http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/trabant.html

Scroll down... look at that rotary. 1, 2, and 3 rotor engines were made... wouldn't that be cool to find?

 

Wow, I want that tractor!

 

In the 70's there were many large car manufacturers developing rotary powered vehicles.

Merecedes first supercar was to feature a quad-rotor engine rated at 400hp and even GM had a 290hp quad-rotor Corvette concept car. Yamaha, Nissan and Toyota also had rotary powered cars in the works.

Unfortunately the oil crisis in the mid 70's combined with the American EPA labeling the Mazda rotary as a "gas guzzler" led to very poor sales of Mazda Rx's in the States. This in turn led to most of the other manufacturers abandoning their rotary projects.

Bloody seppos... it's all your fault.

 

The fuel economy issue isn't the only thing...

We were developing rotaries for their emissions advantages! We had new laws coming on-line for 1975 that required oxides of nitrogen (NOx) to be controlled as well as CO and HC. Rotaries have naturally low NOx, and the HC and CO are easily taken care of with a thermal reactor. Boingers have high NOx when they are tuned for low HC and CO. With the then-current smog technology they estimated that a boinger that passed 1975 emissions would last a few days, a week tops! So you see why they rushed to develop to rotary.

Then they invented the catalytic converter (1973? 1974?) and they realized, hell, we don't need the rotary anymore, let's just stick with what we know.

 

Is it just me or do older rotary cars look EXACTLY the same as regular old cars? They hardly stand out.

Maybe it's just that i'm used to Rx-7s standing out in a crowd of cars...

 

I found out there was a rotary corvete with a 2.4L rotary. Check out the new car and driver "50 YEARS OF THE VETTE"

 

The Pacer looks "different" doesn't it?

It was designed for the GM rotary. When that didn't happen, they put the good ol' AMC straight six in it whch required putting the big bulge in the hood to clear it.

NSU Ro80s DEFINITELY look odd...

 

The Roadpacer was actually an Australian GM Holden Premier.

GM was having trouble getting their rotary engine to meet emissions standards so they sought help from Mazda. Because of licensing issues they would've been unable to pay for any technical knowledge they received so the solution was to "share" with Mazda.

GM instructed Holden Australia to send 1000 Premiers to Mazda who proceeded to install a 13B and 3-speed auto and market it as the Roadpacer. In exchange GM received emissions data and other technical information they needed.

Definately one of the more "ungodly" unions in automotive history.

 

I'm not talking baout the Roadpacer... I mean the AMC Pacer. (If you've ever seen "Wayne's World", their car is a Pacer)

 

Thought that was a gremlin?

 

Good find, Superfly. Kool kar, too!

 

Definitely a Pacer. A Gremlin is a Concord with a couple feet chopped out the back

 

I want a Pacer. Those are ******* sweet.

A 20b Pacer... hell yeah.