Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf

[2] Following the takeover of the company by Volkswagen, he stayed on as chairman of the new conglomerate's Audi-NSU division till 31 March 1971 when he retired following a heart attack.

[3] Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf was born into an old Prussian aristocratic-military family in Berlin during the economically dynamic first decade of the twentieth century.

Following the bankruptcy in 1960 of the Borgward Group, the volume end of the business was represented by five domestic producers, of which Volkswagen, thanks to the runaway success of the Beetle, and Opel, supported by frequent model changes and the deep pockets of General Motors, dominated the sales charts.

Even in September 1963, when the Spider had first been exhibited at the Frankfurt Motor Show, doubts had been expressed as to whether a company the size of NSU would have the financial capability properly to develop and produce a car that was such a departure from the industry norm.

Engine problems were addressed in 1969 when the "soft carbon" used for the rotor-tip seals was replaced with a harder compound,[19] and this development was accompanied with the fitting of a warning device that provided drivers with audible discouragement when they exceeded recommended engine speeds, but the reputational damage and the shortage of technical expertise across the dealership network was not so quickly addressed, and in the end only 37,395 Ro80s were manufactured,[19] which was nothing like enough to recover the massive amounts invested in developing the car.

Having gambled massively on the commercial success of the Ro80, Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf's final years at the helm of NSU were spent trying to save the company from bankruptcy.

In 1967 a partnership was announced whereby Citroën would invest substantially in development of the Wankel engine and, in return, manufacture and install the power units in their own cars.

[17] The commercial details of the deal were fearsomely complicated, and Stieler von Heydekampf had to confess that the unequal financial muscle that the two companies brought to the table might, ultimately, threaten NSU's independence.

[21] NSU still enjoyed a healthy income stream (with the possibility of more to come) from the licensing deals entered into back in 1966 with well over a dozen automakers including Daimler-Benz, General Motors, Porsche and Toyo Kogyo (Mazda): in the highly pressured negotiations the NSU shareholders were keen to avoid passing over to Volkswagen shareholders the potential income stream from future Wankel engine production by licensees.

Gerd Stieler von Heydekampf stayed on as Chairman of Audi-NSU AG till 1971 when a heart attack triggered his retirement.

In 1963 Stieler von Heydekampf hit the headlines nationally when he endowed a chapel with a little bell tower and a small cemetery at Stocksberg.