On this day...
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1957 – Invented by German mechanical engineer Felix Wankel, the first working prototype of the Wankel rotary engine (pictured) ran for the first time at the research and development department of German manufacturer NSU Motorenwerke AG.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 564
From: Calgary
I am reading John Delorean's autobiography presently. He states that Ed Cole was the best at selling bad ideas internally that cost GM billions of dollars. The list includes the quadrajet, the vega, and the rotary engine. Gm spent 500 million on it, when it came to spending another 10 million on it to renew the license, GM pulled the plug and lost all rights to the motor. GM's best engineer opinioned that "if every car had a rotary engine, and the reciprocating engine was brought out as a new invention, in 10 years it would replace the rotary in every car."
Clearly GM was not a fan of the motor.
In another book I have, it tells the story of how GM's ego deepsixed its own rotary engine program. Gm refused to look at all the prior engineering pioneered by other companies, thinking themselves new more about a motor they really knew nothing about, the results being continual failures of rotary engines.. Reminds me of 3/4 of RX7club.
Clearly GM was not a fan of the motor.
In another book I have, it tells the story of how GM's ego deepsixed its own rotary engine program. Gm refused to look at all the prior engineering pioneered by other companies, thinking themselves new more about a motor they really knew nothing about, the results being continual failures of rotary engines.. Reminds me of 3/4 of RX7club.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 22,465
From: California
I am reading John Delorean's autobiography presently. He states that Ed Cole was the best at selling bad ideas internally that cost GM billions of dollars. The list includes the quadrajet, the vega, and the rotary engine. Gm spent 500 million on it, when it came to spending another 10 million on it to renew the license, GM pulled the plug and lost all rights to the motor. GM's best engineer opinioned that "if every car had a rotary engine, and the reciprocating engine was brought out as a new invention, in 10 years it would replace the rotary in every car."
Clearly GM was not a fan of the motor.
In another book I have, it tells the story of how GM's ego deepsixed its own rotary engine program. Gm refused to look at all the prior engineering pioneered by other companies, thinking themselves new more about a motor they really knew nothing about, the results being continual failures of rotary engines.. Reminds me of 3/4 of RX7club.
Clearly GM was not a fan of the motor.
In another book I have, it tells the story of how GM's ego deepsixed its own rotary engine program. Gm refused to look at all the prior engineering pioneered by other companies, thinking themselves new more about a motor they really knew nothing about, the results being continual failures of rotary engines.. Reminds me of 3/4 of RX7club.
lol... i think if my car had a rotary engine, and you showed me a piston engine and said it was better, i think i'd give you directions to the sanitarium...
oh wait it does! it is! http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...h&z=13&iwloc=A
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