When Volkswagen and Suzuki announced they would be joining forces after what seemed like years worth of rumors, the motorcycling community naturally took notice. After all, VW head Ferdinand Piech is an avid motorcycle enthusiast and had repeatedly expressed a desire to add a high-performance European motorcycle manufacturer to the German automaker's mix of vehicles. Further, Suzuki is a highly respected player in the two-wheeled world all around the globe.

Now, rumor has it that the Volkswagen/Suzuki partnership could actually end up resurrecting an iconic German brand from the ashes of obscurity: NSU. Though the company is often remembered for the pioneering work it performed on the Wankel rotary engine, NSU first rose to fame after World War II with a range of innovative small-displacement bikes and was the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer by 1955.

Sadly, NSU quickly faded away as its rotary-powered automobiles proved somewhat less than reliable. Whether or not there is any truth to these reports remains to be seen, but it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility. Way back in 1969, VW acquired NSU and merged it into the company we now know as the four-ringed Audi brand. Does any of this mean that NSU is soon to be back in business? No, not really... but that doesn't mean we can't keep the dream alive.

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