September 2019 Classic & Sports Car 121‘The Ro80 ultimately failed nobly; the
Cosmo 110S was the first step towards
the huge success of the RX-7; and the
Birotor’s commercial failure was one of
the factors in Citroën’s bankruptcy’
Above left: tightly
packaged L10A 110S
ships 18bhp to the later
128bhp L10B. Visually
very different, the Citroën
(above right) and NSU
(left) effectively shared
powerplants as part of
the ill-fated Comotor
partnership that sank
both into bankruptcy,
though the Birotor is 6bhp
less powerful than its
German cousin at 107bhp