Friday 1st February 1957
The first rotary engine, initially called a Wankel engine, after its inventor, Felix Wankel, juddered to life in a NSU laboratory in Germany. NSU had contracted Wankel to develop a rotary-valve system for its racing motorcycles that led to a rotary compressor (supercharger), from which it was an inevitable step to a rotary engine. A Spider version of the NSU Prinz, introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, became the first production car with a Wankel engine. It was followed in 1967 by the NSU Ro-80 luxury saloon, a car so advanced that it still looks contemporary.
