Mazda's Rotary Engine Celebrates Its 40th Birthday

Last May 30, Mazda celebrated the 40th anniversary of its rotary engine. Mazda launched on May 30, 1967 the Mazda Cosmo Sport - the world's first car to use twin-rotor rotary engine. After that year, Mazda has produced almost two million vehicles that were powered by the rotary engine.

Jim O'Sullivan, the President and CEO of Mazda North American Operations, said that Mazda is the only company with a laser-like focus on vehicle development and engineering success and would have had the perseverance and unyielding goal to continue the rotary engine. He added that they began in the 1950s and they are now facing a very bright hydrogen-fueled future. According to him, the rotary engine reflects Mazda as a company that has opted to make what most do not and has made its own successes where others have failed.

Among auto makers, only Mazda solved the engineering obstacles which are essential in bringing the engine to the market in a mass-production vehicle.

Powered by the rotary engine, the first vehicle that Mazda sold in the United States was the 1970 R100. This was the era in which Mazda’s Rotary Pickup truck is installed with the rotary engine.

The sports-car establishment was shock and sales records were set in never before seen sales with sports cars when Mazda released the iconic RX-7 in 1979. In the 1986 and 1993, the subsequent RX-7 generations were released. These include the first production applications of turbo charging the rotary engine in the U.S. market. The engine was updated with the introduction of side porting when the car maker presented the refined four-door sports car RX-8 in 2003. This resulted in tremendously minimized exhaust emissions and enhanced performance.

In the world of motorsports, Mazda’s engine has also been tremendously successful. It powered the company’s cars to more than 100 professional sports car racing victories in the U.S. alone. And that is not all! It also created an overall win at the 1991 running of the famed 24-Hours of Le Mans. Mazda was the first and is still the only Japanese auto company that won this extreme endurance race. However, this success changed the rules for subsequent races. The rotary engine was banned.

The engine continues to be part of the modern U.S. motorsports. As a matter of fact, the SpeedSource team is power is the rotary engine that became victor in Grand Am Rolex GT competition in their especially prepared RX-8. The powerful engine is also powering every vehicle in the ultra-competitive Star Mazda Championship for open-wheel racers.

As Mazda looks towards an even company betterment, the company pledges its commitment to the rotary engine for the long run. After almost 5 decades of development, the company has started on the fact that rotary technology is distinctly perfect for hydrogen burning as a fuel, especially as compared to conventional piston engines. In Japan, the company has been researching and developing both hydrogen-fueled rotaries as well as hydrogen rotary hybrid-electric vehicles. Moreover, Mazda already has hydrogen-fueled rotary-powered RX-8s on the road – another breakthrough from the auto maker.

About Mazda Motor Corporation

A Japanese automotive manufacturer that is based in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda Motor Corporation is the maker of quality and top of the line auto parts such as Mazda multi rib belt.

In addition to that, Mazda is also a well known producer of different types of vehicles and their parts.

The company is expected to produce 1.25 million vehicles annually as of 2006. Among Japan, Europe, North America, and Latin America, its sales will be evenly divided.

Mazda’s 33.4% of controlling interest is controlled by the Ford Motor Company.