NSU Delphin III
 Delphin III in the Deutsches Museum in Munich
| |
| Manufacturer | NSU Motorenwerke |
|---|---|
| Also called | Dolphin III |
| Predecessor | Delphin I/II |
| Class | Streamliner |
| Engine | 499 cc, 4-cycle supercharged parallel twin |
| Top speed | 210.64 mph (338.99 km/h) |
| Power | 110 hp @ 8,500 RPM |
| Dimensions |
L: 3.7 m (12 ft) H: 1.1 m (43 in) |
The NSU Delphin III streamliner motorcycle set the motorcycle land speed record in 1956. Wilhelm Herz rode the machine to 211.4 miles per hour (340.2 km/h) at Bonneville Speedway in Utah, to break 200 mph (320 km/h) for the first time. Its fairing, designed in a wind tunnel at University of Stuttgart (then Stuttgart Technical College), gave it a drag coefficient of 0.19. The same engine powered Herz to a 1951 world speed record, with a less efficient frame/fairing, the Delphin I. The engine used an unusual rotary supercharger related to NSU's eventual development of the Wankel engine. In the supercharger, both a trochoidal inner rotor and epitrochoidal outer rotor spun around a stationary shaft.