Nice (make of car)

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Nice is the name of a marketed as a car kit car brand of D & M Burgert from Stuttgart. The company only existed from 1968 to around 1971. In 1971 the Burgert brothers had to leave the country overnight. Today it is assumed that shortly before the tax authorities took hold of the company, the company moved to Toblach (Dobbiaco, IT) in South Tyrol.

The exact name of the kit is denominated in Nice KS 330. This is a two-seater street-legal sports coupe with rennsportlichem character, plastic - body and the chassis of the Volkswagen Beetle .

Deviating from this, the kit vehicle is only called Nice or Nice KS 330 or Nice KS330 , and also KS 330 Nice .

Subsequently, or at the same time, the manufacturer, which was based in South Tyrol after moving until 1971 , also operated the Nembo automobile brand . However, she had no relationship with the Italian coachbuilder called Nembo or with Neri e Bonacini in Modena .

Manufacturer

D. & M. Burgert , founded by the Burgert brothers , is considered to be the manufacturer of the Nice . The name D&M Burgert Plastics may have been used after the company moved to South Tyrol. The different spellings D. & M. Burgert , D&M Burgert and D + M Burgert are also used.

The company's headquarters were in Stuttgart or Merklingen near Stuttgart. In magazines - advertisements from 1968 the manufacturer's information appeared D. + M. Burgert with the address Postfach 151 M, 7 Stuttgart- Untertürkheim and at a not exactly specified time with the address Postfach 24 M, D-7256 Merklingen . A source gives the address D + M Burgert, Gartenstrasse 12, 7256 Merklingen .

The company existed in Württemberg until 1971. In 1971 the company headquarters was relocated to Toblach (Dobbiaco) in South Tyrol, Italy. The company name there was Burgert-Kunststofftechnik or Burgert Product / Burgert Products . The South Tyrolean company only existed for a short time as an automobile manufacturer, from 1970 to 1971 or 1971 alone.

The vehicles manufactured in Toblach, South Tyrol from 1971 onwards were marketed under the name Nembo . The company later moved within the village and now operates as Burgert & Geldner GmbH . It is still associated with plastics processing today and sells elastic connectors under the Duroflex brand , which are manufactured at the Tyrolean headquarters in Vomp .

Brand and vehicle history

The Nice was presented to the public in November 1968. It is named after the city ​​of the same name in the south of France . Background to the name affix KS 330 is not known; KS could possibly simply stand for plastic , 330 for its more detailed specification . In the course of marketing a one-sided advertisement appeared in the German trade magazine auto motor und sport in 1968 .

The Nice was the only kit offered by the Württemberg manufacturer. After the hasty relocation to South Tyrol, the design was changed and the kit under the brand name Nembo sold .

An “elegant sports car look” was attested to the Nice. In any case, its production ended around the beginning of 1970 when the Burgert brothers renamed the company, moved to South Tyrol and manufactured the Nembo there alone . This was a bit more angular in design, more comfortable in concept and better suited for everyday use.

More detailed production and sales figures are not known for the Nice . In any case, it was offered as a kit vehicle and cost 3,250 DM in this form at the end of the 1960s  . For comparison: A new VW 1200 cost 4,525 DM at the same time, a VW 1500 Karmann Ghia Coupé 7,515 DM and the VW-Porsche 914, which appeared in August 1969, 12,560 DM. VW buggies from Karmann in Osnabrück were available as kits for around 3,000 DM and Available as a complete vehicle from DM 8,800. It is not known whether the Nice was also offered as a complete vehicle.

Another source breaks down the prices of the Nice : the body with doors, hoods and various interior components cost 3,150 DM, the side window kit a further 65 DM and the headlight covers another 38 DM.

In the 2010 season, a vehicle manufactured by Burgert took part in historic motorsport .

technology

The Nizza is a plastic coupé with the platform frame , chassis and drive technology of the VW Beetle . The vehicle is four meters long, 150 centimeters wide and only 108 and 110 centimeters high. The plastic body fitted on all previous Beetle chassis and was bolted to the chassis. A shortening of the chassis was not necessary - unlike with some competing products.

The low, streamlined hatchback body of the Nice has a very sporty design. The concept is similar to contemporary Fiberfab models or a coupe version of the Colani GT . Visually, the vehicle is reminiscent of a coupé version of the Porsche 718 from 1962, but without adopting its mid-engine concept. The comparatively long front is particularly similar to the Porsche 356 B 2000 GS / GT "Dreikantschaber" from 1962, the doors and side windows to the Lamborghini Miura from 1966 and the rear to the Porsche 356 B 1600 Carrera GTL with Abarth body from 1960. In racing style dispensed with front and rear bumpers or similar measures to protect the body. The few available images of the Nice show it with simple, VW- typical five-hole steel disc wheels , an indication that the vehicles shown only had brake drums at the front .

The curved belt line is comparatively low and slopes down again between the axes , the window areas are relatively large. The headlights can be placed under Plexiglas covers on request and at an additional cost . Following many Porsche - race car is in front of the vehicle a low, wide air opening, behind which a oil cooler could be mounted. On the other hand, the body dispenses with rear side windows; instead, further, elongated air inlets are connected directly behind the doors. They protrude only a little from the side, but cover the full height of the side windows. They are similar to those of the Porsche 718 GTR Coupé from 1962.

Due to the lower weight of the body, the smaller frontal area and the lower drag coefficient , the driving performance and fuel consumption of the Nice improved compared to the original vehicle.

In retrospect, the plastic bodies from Burgert are ascribed an important pioneering role in terms of production technology and design .

literature

  • Roger Gloor: All cars from the 1960s . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart. 1st edition 2006. ISBN 978-3-613-02649-0 , p. 395 under Nizza and Nembo (2) , category: Various small brands as well as Italian special coaches .
  • Hans-Rüdiger Etzold: The Beetle IV - A Documentation . Alfred Bucheli publishing house, owner Paul Pietsch, Zug, Switzerland. 2nd edition 1998, ISBN 978-3-7168-1890-9 , p. 25 under Nembo / Nice .
  • Marian Suman-Hreblay: Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry . McFarland Books, Jefferson, North Carolina, United States, 2000, ISBN 978-0-786-40972-3 , p. 211 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Roger Gloor: All cars of the 60s . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart. 1st edition 2006. ISBN 978-3-613-02649-0 , p. 395 under Nizza and Nembo (2) , category: Various small brands as well as Italian special coaches.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Hans-Rüdiger Etzold: The Beetle IV - A Documentation . Alfred Bucheli publishing house, owner Paul Pietsch, Zug, Switzerland. 2nd edition 1998. ISBN 978-3-7168-1890-9 , p. 25 under Nembo / Nice .
  3. ^ A b c Marian Suman-Hreblay: Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry . McFarland Books, Jefferson, North Carolina, United States, 2000. ISBN 978-0-786-40972-3 , p. 211 under Nice (English).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l The automobile brands Nizza and Nembo on the web portal gtue-oldtimerservice.de , accessed on July 17, 2016.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Various automobile advertisements from 1963 to 1969, including the Nizza KS 330 / Burgert KS 330 Nizza , on the vongestern.com web portal , accessed on July 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c The Nembo and the Nizza KS330 on the bugland.be web portal , accessed on July 17, 2016 (Dutch).
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Overview of plastic car bodies on VW chassis on the web portal sowirdsmachen.com , reproduction by Rüdiger Etzold: Blickfang - Kunststoffkarosserien auf VW chassis , in: Gute Fahrt (magazine), 1968, accessed on 17th July 2016.
  8. ↑ Thomas Braun: Durchgeboxt - The large encyclopedia of small series and self-made on VW Beetle and bus basis; also many Porsche examples . Schneider Media, 2018, ISBN 978-3-667-11444-0 .
  9. ↑ a b c Advertisement for (Burgert) Nizza KS 330 on the gtue-oldtimerservice.de web portal , accessed on July 17, 2016.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i The vehicle manufacturer Burgert on the web portal allcarindex.com , accessed on July 17, 2016 (English).
  11. ↑ a b c The Burgert Nizza KS330 on the web portal allcarindex.com , accessed on July 17, 2016 (English).
  12. ↑ a b c d e f g The car manufacturer Burgert on the web portal dauto.nl , accessed on July 17, 2016 (Dutch).
  13. ↑ a b Original advertisement for a (Burgert) Nizza KS 330 from a magazine from 1968 with a supplementary article description on a sales portal , accessed on July 17, 2016.
  14. ↑ a b c H. K .: Makes the Beetle a hit: Nembo (Autotest), in: Hobby - Das Magazin der Technik (magazine), Issue 12, 1971, pp. 28–32, model presentation of the Nembo with large vehicle images and details of the plastic body .
  15. ↑ a b Thomas Braun: Durchgeboxt - The great encyclopedia of small series and self-made on VW Beetle and bus basis; also many Porsche examples . Schneider Media, 2018.
  16. ↑ Burgert, in: auto, motor und sport (magazine), one-sided advertisement with a large illustration and features of the Nice KS 330 , issue 2/1968, page 48.
  17. ↑ Werner Oswald : German Cars 1945-1975 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart. 12th edition 1987. ISBN 3-87943-391-7 , pp. 33, 40 and 400.
  18. ↑ Dirk Johae, Dr. hc Michael M. Willms, in: Günther Frauenkron (Ed.): Historic Motor Sports - Racing & Rallye 2010 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-613-30662-2 .
  19. ↑ Literature on historic motorsport 2010 with reference to the manufacturer Burgert on the web portal gtue-oldtimerservice.de , accessed on July 17, 2016.
  20. ↑ Erik Eckermann (Ed.): Car and body - history · production · design - from the coach to the passenger car . Springer-Vieweg, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-01193-2 .
  21. ↑ Literature on body construction with reference to the manufacturer Burgert on the web portal gtue-oldtimerservice.de , accessed on July 17, 2016.