[5] The Prinz I was available as a 2-door saloon (sedan)[6] featuring an upright roof line and seating for four people.

The doors opened wide enough to permit reasonable access even to the rear seats, although leg room was severely restricted if attempting to accommodate four full sized adults.

[2] In addition to a luggage compartment accessed via a hatch at the front of the car and shared with the spare wheel and fuel filler, there was a narrow but deep full width space behind the rear seat sufficient to accommodate a holiday suitcase.

The noisy[2] two-cylinder 600 cc 20 PS (15 kW; 20 hp) engine was located at the back where it drove the rear wheels, initially via a "crash" gearbox.

[2] Although noisy, the engine offered impressive flexibility, recalling NSU's strengths as a motorcycle manufacturer.

[9] The Prinz III was launched in October 1960[10] featuring a new stabilizer bar and the 30 hp motor.

[9] NSU received government approval to build the Prinz in Brazil in the late 1950s, but nothing came of the project.

[12] The NSU Spider was a Wankel rotary powered two-seater roadster based on the Sport Prinz platform.

Later, four-cylinder engines adopted the more conventional (pre-engaged) separate starter motor and alternator.

[13] The home grown Mini 850 reached 60 mph in only 29.5 seconds in an equivalent contemporary test and also managed to beat the NSU's top speed, albeit only by about 3%.

[13] At this time, the UK car market was heavily protected by tariffs, and the Prinz's UK manufacturer's recommended retail price was £597, which was more than the (possibly below cost)[citation needed] £561 asked for the 850 cc Mini, but certainly not completely out of touch with it.

[13] The testers concluded their report that the car was competitively priced in its class and performed adequately.

The first 1000 TT has 55 PS (40 kW) DIN and uses the engine first introduced in the larger NSU Typ 110.

Auto Union had previously been taken over by VW in 1964 and produced mid-sized cars, resurrecting the Audi marque.

The small, rear-engined NSUs were phased out in 1973, as production capacity was needed for larger and more profitable Audis.

The successor of the NSU Prinz was the front-wheel drive Audi 50, later rebadged Volkswagen Polo.