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Ausgabe #14

Rotationskolben mon amour
Baggy pants and Wankel engines
Erik Spiekermann

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berfather of German graphic design and one of the few internationally known German typographers, Erik Spiekermann does not care that much for cars nowadays.

He is more into his 13 or so bicycles, that he is driving in a rather quick manner in the streets of Berlin, London or San Francisco. Try to catch him on his bike, you will hardly succeed.

Nonetheless there is this blue car parking in his Berlin garage, that you do not see that often in the streets anymore. Elegant, humble and extraordinary at the same time, she is called NSU Ro80 and was something like the German equivalent of the French Citroën DS. Not many people know about this car and how advanced she used to be when she was built in 1967.

Thus the predecessor to any wedge-shaped car, the Ro is a turning point in asthetics and engineering. We persuaded Erik to take us for a ride while listening to his story how he came to buy this beauty, why he has fallen in love with her and what is so special about the Wankel engines.

He talks about the cardesigner Claus Luthe, why the Ro is superior to other cars, the lines and habits of car design, tanks and baggy pants.

Link: Erik's Website