lunes, 18 de junio de 2012

Un amigo del NSU desde Bruselas

Nos escribió Alberto Cardoso desde Bruselas, Bélgica y tenía pendiente poner en la página su historia con los NSU. Nos cuenta que tiene un fórmula hecho por Curt-Defosse en USA y nos pide si tenemos más información para mandarle. 

Ok, here is “my story” of this very rare car…
First, you have to know that I am an NSU enthusiast since 1985…
I am born in the city of Bukavu in the Congo (RDC) from a Belgian mother and a Portuguese father.
My father was a car mechanic, a car racer and a car tuner for other car racers in Portugal and in Bukavu (Congo).
My father was racing Peugeot 203 in Portugal and Fiat 1100 in Congo…
When I was small, in Africa, I was not really interested in cars; I preferred all electronic devices like “Radios”…
I only started getting interested much later when I was in Belgium!
It all started when I bought an NSU Prinz 4 in 1985… I wanted a very cheap car, as I did not want to stay in Belgium…
I drove this car for about 80000 km before it broke down…
I did not know anything about NSU and had no respect for this car and did not really treat it well…
But, I was surprised to see so many people always asking me questions about this car…
So one day, I started to get interested and learn about the history of the NSU cars…
I discovered that NSU were making bicycles, motorbikes, cars and boats…
I also discovered that they had been world champions in motorbikes, that they had made Land Speed Records in USA and that they had two different motor technologies (Cylinder and Wankel engines!).
And, finally I discovered that their first cars in 1906 were actually Belgian cars made under licence from a company based in Brussels…! (This was the “Pipe” cars from Belgium)
All this very rich history, started to make me become a real fan!
Later, I bought an NSU TT 1200 and an NSU 1000.
I also have the engine from an NSU TTS, another engine from a boat (NSU Wankel Marine experimental Engine) and the body from an NSU Spider Wankel.
I also collect all documents (photos, catalogues, magazines, books, etc.) from all that is related to NSU…
And, also, gadgets (automobilia) and scale cars and motorbikes (I have about 250 scale models concerning NSU cars and motorbikes)
In 2004, I saw the Delfosse NSU Formula 4 for sale in California USA…
I had never herd of such a car, so I started checking out all my books and documentation…
I had the surprise to see a picture of the car in one of my German books
I contacted the seller, Robert West to find out what exactly was this car…
It did not take me a long time to make my decision and decided to buy the car and get it sent to Belgium…
Bob West was very helpful to me for all the documents and transport companies, as I had never done such an operation…
The car arrived in Belgium during June 2004. I was actually working in the North of Germany during that year…
Unfortunately for me, because of family problems that ended in a divorce during the 2004 and 2005 period, I could not really take time to enjoy this new beautiful car…
Later, I found a job in Bordeaux France and stayed there until the end of 2008.
After, I found another job in Belgium but about 100 km from home…
For the moment, I have no work, but I am a member of the Formula Club Belgium…
We organised, last year, the “Grand Prix de Bruxelles Revival”. It was a city historic racing event with about 100 cars to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the 1961 Brussels F1 Grand Prix…
My car is at the moment in the Brussels car museum “Autoworld”… It is a warm place to keep the car during winter time…!
I am busy, with my friends of the “Formula Club Belgium” to restore it completely and hope to drive it later this year…
I am also starting a scale model of the car (scale 1/8)
I will keep you informed of the progress of all these activities…
And, surely, I will be interested in more info concerning NSU in Argentina (Cars and motorbikes) and the Curt Delfosse history…
I have an Argentinean friend here in Brussels who will help me to translate the documents (He is in Buenos Aires at the moment for holiday) …
Ok, I hope that you will keep in touch with me and please send me more info concerning yourself and your NSU interests…
Till then, I wish you only the best,

Alberto

PS: I have attached pictures: 2 near my home at my garage, one showing the transport to the museum and one in the museum…Later, I when it’s ready, I will send you pictures on the race track…

El auto en el Brussels car museum “Autoworld"

Le pueden escribir a Alberto Cardoso en inglés a: alberto.cardoso@laposte.net

Muchas gracias por compartirlo..!!! es un muy lindo auto..!!

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