Der Controlleur, der Polizist, die Hausfrau und der Enthusiast
Markus Fröschen’s beautifully original NSU Lambretta
If the Oxford English dictionary (or Duden, its Germanic equivalent) listed words to describe ‘One who is totally obsessed with the Lambretta brand in all its incarnations and everything associated with it ever’ it would probably be entered as ‘Markus Fröschen’.
Markus, the one-time president of the Lambretta Club Germany, is a total Lambretta enthusiast; he’s the full package of rider, collector, restorer and historian of the Lambretta marque. He constantly, through painstaking research, manages to discover beautiful, usually original condition machines with full histories to accompany them.
But this particularly beautiful original German NSU manufactured machine was one he wasn’t initially too interested in.
THE NSU COMPANY STORY (SHORT VERSION)
The original German company was set up by Christian Schmidt in 1873. Schmidt, a technically minded entrepreneur, began manufacturing sewing machines from his factory in the south-east area of the country known as the region of Baden-Württemberg. In 1880, he relocated the company to the city of Neckarsulm (named after the place where the rivers Neckar and Sulm meet); still within the same region but closer to Stuttgart.
In 1886, the company began to manufacture a ‘penny-farthing’ style of bicycle called the Germania. By 1892 production of sewing machinery had ceased with the company solely producing bicycles; around this time, NSU appeared as a brand with the letters N, S and U representing an abbreviation of the Neckarsulm city name.
The year 1901 saw the production of the first motorcycle, which was followed in 1905 by the first car. The NSU company continued to manufacture vehicles throughout the years of both world wars, producing vehicles for military use.
In 1946 production of motorcycles and bicycles resumed.
THE LAMBRETTA LINK
In 1949, a German Volkswagen dealer based in Hamburg and Berlin named Eduard Winter (a company still in existence today) did a deal with Innocenti to sell the Lambretta Model
B in Germany. During 1949 and 1950 the scooters sold in modest quantities.
In mid-1949, Eduard Winter tried to put a deal together with the help of Volkswagen and NSU to manufacture the Lambretta under licence in Germany.
The full facts on how this deal involving the original consortium of the three German companies eventually did not reach fruition is not readily available, but in late 1949 NSU was granted the licence to produce the Lambretta Model C in Germany. The initial batch was shipped directly as component parts, being sprayed and assembled at the NSU factory. This was supposedly to get this product to the marketplace ahead of the Hoffman-produced Vespa, which would be their main competitor in this sector of the home market.
Manufacture of the LC in earnest by NSU began in 1951,with the company taking on the original Innocenti design but with the other non-Innocenti components being produced locally in Germany.
GERMAN UPGRADES
NSU also improved the aesthetic appeal of the machines it produced, offering them in a 150cc and in a wider choice of finish; NSU now offered further colours of black, red, dark and light grey. The company also added a luxurious touch to the bodywork with the addition of pin-striping as standard.
In 1952 there were big alterations with huge redesigns over standard. A glovebox was added as standard with a speedo and clock, 12-volt electrics and an electric-start was also added along with a remote choke. A secondary sidestand was fitted as well as the original standard centre stand and the NSU also came with a spare wheel.
Along with all the immediately conspicuous upgrades, many of the not-so-obvious changes included adding many more parts to what was already a very over-engineered vehicle. The quality and sophistication of these Germanproduced machines over and above their Italian originals led the scooter to be badged up as an Auto Roller; basically a car scooter due to the upgrades and refinements that NSU included as standard.
NSU was also very good at marketing its product, which helped in no small way to it becoming the best-selling two-wheeler in Germany in 1952 and 1953.
By 1956 the licence to produce the Lambretta in Germany by NSU had expired and NSU would redesign the machine totally; this in turn became NSU Prima, the machine that NSU apparently thought the Lambretta should have been.
What is apparent is that there was a very good working relationship between NSU and Innocenti even after the licence term had expired, with Innocenti adopting ideas from NSU such as the redesigned front fork set-up.
It was NSU that made the arrangements for Innocenti to be able to use closed sections of the German autobahn for its speed trials. NSU also let Innocenti use its ‘Robot’ to sit astride one of its machines; this ‘Robot’ was apparently able to operate the static scooter on the display. There is the idea that this was a beneficial relationship to Innocenti, as at this time it was a relatively new player in mass automotive production and may have learned a lot from the much older and established German company.
Unfortunately, by 1969 NSU was in trouble after the company encountered mass parts failure to its much-loved Wankel rotary engine powered cars. The fault was rectified, but sadly too late to regain confidence lost in the product. The development costs in using the Wankel engine had proved to be too much for the relatively small company; in the end NSU was taken over by the Volkswagen group.
ZUNÄCHST NICHT INTERESSIERT
In 2004 a friend of Markus contacted him and said that a NSU Lambretta had just popped up on eBay; strangely for Markus, he at first had not much interest in the machine as he had others, but after a cursory glance at the machine he decided to place a small bid to try his luck (this, to be fair, can often be the best way and I have on occasion been pleasantly surprised doing the same. If you want something so much, you have usually sold it to yourself already and your heart takes over common sense, making it easier for you to justify paying top buck).
So after placing a cheeky low bid of just 800 euros, Markus thought nothing more about it and left for work. On his return home he had already forgotten about his prospective purchase until he turned on his computer to check his emails. There it was: 'Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Sie haben den Artikel erworben' (Congratulations, you are the winning bidder!). Wow, what a lucky chance!
Suddenly Markus became a little bit more interested in his new purchase. The scooter was located not too far from his home town, so arrangements were made to collect it the next weekend.
When Markus arrived with the van, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the Lambretta was in very good original condition – just very dirty from all the years of storage. This wasn't a problem for Markus as he is never happier than when he has his overalls on and is up to his elbows in Lambretta.
Once back home, Markus was keen to see if he could get the scooter running; so with a new battery fitted for the electric start, a cleaned-out carburettor and some fresh fuel, it surprisingly burst into life – which was truly remarkable after not being used for so long. He jumped on to the little Auto Roller and set off along the quiet lane near his home; everything initially seemed fine until the rear wheel locked up. Markus initially suspected a fault with the rear brake, but upon further investigation and having previous experience of working on NSU motors, he realised it was an issue with the final drive torque damper. This explained the reason that its previous owner had parked it up and not used it again, as Markus was told there was an issue with the rear wheel sticking when he purchased it.
Markus decided to strip the scooter down and clean everything; he also removed the motor, stripping it down completely, then rebuilt it, making everything good once more.
CAN I SEE YOUR PAPERS PLEASE?
Along with the scooter, Markus was given the full documented history of the machine from when it was originally purchased from a company called Meess & Meess in Köln (Cologne), as can be seen by the original dealership badge on the front mudguard. The Meess & Meess company also had a dealership in Aachen, which incidentally is the home town of Markus and adds a nice local connection to the vehicle.
The Germans are known worldwide for their efficiency and their great love for inkstamped documentation; this has helped give some insight into the previous owners and the scooter’s life story, as there are some interesting details that are no longer used on the documentation today, such as the owners’ occupations.
DETECTIVE FRÖSCHEN
Markus has pieced the story of the NSU Lambretta together from the paperwork he received along with the scooter:
DER CONTROLLEUR: The scooter was first purchased in April 1956 by a gentleman called Hugo Matthias from Koblenz whose occupation is listed as a ‘Controlleur’ – a ticket inspector. He had the scooter for almost exactly 20 years, and during that time ‘Der Controlleur’ and machine made an incredible journey to Lake Bled in Slovenia, which was once part of the former Yugoslavia. This trip saw both man and machine take in the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria en route, a remarkable journey at that time on such a relatively low-powered two-wheeler.
"Markus decided to strip the scooter down and clean everything; he also removed the motor, stripping it down completely, then rebuilt it, making everything good once more"
DER POLIZIST: Twenty years later the scooter was then sold in April 1976 to a gentleman called Hans Fischer, whose occupation is listed as a policeman. For whatever reason ‘Der Polizist’ only had the scooter for a short while (a year to be exact) before the ownership was transferred to his wife, presumably (as the registration document shows both her married and maiden names).
DIE HAUSFRAU: The lady owner was called Hildegard Fischer, her occupation is documented as a housewife and judging by the very low number of kilometres recorded on the paperwork, it seemed that she didn’t go far in the two years it was used. This was before it broke down with the rear wheel issue and it was parked up and not used again until Markus became only the fourth owner back in 2004. DER ENTHUSIAST: So after originally not being too interested in this little German gem, Markus has another beautiful example to add to his very extensive collection of Lambretta machines and the history of the marque that many of us are also so passionate about.