Legendary Motor Matchup #6
Every Tuesday for 10 weeks, starting March 3, 2020, we will present one head-to-head challenge. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to cast your vote on each matchup. The results will tally on the Top 10 Legendary Motors page every week.
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APRIL 8–12
It’s the battle of the small and mighty! No larger than 1.1 L, both engines were designed over one hundred years ago by two German engineers with a connection to the Nazi party. They not only powered two legendary “autos” for over 70 years, but found their way into airplanes and motorcycles as well.
VOLKSWAGEN
air-cooled 4-Cylinder
James May from Top Gear fame quoted, “The VW Beetle is, without question, the most the most significant and important car ever made.”
Some key facts to share: with almost 22 million produced, the Beetle is the longest-running and most manufactured car of a single platform ever made, spanning 65 years of production worldwide, making the VW air-cooled engine one of the most popular powerplants ever.
The original postwar production VW air-cooled engine (Type 1) displaced 1,100 cc and made 25 horsepower. It was designed and created by Karl Benz in 1897, and further developed by Ferdinand Porsche, who in 1938, finalized the design.
This engine also powered millions of VW Microbus vans, Karmann Ghia sports coupes, roundbacks, and squarebacks. With a few key differences, the same engine design drove the legendary Porsche 356 and 550 Spyder, as well as the Porsche 912 through the mid-1970s. Slightly altered versions of this engine also powered boats, airplanes, stationary power generators, pumps, and many more industrial applications.
In its basic form, this air-cooled engine is a favourite for off-roaders and racers because the meagre horsepower numbers from the factory are very easy to improve with just a few simple changes. Beyond racing, the Volkswagen engine is a popular choice for sporting applications in dune buggies, sand rails, and other off-road vehicles.
It is safe to say that with tens of millions of Beetles in the world, the VW air-cooled engine is not only the most popular of motors in our matchup, it is also the Swiss army knife of motors, making it a solid MOONRCKT contender for the most legendary motor of all time.
MAZDA
Wankel Rotary
Well, here we are with our smallest and most unusual engine of the bunch, the Wankel rotary, an engine that uses spinning rotors instead of pistons.
Created by Felix Wankel in the early 50s, this barrel-shaped internal combustion engine lacks many of the major parts you'd find in a conventional piston engine.
So what's so special about this legendary engine? For one thing, there are no pistons chugging up and down. Rather, rounded triangular rotors—most often two, but sometimes one or three—spin around a shaft through the hollow barrel. The key advantages are its compact size, lightweight and high power for its size.
Back in the early 60s, Mazda, one of the smallest Japanese automakers, had to make a choice: revolutionize or die. To avoid that fate, the automaker had to come up with a unique proprietary technology to help make it viable. It chose the Wankel rotary engine. Rotary engines aren't exclusive to Mazda, but more than any other automaker, Mazda is synonymous with the technology.
53 years ago, Mazda launched its first production rotary engine, a 110-hp 1.2-litre Two-Rotor Wankel powering the ‘67 Mazda Cosmo Sport—the car that galvanized on a long line of legendary sports cars, including the rotary-powered RX-7 Turbo II and RX-7 twin-turbo.
Mazda was also the only Japanese racing team that managed to leave Circuit de la Sarthe crowned as victors, a record that stood unbeaten for 27 years. It did so with one of the greatest sounding motors of all time—a highly tuned, 4 Rotary Wankel capable of producing over 900 "naturally aspirated" hp at a howling 10,500 RPMs using only 2.6 L of displacement, making this crazy tiny motor a MOONRCKT favourite for sure.