Mazda Rotary Engined Cars

The complete history of Mazda’s rotary engine-powered vehicles, from Cosmo 110S to RX-8. Charting the challenges, sporting triumphs, and critical reactions to a new wave of sports sedans, wagons, sports cars ... and trucks!

Enlarged new edition of the definitive international history of Mazda's extraordinary successful Wankel-engined coupes & roadsters right up to the end of production and the introduction of the RX-8.

The inside story of the RX-7 sports car and its unique rotary engine design.

New edition of the definitive international history of Mazda's extraordinarily successful Wankel-engined coupes & roadsters right up to the end of production and the introduction of the RX-8. This book gives advice on buying your own RX-7, and covers the RX-7 in motorsport, as well as listing production figures. Mazda launched its first rotary-engined car - the Cosmo - in 1966 and was the only car manufacturer to solve the major problems associated with Wankel's radical engine design so that the unit's potential could be exploited and enjoyed. Launched in 1978, the RX-7 provided effortless and uncannily smooth performance, attributes that endeared the model to enthusiasts through three generations of production. With each reincarnation the RX-7 became more of a Grand Tourer and less of a sportscar (a mantle handed on to the MX-5/Miata); global sales reduced as the car moved upmarket until, in the new millennium, the model was only sold in its native Japan. Heavily illustrated with good quality colour photographs, this book provides an in-depth insight into this amazing production automobile. "A must have for any RX7 enthusiast."

Conceived in the 1930s, simplified and successfully tested in the 1950s, the darling of the automotive industry in the early 1970s, then all but abandoned before resurging for a brilliant run as a high-performance powerplant for Mazda, the Wankel rotary engine has long been an object of fascination and more than a little mystery. A remarkably simple design (yet understood by few), it boasts compact size, light weight and nearly vibration-free operation. In the 1960s, German engineer Felix Wankel's invention was beginning to look like a revolution in the making. Though still in need of refinement, it held much promise as a smooth and powerful engine that could fit in smaller spaces than piston engines of similar output. Auto makers lined up for licensing rights to build their own Wankels, and for a time analysts predicted that much of the industry would convert to rotary power. This complete and well-illustrated account traces the full history of the engine and its use in various cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and other applications. It clearly explains the working of the engine and the technical challenges it presented--the difficulty of designing effective and durable seals, early emissions troubles, high fuel consumption, and others. The work done by several companies to overcome these problems is described in detail, as are the economic and political troubles that nearly killed the rotary in the 1970s, and the prospects for future rotary-powered vehicles.