September 2019 Classic & Sports Car 123each other, German Ro80 owners would proffer
fingers in greeting to indicate the number of
replacement engines they’d had), and no amount
of assurances in the early ’70s about improved
reliability could tempt them back.
Meanwhile, bankrupted by generously
honoured warranty claims, NSU had become
part of the VW-Audi group in 1969. The new
bosses might reasonably have been expected to
bury the loss-making Ro80 at the first opportu-
nity, particularly during the 1973 fuel crisis.
That they gave the Ro such a long reprieve says
something for the regard in which the car was
held, not only as a group flagship but also as a
symbol of West German technological prowess.
Where the Ro80 ultimately failed nobly, the
Cosmo 110S – launched slightly ahead of the
NSU in 1967 – was the first step towards the
huge sales success of the RX-7 in the ’70s and
’80s. Mercedes-Benz C111 aside, it was already
the Holy Grail of the rotary world when Blake
bought this one from Ivan Dutton in 2000.
Of the 1176 cars built through to ’72, nobody
seems to know how many came to the UK in
period (at £2600 they were pricey), but this one
originated from a Mazda dealer in Spain before
turning up at an auction at Beaulieu in 1990, less
original engine and with a cracked ’screen.
One of two (or possibly three) 110S Cosmos
now residing in the UK, this is actually Blake’s
second example. “I found the first one in a scrap-
yard in Warwickshire in 1989,” he says. “I gave
£1500 for it, which was quite a lot at the time
given that it was a complete shed.”
Thought to have been the 1968 Motor road-
test car, the black project Cosmo was sold a few
years ago to help fund the Birotor purchase.
“The white car has proved an even better invest-
ment,” says Blake. “Not only because of the huge
spike in its value, but also because it has needed
virtually nothing doing to it.”
It is a good-looking car that could somehow
only be Japanese in the way it seems to mix Ital-
ian, British and even American styling cues;
there is something Thunderbird about the roof
and long tail, a touch of Elan about the nose, and
yet the overall feel is of a shape that could have
originated on a late-’50s Alfa Romeo show car.
That rather squares with the background of
the Cosmo, because although production began
in 1967, the design was frozen in 1962 and it was
first seen in public at the Tokyo show in 1964.
Eighty pre-production cars were built for
dealers and the factory test department, and
production settled down to a car a day from the
end of 1967 in Hiroshima. Officially it was only
badged as a Cosmo in its home market: export
cars such as Blake’s are badged as the 110S.
There were two versions. Blake’s is the origi-
nal L10A type (343 built) with 110bhp from a
four-plug, twin-distributor, twin-rotor engine
breathing through a four-barrel Hitachi carbu-
rettor. It’s nominally rated at 2 litres, with each of
the rotors worth twice their 491cc swept volume.
A further 833 L10B Cosmos were built from
1968 to ’72 with 128bhp, five speeds and a longer
wheelbase, but still with de Dion rear suspension
and front discs and rear drums, now with a servo.NSU Ro 80
Sold/no built 1967-’77/37,402
Construction steel monocoque
Engine iron-block, two-rotor 995cc Wankel,
with two twin-choke Solex carburettors
Max power 113.5bhp @ 5500rpm
Max torque 117lb ft @ 4500rpm
Transmission three-speed semi-auto
with torque converter, FWD
Suspension independent, at front by
MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar rear semi-
trailing arms, coil springs, telescopic dampers
Steering ZF power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes discs, with servo
Length 15ft 8^1 / 4 in (4782mm)
Width 5ft 9^3 / 4 in (1772mm)
Height 4ft 8in (1422mm)
Wheelbase 9ft 4^1 / 2 in (2858mm)
Weight 2632lb (1196kg) 0-60mph 12.6 secs
Top speed 112mph Mpg 16-20
Price new £2444 (1970) Price now £5-12,500Main: twin headlamps
replaced the rectangular
lights in 1969 – the metal
grille was swapped for
plastic a year later. Below:
name is derived from its
internal designation,
Typ 80, which was already
taken by Mercedes