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Informationen zum Autor John B. Hege is a retired import auto mechanic from North Carolina who worked in gray market "conversion" shops during the peak years of 1985 and 1986. He wrote this work because he wanted to share some unique stories about a very poorly understood period of automotive history in America. Klappentext 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. Zusammenfassung Traces the history of the Wankel rotary engine and its use in various cars! motorcycles! snowmobiles and other applications. This title 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. Inhaltsverzeichnis Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Why a Rotary? 2. Early Experiments 3. Wankel at NSU 4. Curtiss-Wright 5. Toyo Kogyo 6. Work Continues at NSU 7. Fichtel and Sachs Air-Cooled Wankel 8. Citroën 9. The Wankel at Daimler-Benz 10. Rolls-Royce and the Diesel Wankel 11. Emissions Regulations and the Wankel 12. American Manufacturers and the Wankel 13. Mazda Comes to America 14. Who Owned the Wankel? 15. The Rotary Turnaround 16. Rotary Motorcycles 17. The RX-7 18. Rotaries in Racing 19. Current and Future Production Notes Index ...
