The Car Challenge

[JW]

A wankel.. cool!

[Nereus]

A wankel.. cool!

Are you sure about the spelling?

[PeteC]

Yep, here's the proof.

http://www.mazda-news.eu/2013/01/09/do- ... gined-car/

[Ginjaninja]

"The most outstanding success for Mazda’s rotary history was the 1991 Le Mans Cup. Equipped with a 4-rotor engine which displaced 2622 cc and developed 700 hp (522 kW) at 9000 rpm, the legendary Mazda 787B scored the first and only victory by a Japanese marque as well as the only victory by a car not using a reciprocating engine design to this day."

Impressive!
GN.

[Dannie Boy]

I thought Mazda was the only car manufacturer to install a rotary engine.
Never seen a Mazda like that...
And D.B.... surely its '1000s' of miles away.....
GN.

Sorry if I confused everybody, but I have always assumed that the reference 000's referred to so many thousands, anyway the answer was forthcoming and this particular Mazda Cosmo was of 1969 vintage

[pe7e]

Here's a car first introduced in the 60s, it was exceptionally aerodynamic and technologically advanced for its time and also expensive. I actually owned on of these in the early 70s, purchased at a bargain price with only 35K on the clock, What is it?

[Siani]

I am pretty sure its a Lancia Flavia. I also had one in the 60's but mine was 2 door coupe in aubergine. I loved it. It may be fulvia?

[pe7e]

I can see where you are coming from, but it isn't a fulvia

[Siani]

Mmm ...am I in the right country?

[pe7e]

No, but you're in the right continent, there's a cryptic clue worthy of Sherlock Holmes. in the description in the original post

[Siani]

Scimitar?

[pe7e]

No, the Reliant Scimitar was a British built fibreglass bodied car, you're getting cooler.

[STEVE G]

I was just reading back through this thread where a poster said that Mazda was the only manufacturer to use a Wankel and I thought of the NSU Ro80, which was the first and you give us a picture of one!
My Father had one to use from the garage that he was managing at that time, they sold Audi and Mercedes and for some reason they had one of those to test and he drove it for a while. It was a long time ago but I seem to remember that it had no clutch pedal, it was some kind of semi-automatic.

[pe7e]

STEVE G,
You are of course correct, and I chose the RO 80 because of the post you mentioned, there are loads of rotary engine vehicles. The clutch was a strange arrangement it had sort of 2 clutch devices, and depressing the gear stick disengaged the clutch. Regarding the cryptic clue, all the engines failed at around 30K - 35K miles due to seal failure and were uneconomical to repair. This resulted in them being sold at knock down prices, fortunately, an engine transplant was relatively easy if you had the necessary skills and facilities. I fitted the one I purchased with a Ford 2 Litre V4, it was a delight to drive.

[STEVE G]

....all the engines failed at around 30K - 35K miles due to seal failure...

I think that was something to do with why my Father was putting miles on one, I do remember that it was a very nice car though and we went on holiday in it a couple of times.