Mazda and the rotary engine - 45 years on

Mazda, through 2015, is celebrating 45 years of assembling rotary-engined vehicles so let's takes a closer look at the history of the rotary engine...

Amazingly, only one Japanese manufacturer has ever claimed victory at Le Mans – and that was Mazda. The company achieved that pinnacle of back in 1991 when its rotary-powered 787B sports car proved once again the nation’s obsession with copying an idea and developing it, commercially and financially, for all it's worth.

The words 'learn' and 'copy' are the same in the Japanese language - which perhaps has something to do with that nation's incredible ability to “pick up the ball and run with it". The rotary engine is such a case...