Mallard Duck

Popular Science, May 1972.

Cover: picture of carbuerated 2-rotor Wankel, painted bright orange, caption reads "Sneak Preview! GM's new ROTARY ENGINE for Chevy's '74 Vega!"


Page 24:

Replacing the piston engine

"Yes, it's finally on it's way out. The recirprocating-piston type, gasoline-fuel, spark-ignition, internal-combustion one, that is. The dear old four-banger, six, or V8 that has done such a great job for many years. Will the Wankel replace it? Or the gas turbine? Or electric power? Or the super flywheel? Or atomic energy?"


Advertisement - Pictured are a young couple beside a white Mazda RX-2 coupe.

[b] "Sparking the car of tomorrow today. The revolutionary rotary engine is running on the streets of the U.S. right now. We at Champion developed spark plugs specifically for the unique Mazda rotary engine. And they were the first American spark plugs factory-approved for use in the Mazda rotary. Now, Mazda is installing our Champions (four in each engine) in many of their rotary-powered Mazdas - right in the factory. [b]


Page 108:

You're witnessing the start of a revolution in the industry

"About 25,000 Vegas with rotary engines will be built during 1973 and 1974. The cars will have special styling, and go for just under $3,500. Why so much if the wankel is so cheap? The Vega rotary will be more powerful than the standard 4-cylinder, and you've always expected to pay more for extra power. "

"...Naturally it will take many years before the piston engine is completely phased out, but the start is being made right now. What about Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors? Ford is racing to catch up, Chrysler is starting a new research program; AM expects to buy rotary engines from GM.

And the auto industry worldwide? By 1975 you can expect Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) to be fully converted to Wankels, and Toyota and Datsun to be well under way. By 1975, look for Wankel-powered production models from Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, and Volkswagen.

Ten years later, the Wankel revolution will be complete."

Enjoy, my fingers are sore.

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

So what ever happened to GM's rotary engine? ie. Can someone fill in the next few years?

takerwolf

They scraped the idea at the last minute and then rushed to make a 4-cylinder engine instead because they didn't think it was reliable enough. From what I hear the engine they did a rush job on was a piece of junk. hehe, thats what they get. I wouldn't want a GM anyway.

7Rebel

That was a cool article .... good post!

ponykiller

Quote: "So what ever happened to GM's rotary engine? ie. Can someone fill in the next few years?"

I know that GM has (at least had) a working 5 rotor (yes 5, spelled FIVE) to be used in the corvette, but decided against its use due to emissions requirements (and feeling sorry for the slow mustangs). I think we should all put money together and buy GM's 5 rotor - watcha think?

Kris

5 rotor: Think of a 3 rotor (400-600hp easily) and then basically double that (WOW).

Suparslinc

Don't forget the fuel shortage. That alone was enough to kill research on the rotary at Chevy.

vaughnc

Yeah if this was one of those "STAR TREK" alternate future episodes without the 1970's fuel shortage, we'd all by driving around in 4000lb 15MPG road hogs still.

Wonder if that would be good or bad?

Mallard Duck

Bad, for amateur "drifter kings" like myself

SIX TWO SLEEPER

We wouldnt be in huge land-yachts, we'd have our rotary mazdas... in any model we want. Protege, 626, 323, 929, millenia, mpv, all wankel.

Also, GM was going to make a wankel for vega, and the corvette would have a mid mounted 4-rotor version (two vegas in one). AMC was going to buy the vega motor from GM for use in the Pacer. GM scrapped the idea at the last minute and AMC was forced to use a underpowered 232 six in the Pacer, which made the originally sprightly compact slower than a sherman tank.

Why did GM scrap the Wankel? Why did Mazda sales take such a huge hit that the company needed to be helped out by Ford. The October 1973 gas crisis. That was the death knell for the Wankel.

peejay

What *really* killed the Wankel?

The catalytic converter.

In the early 70's, automakers were freaking out over the emissions standards to be put in place for 1975. The NOx levels were so low that to make a piston engine pass them "would reduce its lifespan to a matter of days" according to one Ford exec of the time.

And Wankels had inherently low NOx levels thanks to their long, slow combustion. HC and CO were easily handled with thermal reactors. (Indeed they worked well enough for Mazda to use them up to the 1980 model year. Mine was clean enough to meet IM240 standards for a late model car!)

And then the catalytic converter came around. Now the automakers had a way of reducing NOx without drastically hurting engine life. Most cars in 1975 had catalytic converters, not Wankels. Interest in the Wankel died out, because catalysts were cheaper than the R&D work, and we'd had one fuel burp already and were soon to get a second one.

The GM Wankel died for political reasons. They were close to getting it right, and then the head of its development got transferred, and almost immediately the new head declared "The sealing problems are insurmountable" (ahem) and R&D at GM ceased.

Nimisys

ford actually had a wankel in mustang once... very sweet

as for the pacer it had the 242 amc 6 in it... basiclly the same engine for Cherokee's and wranglers today.. and trust me not so underpowered