Most car enthusiasts associate the term “rotary engine” with Felix Wankel’s invention, developed in the 1950s and most commonly associated with Mazda. However, more than half a century before the ...

In theory, Wankel-style rotary internal combustion engines have many advantages: they ditch the cumbersome crankcase and piston design, replacing it with a simple, single-chamber design and a thick, ...

Felix Wankel died on October 9, 1988, in Heidelberg, West Germany, at age 86. He left behind one of the most unconventional ...

The FD RX-7's 13B-REW was Mazda's rotary masterpiece—but owning one in 2026 comes with a serious financial commitment.

The piston engine may be the most common type of internal combustion engine found in consumer automotive vehicles. That doesn't mean it's the only option drivers have ever had access to. In the 1960s, ...

If there's one thing forever associated with the Wankel rotary engine, it's Mazda. Powering production vehicles from the Cosmo's launch in May 1967 to the last RX-8 leaving the plant in June 2012, the ...

Developing a gasoline-powered rotary engine was a dream for Felix Wankel, and we mean that literally. Some steam engines worked on the same basic principle as far back as the 18th century, but the ...