Wankel

Group B saw drivers wrestling boxy tearaways along narrow tracks inches from fans desperate to get a close-up view of their heroes. It was enthralling, but deadly. This immaculate Mazda RX-7 Evo Group B Works managed to survive the chaos, though, and now it's up for auction in London.

The rotary engine enjoys a cult following thanks to Mazda and its range of sports cars past. Today marks 50 years since the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S launched in Tokyo, and started a rotary love affair in the process.​​​

This concept from French company Furion​ pairs a twin-rotor, compact 654cc Wankel rotary engine with a 40-kW electric motor to produce a massive 180 hp and a ludicrous 151 lb-ft of instant, tire-deforming torque. Could a hybrid streetbike deliver the same kind of street lunacy as the BMW i8?

Advanced Innovative Engineering's 650S rotary engine's small, lightweight size makes for easy integration within vehicles like the cherry red roadster it put to the track last week. AIE calls that prototype the first British sports car powered by a single rotary rotary engine.

Imagine an engine that's 30 percent smaller than a traditional piston design of like output, and that runs smoothly, with less noise and vibration. Plus, it burns several types of fuel. That's the LiquidPiston X rotary engine, which was recently demonstrated powering a go-kart.

When you think of aircraft, the words compact and accessible don't necessarily spring to mind. A British team is trying to change that with the e-Go. Made of carbon fiber, it is powered by a compact Wankel rotary engine and sports a removable canard and wings so it can be parked in your garage.

Mazda shows what a rotary-powered RX-8 successor could look like draped in today's KODO design language. The deep-red RX-Vision concept drips in automotive sensuality and hopefully proves more than just a fleeting vision.

The Experiment ZR012 is an experimental timepiece inspired by the Wankel engine that uses a pair of rotating Reuleaux triangles to indicate the time.