Dr. Felix Wankel secures the first licensing agreement for his Wankel Engine.
Dr. Felix Wankel gained his first patent for this remarkable engine in 1929. His work on the motor was slow in the following two decades as he developed rotary-valve applications for piston engines. By 1957, working in conjunction with NSU, he had a fully functional rotary engine prototype, and immediately began licensing the engine. First to take up this new design was aircraft engine builder Curtiss-Wright. Curtiss-Wright has a long and rich history with motorcycles, via founder Glenn Curtiss, ( In 1907, "Hellrider" Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 miles per hour, on a 40 horsepower 269 cu in (4,410 cc) V8-powered motorcycle he designed and built). Their Wankel engines were mostly used in aircraft.
The first Wankel-powered bike came from IFA/MZ in 1960. MZ took out a license from NSU in 1960, to develop Wankel engines as possible replacements for their two-stroke engines in both motorcycles and their 3-cylinder two-stroke car, the "Trabant". Within three months, a single-rotor, water-cooled 175cc engine, was installed in an IFA chassis (the 1959 'BK 351') which formerly cradled a flat-twin two-stroke engine.
In Britain, Norton developed a Wankel rotary engine bike, based on the Sachs air-cooled rotor Wankel that powered the DKW/Hercules W-2000, for their Commander, F1, Interpol 2 and Norton Classic. Suzuki also made a production motorcycle powered by a Wankel engine, the RE-5, from 1974-1977.
Felix Wankel never had a driver's license, he was extremely near-sighted, blind-as-a-bat. He was, however, the owner of an NSU Ro 80 with a Wankel engine, which was chauffeured for him.
Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk
