Audi has celebrated the one hundred and fiftieth birthday of its Neckarsulm manufacturing facility in Germany by getting a bunch of apprentices to re-imagine a basic automobile inbuilt 1971 as a sporty future-modern electrical based mostly on the corporate’s e-tron platform.
The primary NSU Prinz was revealed on the 1957 Frankfurt Motor Present, and rolled off the manufacturing line the next 12 months as a boxy two-door with a 600cc two cylinder engine. Extra variations adopted, together with a Sport coupe version and a roadster, and by the point the Prinz 4 arrived within the early 60s, the little automobile had adopted extra aggressive angular styling.
This mannequin was manufactured on the Neckarsulm website by NSU Motorenwerke between 1961 and 1973, but it surely was a 1971 automobile that served because the donor automobile for the 12-strong group of trainees let free on the design research on the Audi facility again in January.
Staff members from bodywork and portray programs tackled the chassis of the newly-named EP4, treating the sheet metallic’s rust spots, widening the physique with 3D-printed “muscular fenders” developed with assist from Audi Design, and mounting the highest on a modified flooring pan from an Audi A1.
Some components from the unique had been retained, together with entrance and rear lighting and the “attribute shoulder and roof strains” however the redesign known as for extensive wheels wrapped in trendy efficiency tires. The physique was given a brand new paint job in Suzuka Gray and Sensible Black, a rear wing mounted to the automobile’s roll cage wears Sign Yellow, and the quantity 150 was utilized to the perimeters.
Audi
In the meantime trainee mechanics eliminated the 30-hp gasoline engine and changed it with a 240-hp (176-kW) electrical motor from a 2020 Audi e-tron – which may be seen when the tailgate is raised and stuck to a half-open place.
The gas tank underneath the brand new carbon fiber hood was sacrificed for a battery pack from an Audi Q7 TFSI e quattro plug-in hybrid, which is air-cooled through the extensive consumption on the entrance bumper whereas a gap within the hood offers any built-up warmth a method to escape.
The roll cage inside can be painted yellow, which contrasts with the black in the remainder of the barebones cabin. “Recaro Podium” bucket seats greet the occupants, together with a single-board laptop and show that serves as a digital instrument cluster.
Audi
Although the venture stays a design research, with Audi making no point out of a potential future electrical Prinz, the trainees have clearly impressed all the best individuals on the German auto maker.
“With admirable dedication and appreciable creativity, our apprentices have constructed an amazing automobile,” stated Audi Board Member, Xavier Ros. “They are often actually pleased with the end result. Tasks like this present that our firm has a robust future because of our younger expertise.”
Supply: Audi
