The Neckar Adria was the German licence-built version of the Fiat 850, the smallest model of the Heilbronn range. It was produced from 1965 to 1967 and, with 6,619 cars built, it was the last model to carry the Neckar name.
Neckar Adria at a glance
| Maker | Neckar Automobilwerke AG, Heilbronn, West Germany |
|---|---|
| Model | Neckar Adria, the Heilbronn-built Fiat 850 |
| Production | 1965–1967 |
| Built | 6,619 |
| Basis | Fiat 850 |
| Place in range | the last model produced by Neckar |
| Brand | from 1966 the cars were sold without the NSU name |
| Company end | car production at Heilbronn ended in 1973 |
| Total output 1929–1973 | 412,085 vehicles |
Wikipedia has no article on the Neckar Adria; this page is based on the passages on the model in the English article on the Neckar marque and the German article on NSU-Fiat. Only two short paragraphs describe the car, so the article is shorter than usual.
History of the Neckar Adria
A late addition
The Neckar marque had replaced the NSU-Fiat name in 1957, after a long legal dispute between Fiat’s German subsidiary and the NSU works in nearby Neckarsulm. By the late 1950s the Heilbronn range consisted of the Fiat 500 as the Neckar Weinsberg, the 600 as the Neckar Jagst and the 1100 as the Neckar Europa, all slightly modified and typically more luxurious and sporty than the Fiats produced in Turin. The launch of the Fiat 1500 in 1961 and of the Neckar Panorama helped the company reach 50,000 cars a year in 1962.
The last Neckar
The Fiat 850, sold in Germany as the Neckar Adria, was the last model produced by Neckar. It was built in Heilbronn from 1965 to 1967, and 6,619 cars were made in that time. In September 1966 the company dropped the NSU name from its title altogether, and two years later the Neckar name disappeared as well; the Heilbronn plant continued to assemble Fiats for a few more years.
The end of the plant
Fiat refused to sell the licence of the new Fiat 124, 125 and 128 to Neckar, and production slowed down from 1963. The high cost of the German workforce, supported by the German government’s determination to sustain what some thought a high value for the Deutsche Mark, doomed the company. Car production at Heilbronn was finally stopped in 1973; between 1929 and 1973 a total of 412,085 vehicles had been assembled there.
Design and features
- Fiat 850 under licence: the smallest model of the Heilbronn range, assembled from Italian designs.
- Short run: built for only two years, from 1965 to 1967, with 6,619 cars made.
- Last of the marque: no other model followed the Adria under the Neckar name.
- End of an era: the Heilbronn plant stopped assembling cars in 1973 after 412,085 vehicles.
Neckar Adria versions
- Neckar Adria (1965–1967): the only version, the Heilbronn-built Fiat 850.
- Fiat 850 (Turin): the Italian original from which the Adria was derived.
The Adria followed the Jagst and the Europa as the smallest model of the range. More cars of the marque are in the Neckar collection.
Sources
- Neckar (car), English Wikipedia: brand history, the Adria as the last model, end of Neckar
- NSU-Fiat, German Wikipedia: production years and total, end of the plant
