Quote Originally Posted by Ronj View Post
Years ago I read a story about GM buying a patent for a rotary engine in the 1950's and put it in a drawer too. I think somebody probably has a cancer cure stuck in a drawer also.
GM licensed the NSU rotary in the 60s with the intent to build a rotary-powered mid-engine Corvette. They built the car and the 4-rotor engine. They cancelled the project for various reasons (Corvette fanbois couldn't handle the notion of anything other than a front-mounted V8). A 2-rotor was being considered for another GM car, and the plan was to also supply AMC with rotary engines for the Pacer. When GM cancelled the rotary program it left AMC in a lurch because they didn't have an alternate engine that fit the body profile. The hump in the grill & hood is an accommodation for the taller engine they had to use.

Mazda has all of the same poor fuel economy and oil consumption problems with the rotary, but didn't care. It was their party piece.

Fun fact: The engine is referred to as the Wankel rotary, but it is neither a Wankel design or a rotary. It is based on Wankel's engine, but it is not a rotary engine (a rotary engine revolves around a fixed crankshaft). Wankel's engine rotated. NSU revised it to a fixed-block, but kept the figure-eight dorito and the moniker. Mazda, GM, Mercedes, Suzuki et al licensed the NSU engine, rather than the Wankel.

Yes, I am a bit of a rotary fanboi.


Neil