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..!!