and a flat dashboard with large gauges.
The oddball you’re looking at is called the NSU Ro 80 2 Porte + 2, a curious creation from Pininfarina that you probably haven’t heard of—until now. This unique one-off is about to hit the auction block in Los Angeles later this month, with an estimated selling price of around $80,000. Not bad for a car that looks like it rolled straight out of a design studio’s fever dream.
This show car is based on the NSU Ro 80, a four-door sedan produced by NSU in West Germany from 1967 to 1977. Fun fact: NSU was acquired by Volkswagen in 1969 and later merged with Auto Union, which eventually became the Audi brand we know today.
Around 37,000 Ro 80s were built, and Pininfarina chose it as the foundation for one of its wild concepts. The 2 Porte + 2 was displayed at the 1971 Turin Motor Show and the 1972 Brussels Motor Show before joining the Rudi Klein collection in California in 1995.
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By modern standards, the original Ro 80 might come across as a quirky sedan, but the 2 Porte + 2 takes that quirkiness to a whole new level. Pininfarina replaced every single body panel, giving the front end a pointed nose with minimalist headlights and a tiny grille. From the side, it’s unlike anything else on the road, with rear suicide doors and a roofline reminiscent of American sedans from the 1980s, featuring a flat rear decklid. It’s definitely not your typical family sedan.
RM Sotheby’s is handling the sale of this automotive curiosity, noting that it features a sliding roof panel that cleverly tucks into a recess on the trunk lid. Inside, the transformation continues with eye-catching bright orange cloth seats and a flat dashboard adorned with large circular gauges. It’s an interior that practically screams for attention.
The Italian design house didn’t mess with the car’s powertrain, retaining the original two-rotor Wankel engine which produced 113 hp back in the day, funneled through a three-speed automatic transmission to the front wheels.
After Klein acquired the car in 1995, he showcased it on the West Coast before loaning it to Audi, where it spent years in the company’s museum. It recently returned to the U.S. in preparation for its auction debut, ready to find a new home—or perhaps another eccentric collector who appreciates its uniqueness.
If you think this car has a place in your collection, you can find more details and participate in the auction at RM Sotheby’s.
