The Wankel engine is the greatest automotive engine story that never was. It was the way of the future, a simpler engine for an easier life. And today, not one single car is being made with one. Mazda gave it a go for a few years with greats like the B and the RX-7, but they weren't the only ones.
In these halcyon days of motoring, when we have hybrid motors that produce almost 1, horsepower and our engines of the future have no camshaftswe still rely on a piston in a cylinder moving up and down so that we can move forward.
That's the system that's been in place since the 19th century, and that's boring. Surely we can do better. A man named Felix Wankel thought so as well, so he created his own engine that featured a rounded triangle spinning inside of a housing that was, in theory, much simpler and much more efficient for their size.
Matt already posted this video once before, but it's probably the best way to explain how the whole thing works:. Unfortunately the engines also tend to gulp down fuel and burn oil like Saddam trying to get out of Kuwait, which means största wankel emissions.
And in today's world, that just ain't gonna fly. So back to the up-and-down piston it is, while we get on with our boring lives and our boring reciprocating engines until the next dreamer with a great idea comes along. In the s and s, though, everyone was still convinced of the genius of the Wankel design.
With super-cheap gasoline, too, and ice caps intact, it looked as if there was no conceivable reason not to switch over to the engine of the future. Many manufacturers accordingly submitted their entries to the Pantheon of the rotor-powered engine, and not just the bold men and women at Mazda.
These cars, then, represent not a future that was, but a future that could be. In a world where the planet took care of itself and the black gold lasts forever, this is how the automotive landscape would look today. There once was a time when GM didn't just claim the Corvette was the car of the future, it actually was the car of the future.
Powered by a 4-rotor engine that produced horsepower mounted in the middle, the XP, also known as the Aerovette when Chevy finally got around to putting a V-8 in it, showcased a lot of styling cues seen on later Corvettes. The engine största wankel was made from two two-rotor engines originally installed in some Chevy Vega prototypes.
A thirst for petroleum wasn't the only thing that killed this one off, however. Corvette fans like eight cylinders up front powering the rear wheels, and this is one of many Corvette concepts that never actually got off the ground.
While Chrysler went about rewarding loyal customers with turbine-powered curiositiesCitroen decided they would reward their loyal customers with this, the M It wasn't actually sold to the public, but rather was used as a test vehicle to see if this whole Wankel thing would work itself out.
Citroen handed out M35s out to its biggest fans to find out whether or not they liked it, and, unsurprising for Citroen fans, they thought it was weird and wonderful and just perfect. It was so perfect, in fact, that when Citroen actually put a Wankel-engined car on sale in the form of the Citroen GS Birotorthat the company only sold It tanked so hard that Citroen actually tried buying back and scrapping all the GS Birotors it could get its hands on so that they wouldn't be forced to maintain them, and nowadays very few of perhaps the weirdest of the weird Citroens exist.
Photo credit Ruizo.