The internal combustion engine, for all its mechanical sophistication, still runs on a 19th-century mechanical idea: pistons rising and falling, a crankshaft spinning, a steam-age architecture ...

The Wankel rotary engine was made popular by Mazda, who built rotary style engines from in production cars such as the RX-7, ...

The rotary engine is perhaps one of the most polarizing motors to have ever been commercialized. From its checkered past to its intent to live on as a range extender, the small spinning triangle has ...

There are a lot of strange automotive designs out there, but this defunct engine from the '70s may just be the weirdest one ...

For more than a decade the name Wankel has popped up whenever car enthusiasts start talking about advanced-design automotive powerplants. The theory of the Wankel engine goes back to 1954 when Dr.

In the early '90s, Mazda's rotary-powered RX-7 was the quintessential Japanese two-seat sports car. But then the Miata arrived and changed the game.

When most people hear the term "rotary engine," they probably think of Mazda first, as rotary engines have been part and parcel of the Japanese automaker's mantra for decades. In fact, Mazda proclaims ...

Wankel rotary engine powered thousands of aircraft. One of several problems: It spewed castor oil on its pilots.