Wankel

Wankel (pronounced wahng-kuh)

A type of rotary internal combustion engine, first produced 1961, named after its inventor, German engineer, Felix (aka Fritz) Wankel (1902-1988).

The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion rotary engine, one of many based on the a rotary principle, the Wankel using an eccentric drive to convert pressure into rotating motion.  The design was conceived by German engineer Felix Wankel, an eccentric, though clearly gifted, self-taught engineer who was an early convert to National-Socialism (linked with a right-wing political movement in 1921) who joined the NSDAP (the National Socialist German Workers Party which would become the Nazi Party) the following year.  It’s important not to make too much of that, the party in its early days an aggregation of factions which were, literally more nationalist and socialist in character than anything like the racist and ultimately genocidal thing into which the Nazis evolved under Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945). 

But an enthusiastic Nazi Wankel certainly was although that didn’t protect him from falling victim to the internecine squabbles which would beset the party to the very end, expelled from the party in 1932 after feuding with his Gauleiter (the regional party boss) who, after Hitler came to power in 1933, succeeded in having Wankel jailed although, under less unpleasant conditions that those tossed into concentration camps.  Indeed, while in prison, he was able to continue working on his rotary engine, a patent for which had been granted to him in 1929.

Felix Wankel admires a shaft.

Wankel though had friends in the party, one of whom approached the Führer, stressing the importance of the amateur engineer’s contribution to German industry and that proved enough to secure his release.  He worked on a variety of projects during the 1930s, some on contract for BMW but mostly for the military including on seals, something which years later would absorb much of his energy at that of many others.  Despite his efforts for the Reich, his attempts to rejoin the party were rebuffed but his friends did gain him the honorary rank of Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) in the Schutzstaffel (The SS (Security Squad or Section), originally Hitler's personal security detail which evolved into a vast party security apparatus and later a parallel army almost a million strong) although his career in the "black mist" wasn't long, Wankel expelled within two years.  The records were lost in the confusion of war so the reasons aren’t known but while it’s tempting to wonder just how ghastly one has to be to be thought too evil for the SS, given the lack of any subsequent punitive action against him, it’s likely he just lost out in another of the squabbles that were so common in the Nazi system, the structures of which actually encouraged internal conflict.

It didn’t stop the Nazi state funding his research including what he was then calling his “rotary motion engine” although progress was slow and slow for a reason, the fundamental flaw in the design not resolved until the 1950s when another engineer, less visionary but more practical, rectified the fault.  Wankel's rotating cul-de-sac was far from unique in wartime Germany, the interest of the regime in technical innovation and the gullibility of party officials drew cranks, con-men and inventors inspired and otherwise.  Among the projects which received interest and sometimes cash from the state was a “non-combustible” material called durofol (which would catch fire), a scheme to create liquid fuel from the roots of fir trees (which consumed three times as much energy as it produced), the production of alcohol from bakery fumes (apparently that one was quickly rejected), a “death ray” championed by notorious drunkard Reichsleiter Robert Ley (1890–1945; head of the German Labour Front 1933-1945), which turned out to be impossible to build or even test, a plan to turn the atmosphere into a conductive element using ionization (which at least has a theoretical basis even if impossible) and the mysterious “Gerloff miracle pistol”, the records for which were lost.  Compared to some of these, Wankel’s engine (which didn’t work) probably appeared quite promising.

Gleitkufenboot (skid boat).

Wankel had other projects too, one of which he would, like his engine, later revisit.  This was the Zischboot (Hiss boat), intended as a small, high-speed torpedo-boat for the navy, a kind of hydrofoil that used clusters of skis.  In the 1970s, Wankel would display a prototype (now called the Gleitkufenboot (skid boat)), powered by an impressively powerful Mercedes-Benz four rotor Wankel engine.  Wankel claimed not only was it impossible to capsize the boat but that it was unsinkable, a notable feature said to be borrowed from certain sea creatures, air-intake "nostrils" with flaps controlled by sensors to ensure no water could penetrate when driving through waves.

Wankel survived the war and suffered not greatly in the denazification process the allied occupation authorities ran to weed out the worst of the worst, his work as an engineer suggesting someone unpolitical and being expelled both from the party and the SS probably helpful in mitigation.  In that he was lucky; had the investigators dug deeper they would have discovered Nazi-era Wankel held some fairly unsavory views and had expressed them more than once.  In the new Germany, those opinions he either no longer held or kept to himself, in 1951 obtaining a position with NSU as a technical consultant.  NSU were interested in his rotary motion engine.      

1957 NSU Prinz (the front of the car is to the left).

NSU (the name an abbreviation of "Neckarsulm", the city in which the factory was located) began in 1873 as a knitting machine manufacturer which in 1886 branched out into the production of bicycles and so successful did this prove that by 1892, the knitting machines were abandoned, the factory converted wholly to the building of bicycles.  The first NSU motorcycles appeared in 1901 and were both popular and profitable, encouraging the company in 1905 to enter the potentially even more lucrative market for cars.  Between then and the end of World War II (1939-1945), there were ups and downs but NSU survived and, in December 1946, resumed building bicycles and motorcycles, commercial vehicle production starting in 1949.  These efforts proved successful and the company, by now a significant beneficiary of Wirtschaftswunder (the post-war German "economic miracle"), was by the mid-1950s the world’s largest maker of motorcycles and profitable enough for car production to resume in 1957.  Wholly unrelated to knitting machines, motor-cycles & cars, NSU (non-specific urethritis) was the old term for NGU (non-gonococcal urethritis), an inflammation of the urethra not caused by gonorrheal infection.  In post-war Germany, it's used also as the initialism of Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund (National Socialist Underground), a general term for neo-Nazism and other fascist organizantions & movements.     

1958 NSU Prinz Sport.

The car was modest enough, tiny and powered by a 600 cm³ (37 cubic inch) air-cooled twin cylinder powerplant which was essentially two motorcycle engines joined by a common crankcase.  As was fashionable in small European cars of the era, the engine was at the rear, something which would prove a cul-de-sac, most manufacturers outside the Warsaw Pact soon convinced to abandon the idea.  That disenchantment actually extended to Porsche which had the 911’s replacement in production by the mid-1970s, only to find out just about every soul left on the planet who still thought rear-engined cars a fine idea were Porsche 911 buyers who insisted nothing else would do.  The customer being always right, the 911 survives to this day and that a rear-engined machine can be as well-behaved as 911s now are will be no surprise to those familiar with modern electronics but Porsche, remarkably, had engineered a high degree of predictability into its behavior even before computers were robust and fast enough to do the job.  In 1958, NSU didn’t face the same issues of high-speed handling, the new Prinz (Prince) having but 20 bhp (15 kW).  It was wholly utilitarian but suited to the times and sold well, national success (and growing incomes) meaning within a year, the idea of a more profitable up-market version became attractive.  Although little more than an Italian-styled body atop the existing underpinnings and never a huge seller, the Prinz Sport remained in production for a decade and its lightweight and slippery shape made possible an impressive top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h).  By 1968 over twenty-thousand had been built and it was the Prinz Sport NSU used as the basis for the world’s first Wankel-engined car.

The rotary engine, light, powerful and with few moving parts had interested NSU which saw the potential for motorcycles but they also quickly identified the fundamental flaw in the design which Wankel had never resolved: both rotor and rotor housing rotated, each on different axes, creating an assembly almost impossible to keep in balance as well as necessitating an additional housing.  While Wankel proceeded along his path, publicized by NSU in 1954, another NSU engineer, Hanns Dieter Paschke (1920-1999), unbeknown to Wankel, was developing his own version (KKM 57), displayed in 1957 as the DKM 54 at the NSU Research & Development Department in Versuchsabteilung.  Before long, the concept would be refined in that the single housing became static and only the rotor rotated, Wankel’s original vision intriguing but perhaps, even now, impossible to build as a practical working device and NSU devoted some years to making their version exactly that.  In 1964, it was released to the public.

1967 NSU Spider.

In 1964, the Western world was not so laden with rules and restrictions (for good and bad) and it was possible to sell for use on the public highways what were essentially prototypes in development and that the NSU Spider certainly was.  It was also a seen by NSU as an advertisement on wheels, a showcase not only for their upcoming models but also to encourage other manufacturers to buy licenses to produce their own Wankels, an option that would be exercised by many, including Alfa Romeo, Curtiss-Wright, General Motors, Daimler-Benz, Rolls-Royce and Mazda.  For whatever reason, BMW, Felix Wankel's Nazi-era employer, declined.  Citroën, an outfit with a reputation for the quirky, were enthusiastic enough to set up with NSU a Swiss co-venture to pursue the technology.  More than most, the French would come to rue the day they ever heard Wankel’s name.

A NSW spider, the Sydney funnel-web.

The NSU Spider should not be confused with NSW’s spiders of which there are quite a few.  Of the order Araneae, spiders are air-breathing arthropods (the usual reference to them being arachnids is a bit vague) and Australia is home to many, the most venomous of which is the Sydney funnel-web (Atrax robustus), found in New South Wales (NSW) in forests as well as populated urban areas.  They prefer to burrow in humid sheltered places but it’s not uncommon for them to wander into suburban backyards and sometimes they have to be rescued from swimming pools.  Human encounters are however relatively rare but they’re noted for their aggression if a threat is perceived so caution is recommended, their highly toxic venom produced in large amounts and the remarkably large fangs (larger than a brown snake, another of Australia’s many dangerous species) can be deployed with sufficient force to pierce human finger & toenails.  Although measuring only 15-35 mm (.6-1.4 inch), their venom contains a compound which attacks the human nervous system & internal organs, a strike from a male able to kill an adult although since anti-venoms became available in 1981, no fatalities have been recorded.  The Sydney funnel-web is the deadliest spider in Australia.

Skoda (rear) engine bays, the conventional (piston) engine (left) vs the single-rotor Wankel (right).

Although the project never progressed beyond the prototype stage, the Czech manufacturer Skoda was apparently the first to have running vehicles with a rotary engine installed (a complete engine said to have been running as early as 1961) but in 1964, the NSU Spider was the first to go on sale.  It used a single-rotor, water-cooled engine and was easily distinguishable from the Prinz Sport because it was a soft top cabriolet, apart from which it was substantially the same car with only detail differences in styling and specification except it was offered only in red or white.  One other change was definitely apparent however, power had jumped to a heady 50 bhp (37 kW) at a surprisingly low 5,500 rpm, enough to propel the Spider to close to 100 mph (160 km/h) for anyone on the autobahn prepared to push the little machine to the limit.  Never expected to be a big seller, fewer than 2500 were built between 1964-1967, its purpose more to whet the public appetite for what NSU intended to be their entry into the burgeoning middle-class mass market.  Additionally, though not at the time discussed, the Spider’s engine, while at a stage of development beyond being a prototype, was not ready for release to a public using it in a wide variety of ways in different climates in different countries.  The Spider’s customers unwittingly were also NSU’s development test team, something which later in the century would become a handy business model for many software companies.

Given the specifications of the Wankel NSU would produce in the future, it may that the Spider’s single rotor powerplant wasn’t an ideal a test bed for the customers to debug but problems in design and the choice of materials were identified and, where possible, within the limits of metallurgy and the realities of economics the lessons learned were applied.  Nor was the Spider’s specification static, the experiences of the customers applied to improve not only longevity but also power, the later cars enjoying a slight increase in capacity, output now 54 bhp (40 kW) at 6,000 rpm, 4 bhp perhaps not impressing all but it was close to 10% more and although the factory didn’t claim any increase in attainable speed, the most recent Spider owners presumably got there a little more quickly.

1967 NSU Ro 80 (1967-1977).

If the spider had generated interest, the NSU Ro 80, released in 1967, was a sensation.  Even without the novelty of the rotary engine (without which all concede it would doubtless have been a success), it would have made quite an impact.  The body, which does not look out of place even in the twenty-first century, was a modernist masterpiece, trendsetting in a way the 1955 Citroën DS (often called the déesse (literally "goddess")) was just too extreme to be yet more aerodynamically efficient, the Ro 80’s drag coefficient (CD) of .354 just a fraction better than the French car’s .359.  Beneath the skin, the futurist vision continued, the efficient front-wheel-drive packaging in the vanguard of adoption by larger vehicles, four wheel disk brakes (inboard at the front), a semi-automatic transmission, power-assisted rack and pinion steering and all independent suspension.  Reviews upon release were sometimes ecstatic, the only criticism from some who found the interior austere but it was era in which only the most expensive German cars were fitted-out with much beyond the starkly functional; NSU’s designers looked to Le Corbusier and Gropius, not the Jaguar Mark X.

The Ro 80 won the 1968 European Car of the Year award and buyers seemed as impressed as the many journalists who voted NSU.  Out on the autobahns, the twin-rotor engine was a smooth, quiet and a delight to use, the slippery shape meaning the 113 bhp (85 KW) it generated from a comparatively small 995 cm³ (61 cubic inch) displacement allowed it to match the speed of cars with even three times the capacity, the turbine-like feel encouraging a disregard for the 6500 rpm redline which it seemed to exceed without complaint.  The honeymoon didn’t last.  Critics began to notice it was good to match larger six cylinder cars in performance but it came at the cost of a thirst many V8 owners didn’t suffer.  Nor was the Ro 80, so at home cruising at 100 mph (160 km/h) on the autobahn, quite as happy in the stop-start urban conditions where the modern German motorist was now spending much time, some finding the previously admired semi-automatic transmission clumsy to use, the experience jerky.  The Wankel engine didn't deliver much much low-speed torque and drivers had to adjust their technique; those used to the more effortless performance of the 2-3 litre engines most often found in this class of car found negotiating their commute through a succession of red traffic-lights harder work than before.    

Nothing is perfect and such was the appreciation of the Ro 80’s virtues these drawbacks may have been overlooked or at least endured but what couldn’t be forgiven was that the Wankel engines were frequently, numerously, rapidly and expensively failing and, being within the warranty period, it was NSU which bore the cost to repair or replace.  That was bad enough but the car was quickly gaining a reputation for unreliability and sales were falling, exacerbating the financial strain NSU was suffering from all the warranty claims.  Nor was the once profitable motorcycle business there to subsidise the four-wheel venture, production having ended in 1968 to allow the company to focus on the Ro 80.  The problems hadn’t been wholly unexpected, just underestimated; NSU’s engineers had warned the board the engine wasn’t yet ready for production and needed at least months more durability testing and development but, perhaps remembering the relatively smooth introduction of the Spider, and certainly seeking cash-flow, approval was given for a debut in 1967.

It wasn’t difficult to work out where the problems lay which was mostly in the high wear of the apex seals and consequent damage to the rotor housing.  Essentially, the seal failure destroyed the engine, necessitating a replacement and it was not uncommon for replacement engines also to fail and require replacement, again under warranty.  For a small company with limited resources, it was unsustainable and NSU was soon unviable, the takeover by Volkswagen in 1969 said to be a "merger with Audi" only an attempt to glue a veneer of corporate respectability on what was the takeover of a distressed competitor.  It was unfortunate.  In just about every way except the flawed engine, the Ro 80 was years ahead of its time and deserved to succeed.  Had it been powered by a 2.8 litre flat-eight and configured with all-wheel drive (AWD) it would have been worthy competition for Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar (in this class BMW & Audi not yet a thing) and more advanced than either. 

1967 Mazda Cosmo.

The issue was the engine at that stage of its development given the metallurgy of the time rather than NSU because Mazda, which had in 1961 purchased a licence to produce the Wankel, were suffering the same problems in the Cosmo sports car, introduced also in 1967.  The Cosmo however, was a low-volume model and Mazda had other, profitable ranges on sale and so could absorb the cost of fixing failed Cosmos.  Mazda did seem to learn from the NSU experience however.  When they put the Wankel into volume production, the vehicles initially were offered either as a rotary or with a conventional piston engine, an approach which seemed promising but such was the fragility of the Wankel, even that had to be abandoned.  Mazda, after putting Wankels even into small trucks and busses, realised that for consumer vehicles, it was a niche product and restricted it to specialist sports cars.  The problems didn’t go away, but, for a while, they became manageable.

Mazda RX-7 (the Porsche 924-928 inspired second generation (1985-1992) model) in Lindsay Lohan's music video clip First (2005).

The Cosmo's spiritual replacement was the RX7, a two door coupé (there was a short run of roadsters in the second generation) built over three generations between 1978-2002.  With over 800,000 produced, it's probably still the machine most identify with the Wankel engine and was the car which came closest to gaining the mainstream acceptance which had eluded earlier models such as the RX-2 (Capella), RX-3 (Savanna) & RX-4 (Luce), probably because reliability had significantly improved and those buying relatively expensive sports cars were more tolerant of the higher fuel bill and in fairness, much of the competition offering similar performance returned fuel consumption which was little different.  It was replaced by the RX-8 which proved (thus far), the swansong for the Mazda rotary on the streets.     

1972 NSU Prinz 1200 TT.

Remarkably, Audi-NSU, although axing the outdated rear-engined Prinz range, maintained the troublesome Ro 80 in production and despite its thirst it survived even the first oil crisis which killed off so many others.  Although most of the old NSU manufacturing capacity had long been given over to the Audi production line, it wasn’t until 1977 the last Ro 80 was built, the decade’s total production of 37,000-odd a disappointment for a car expected to ship more than that every year.

Despite NSU’s takeover in 1969 in the wake of the problem, even in the early 1970s, many major manufacturers were still convinced the Wankel's many advantages would render the piston engine obsolete and embarked on large, and expensive, development programs.  In this they were encouraged by the legendary optimism and confidence of engineers who so often think any engineering problem can be solved with enough time and money.  However the problems, seal wear, emissions and high fuel consumption proved insoluble and the projects which hadn’t been abandoned didn’t survive the first oil crisis.  Apart from the odd small-volume independent, only Mazda persisted. 

Notable Wankel Moments

1974 Mazda Rotary Parkway 26 Minibus (1974-1976).

The Mazda Cosmo was shown only weeks after the NSU Spider. Twice the capacity of the NSU, it was much more ambitious and though also troubled, its low volume meant the rectification was manageable.  Only Mazda has produced Wankel engines in large quantities and they've offered the power-plant in sports cars, racing cars, sedans, coupés, station wagons, pick-up trucks & buses, the last two perhaps a curious place to put an engine not noted for its prodigious torque.  Others, with varying degrees of success, have put them in automobiles, motorcycles, racing cars, aircraft, go-karts, jet skis, snowmobiles, chain saws, and auxiliary power units.

1976 Mazda RX-5.

Even Mazda, which has at least partially solved most of the problems, currently don't have a Wankel in production; the last, used in the RX-8, unable to meet the latest EU pollution standards.  Despite this, Mazda claim to be committed to the Wankel and the factory say development is continuing, in 2016 showing the RX-Vision, hinting it could be on sale as early as 2020.  The COVID-19 pandemic put that at least on hold and concerns about CO₂ emissions may mean the Wankel's historic automotive moment, which lingered for so long, may finally have passed so whether Mazda really solved the problem of toxicity may never be known. 

1975 HJ Mazda Roadpacer (HJ & HX, 1975-1977).

Most Holden fans, as one-eyed as any, don’t have fond memories of the HJ (1974-1976) Premier.  Usually, all they’ll say is its face-lifted replacement, the HX (1976-1977), was worse.  With its chassis not including the "radial tuned suspension" (RTS) which lent the successor HZ (1977-1980) such fine handling and with engines strangled by the crude plumbing used in the era to reduce emissions, driving the HJ or HX really wasn’t a rewarding experience (although the V8 versions retained some charm) so there might have been hope Mazda’s curious decision to use the HJ (and later the HX) Premier as their top-of-the range executive car, complete with a smooth two-rotor Wankel, might have transformed the thing.  That it did but the peaky, high-revving rotary was wholly unsuited to a relatively large, heavy car.  Despite producing less power and torque than even the anaemic 202 cubic inch (3.3 litre) Holden straight-six it replaced, so hard did it have to work to shift the weight that fuel consumption was worse even than when Holden fitted their hardly economical 308 cubic inch (5.0 litre) V8 for the home market.  Available only in Japan and sold officially between 1975-1977, fewer than eight-hundred were built, the company able to off-load the last of the HXs only in early 1980.  The only thing to which Mazda attached its name not mentioned in their corporate history, it's the skeleton in the Mazda closet but does have one place in history, the footnote of being the only car built by General Motors (GM) ever sold with a Wankel engine.

Mercedes-Benz C-111 (1968-1970), the three-rotor (upper) and four-rotor (lower) Wankel versions.

Although the C-111 would have a second career in the late 1970s in a series of 5-cylinder diesel and V8 petrol engined cars used to set long-distance speed & endurance records, it's best remembered in its original incarnation as the lurid-colored ("safety-orange" according to the factory) three and four-rotor Wankel-engined gullwing coupés, sixteen of which were built.  The original was a pure test-bed and looked like a failed high-school project but the second and third versions were both finished to production-car standards with typically high-quality German workmanship.  Although from the school of functional brutalism rather than the lovely things they might have been had styling been out-sourced to the Italians, the gullwings attracted much attention and soon cheques were enclosed in letters mailed to Stuttgart asking for one.  The cheques were returned; apparently there had never been plans for production even had the Wankel venture proved a success.  The C-111 was fast, the four-rotor version said to reach over 300 km/h (190 mph), faster than any production vehicle then available.

Herr Wankel’s personal R107 (350 SL) fitted with 4 Mercedes-Benz Rotor Wankel (KE-413).

Less conspicuous than the C-111s in lurid safety orange were the roadsters which Mercedes-Benz used as Wankel test-beds.  The first used the W113 (1963-1971) platform, remembered now as the first “pagoda” and while it would never have been suitable as a production car, it apparently wasn’t as unbalanced as the sole W113 fitted with the 6.3 litre (386 cubic inch) M-100 V8 (used in the big 600 Grossers and the 300 SEL 6.3) which test drivers described as "exciting but unstable".  Still, the Wankel W113 proved quite a bit faster than the 280 SL and as a proof of concept was judged a success.  The W113 though had never been intended to use anything but a straight-six whereas the successor W107 (1971-1989) was designed from the start with an engine bay and transmission tunnel which would accommodate either a V8 or the Wankel with its high central power take-off.  The W113 had used a three rotor unit (M 50 F) but R107 had four (KE-413) and delivered considerably more power than the 3.5 litre (215 cubic inch) & 4.5 litre (275) V8s used in the production models and not until the adoption of 5.0 (305) & 5.5 (339) V8s in the 1980s would the performance be matched.

Four rotor Wankel engine (KE-413, left) and the unit installed in Herr Wankel’s 350 SL.

Yet however successful the proof of concept may have been, the early skepticism mentioned by the combustion chamber specialists was vindicated because as they pointed out the chamber was "...the central feature of the combustion engine.  The priority is to produce an optimum design so as to achieve the most favorable thermodynamic efficiency."  By that they meant "...as complete combustion of the fuel as possible” and not only was this not happening with the Wankel, their point was that fundamental aspects of the design meant it could not happen, something which manifested in high fuel consumption and difficulties in meeting the exhaust emission standards due to all the non-combusted hydrocarbons.  Modest in their demands in the early 1970s, the US regulators had already provided a decade-long roadmap which would make the rules so onerous there was then no realistic prospect the Wankel could ever be made to comply.  The engineers were confident they could produce a smooth, reliable and powerful Wankel, albeit a thirsty one, but knew they could never make it clean.  All of the factory’s W113 & R107 test-beds were scrapped when the project was cancelled but Felix Wankel’s personal R107 SL survives.  He obtained a four rotor unit from Mercedes-Benz, had it installed by technicians at his institute and in 1979, the trade journal Auto Motor und Sport published their road-test of the unique machine, reporting a 0-200 km/h (120 mph) time of 25.9 seconds and a top speed of 242 km/h (150 mph).

Citroën GS (GX) Birotor (1973-1975) on the stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show, August 1973.

Sometimes one gets lucky, sometimes not.  In the US, Ford introduced the new, small and economical Mustang II a few weeks before the first oil shock in 1973 and had a big hit (something sometimes forgotten by those who so decry the Mustang II and condemn it a failure).  In Australia, about the same time, Leyland announced the big new P76, a selling point its V8 engine.  The P76 wasn’t without faults and may anyway have failed but the timing didn’t help and it didn’t last long, shortly taking with it whatever remained of Leyland Australia.  In France, in October 1973, the very month in which events in the Middle East triggered the first oil shock, Citroën's thirsty GS Birotor went on sale.  Shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in August, the reception had been generally positive, most complaints being about the aesthetic; all the Birotors appeared to be painted in shades of brown, a color which seemed to stalk the 1970s.

Mechanically though, even before going on sale, some with high hopes for the Wankel were disappointed, the Birotor not realising the promise of smaller, lighter packages.  Despite the compact size, the engine would fit in the GS’s engine bay only transversely so Citroën’s signature inboard disk brakes couldn't be used for the first time since the pre-war Traction Avant. That necessitated a different subframe, a wider track, and bigger wheel arches than the standard GS.  Combined with other detail differences, it bulked the rotary-powered GS up to 690 lb (290 kg) more than the standard GS, compelling the addition of anti-roll bars to reduce the increased propensity towards body roll.  Another mechanical aspect not much discussed at the time was the Wankel's high exhaust emissions.  In one of many possible illustrations of how the politics of the matter has changed, it was a time when the exhaust pollution rules imposed by the United States appalled Europeans because of the way they made the detoxed cars behave.  Not wishing to sacrifice power, in Europe, drivers for years enjoyed un-emasculated engines and accepted the higher emission of CO₂ and other pollutants as part of life.  Widespread interest in climate change, then the concern of a handful of specialists looking at what was called the "greenhouse effect", was a generation away.  Despite cubic money being spent, it was one aspect of the Wankel that was never fixed and was the final nail in the coffin of Mazda's RX8.    

Known also as the GZ, the Birotor replaced the noisy but robust and economical air-cooled flat four used in the GS on which it was based and cost about 70% more.  The Wankel engine was the first fruit of the NSU-Citroën joint venture and, being of small capacity, attracted lower taxes than a similar piston-engined car.  However, it suffered the problems endemic to the Wankel: ruinously high fuel consumption and chronic unreliability caused by wear of the rotor seals and the damage this caused to the housing walls.  Citroën had looked at the Ro 80's issues and had included an additional oil pump to improve seal lubrication but the problems persisted.  Internal documents later revealed that just as at NSU half a decade earlier, there were those within Citroën who understood, long before the release, that a disaster was impending but a combination of corporate inertia, an unwillingness to admit failure and a number of contractual obligations meant the Birotor went on sale.  Within months the extent of the problem was realized.  Although only a few hundred had found buyers, broken ones were being towed to dealers around the country and owners were irate.  Early in 1975, Citroën dropped the model, offering to buy back all the 847 made, running or not, customers given a full-refund.  Most agreed and Citroen scrapped every one they could, hoping everyone would forget they ever existed.  A remarkable third of owners declined the offer and many survived in private hands; among Citroën aficionados they’re a collector’s item though probably more displayed as a curiosity than driven.

A twelve-rotor motor intended for marine applications.

The low weight, compact profile, small number of moving parts and very high specific output of the Wankel has always attracted engineers.  The Wankel turned out to be well suited to applications where it could be maintained at a constant speed for long periods, the problem of unburnt fuel in the exhaust substantially resolved, improving emissions and fuel consumption.  Wankels lose efficiency dramatically when they are revved up and down as they are in the normal use of a passenger car but in boats and aircraft where engine speed tends to be constant for long periods, they can work well.  In airframes especially, where weight is so critical, the inherent advantage of the vastly superior power to weight ratio can be compelling.

1989 Norton 588.

One of the many companies to purchase a licence from NSU was English motorcycle manufacturer BSA (British Small Arms) and this became the property of Norton when it absorbed BSA in 1973.  Norton’s troubled history in the 1970s had little to do with the Wankel but after bankruptcy, it was revived on more than one occasion and during one of those escapades, it made almost a thousand Wankel motorcycles.  Other manufacturers dabbled with Wankels and Suzuki actually made some 6000 RE5s between 1974-1976 but the best of the breed were thought to be the Nortons, even though they were admitted to be early in the development cycle.  The Wankel was a more reliable thing by the time the Nortons were made but they suffered the underlying problem of all road-going applications: the advantages just weren’t enough to outweigh the drawbacks, added to which, piston engines continued to improve.  Norton allowed the project to die but did use the Wankel technology to develop a line of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles, sometimes called drones) engines that proved successful; weighing only 22 lb (8.2 KG) yet producing 38 bhp (28 kw) they proved ideal for the task.

1972 Chevrolet Corvette XP-895 Prototype.

In 1972, spooked a bit by the news Ford would be offering the mid-engined De Tomaso Pantera through Lincoln-Mercury dealers, to steal a bit of the thunder, Chevrolet dusted-off and displayed a mid-engined Corvette prototype, production of which had been cancelled because of the cost.  It was shown again in 1973, this time with a four-rotor version of the Wankel GM had been developing in a number of configurations.  After the Wankel project was aborted, there were plans to use the body with a V8 to replace the existing Corvette, a release penciled in for 1980 but again, costs and concerns about sales potential aborted the idea.  It meant the already long-serving Corvette stayed in the line for fifteen years, not replaced until 1983 and not until well into the next century was a mid-engined version released.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan (pronounced koz-muh-pol-i-tn)

(1) One free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; an internationalist.

(2) One with the characteristics of a cosmopolite.

(3) A cocktail made with vodka, cranberry juice, an orange-flavored liqueur, and lime juice.

(4) Sophisticated, urbane, worldly.

(5) Of plants and animals, wildly distributed species.

(6) The vanessa cardui butterfly.

(7) A moth of species Leucania loreyi.

1828:  An adoption in Modern English, borrowed from the French cosmopolite (citizen of the world), ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek kosmopolitēs (κοσμοπολίτης), the construct being kósmos (κόσμος) (world) + politēs (πολίτης) (citizen); word being modeled on metropolitan.  The US magazine Cosmopolitan was first published in 1886.  Derived forms (hyphenated and not) have been constructed as needed including noncosmopolitan, subcosmopolitan, ultracosmopolitan, fauxcosmopolitan, anticosmopolitan & protocosmopolitan.  Because cosmopolitanness is a spectrum condition, the comparative is “more cosmopolitan” and the superlative “most cosmopolitan”.  Cosmopolitan is a noun & adjective, cosmopolitanism & cosmopolitanness are nouns, cosmopolitanize is a verb, cosmopolitanist is an adjective (and plausibly a noun) and cosmopolitanly is an adverb; the noun plural is cosmopolitans.

An aspect of Soviet Cold War policy under comrade Stalin

The phrase rootless cosmopolitans was coined in the nineteenth century by Vissarion Belinsky (1811-1848), a Russian literary critic much concerned about Western influences on both Russian literature and society.  He applied it to writers he felt “…lacked Russian national character” but as a pejorative euphemism, it’s now an anti-Semitic slur and one most associated with domestic policy in the Soviet Union (USSR) between 1946 and Stalin's death in 1953.  Comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953) liked the phrase and applied it to the Jews, a race of which he was always suspicious because he thought their lack of a homeland made them “mystical, intangible and other-worldly”.  Not a biological racist like Hitler and other rabid anti-Semites, Stalin’s enemies were those he perceived a threat; Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), Grigory Zinoviev (1883–1936) and Lev Kamenev (1883–1936) were disposed of not because they were Jewish but because Stalin thought they might threaten his hold on power although the point has been made that while it wasn’t because he was Jewish that Trotsky was murdered, many Jews would come to suffer because Stalin associated them with Trotsky.

Comrade Stalin signing death warrants.

It was the same with institutions.  He found disturbing the activities of Moscow’s Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and did not approve them being accepted by Western governments as representing the USSR.  Further, he feared the JAC’s connections with foreign powers might create a conduit for infiltration by Western influences; well Stalin knew the consequences of people being given ideas; the campaign of 1946-1953 was thus more analogous with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) opposition to the Falun Gong rather than the pogroms of Tsarist times.  Authoritarian administrations don’t like independent organisations; politics needs to be monolithic and control absolute.  In a speech in Moscow in 1946, he described certain Jewish writers and intellectuals, as “rootless cosmopolitans” accusing them of a lack of patriotism, questioning their allegiance to the USSR.  This theme festered but it was the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, fostering as it did an increased self consciousness among Soviet Jews, combined with the Cold War which turned Stalin into a murderous anti-Semite.

Rootless cosmopolitan Comrade Trotsky, murdered with an ice axe on comrade Stalin's orders.

Before the formation of the state of Israel, Stalin's anti-Semitism was more a Russian mannerism than any sort of obsession.  For years after assuming absolute power in the USSR, he expressed no disquiet at the preponderance of Jews in the foreign ministry and it was only in 1939, needing a temporary diplomatic accommodation with Nazi Germany, that he acted.  Having replaced the Jewish Foreign Commissar, Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951; People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union 1930–1939) with Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986; USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs 1939-1949 & 1953-1956), he ordered him to purge the diplomatic corps of Jews, his memorable phrase being "clean out the synagogue".  Concerned the presence of Jews might be an obstacle to rapprochement with Hitler, Stalin had the purge effected with his usual efficiency: many were transferred to less conspicuous roles and others were arrested or shot.

Meeting of minds: Joachim von Ribbentrop (left), comrade Stalin (centre) and comrade Molotov (right), the Kremlin, 23 August 1939.

Negotiations began in the summer of 1939, concluding with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946; Nazi foreign minister 1938-1945) leading a delegation to Moscow to meet with Molotov and Stalin.  It proved a remarkably friendly conference of political gangsters and agreement was soon reached, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (usually called the Nazi-Soviet Pact or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) being signed on 23 August.  The pact contained also a notorious secret protocol by which the two dictators agreed to a carve-up of Poland consequent upon the impending Nazi invasion and the line dividing Poland between the two was almost identical to the Curzon Line, a demarcation between the new Polish Republic created in the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918) and the emergent Soviet Union which had been proposed by Lord Curzon (1859–1925; UK foreign secretary 1919-1924).  At the Yalta Conference in 1945, during the difficult negotiations over Polish borders, Molotov habitually referred to "the Curzon Line" and the UK Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden (1897–1977; thrice UK foreign secretary & prime minister 1955-1957), in a not untypically bitchy barb, observed it was more common practice to call it the “Molotov-Ribbentrop line”.  "Call it whatever you like" replied Stalin, "we still think it's fair and just".  Comrade Stalin rarely cared much to conceal the nature of the regime he crafted in his own image.  When asked by Franklin Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945) if Molotov had been to New York during his visit to the US, Stalin replied: "No, he went to Chicago to be with the other gangsters".

Whatever the motives of Stalin, rootless cosmopolitans has joined the code of dog-whistle politics, a part of the core demonology to label the Jews a malign race, a phrase in the tradition of "Christ killers", "Rothschild-Capitalists and Untermenschen (the sub-humans).  Despite that, there are always optimists, Jewish writer Vincent Brook (b 1946), suggesting the term could convey the positive, a suggestion the Jews possess an “adaptability and empathy for others”.  It’s not a view widely shared and rootless cosmopolitan remains an anti-Semitic trope although it's not unknown for Jews to use it ironically.

The Cosmopolitan cocktail

A brace of Cosmos.

The Cosmopolitan was based on the "Cosmopolitan 1934" cocktail, a mix from inter-war New York which included gin, Cointreau & and lemon juice, raspberry syrup lending the trademark pink hue.  The modern Cosmopolitan was also concocted in New York and seems to have appeared first in the Mid-1980s although it was appearances in the HBO (Home Box Office) television series Sex and the City (1998-2004) which made it as emblematic of a certain turn-of-the-millennium New York lifestyle as Manolo Blahnik’s stilettos but, the implications of that connotation aside, the enticing pink drink survived to remain a staple of cocktail lists.  Cosmopolitans can be made individually or as a batch to be poured from a pitcher; just multiply the ingredient count by however many are to be served.

Ingredients

2 oz (¼ cup) vodka (or citrus vodka according to taste)

½ ounce (1 tablespoon) triple sec, Cointreau (or Grand Marnier)

¾ oz (1½ tablespoons) cranberry juice

¼-½ ounce (1 ½-3 teaspoons) fresh lime juice

One 2-inch (50 mm) orange peel/twist

Instructions

(1) Add vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

(2) Shake until well chilled.

(3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass (classically a coupé or Martini glass).

(4) An orange or lemon twist is the traditional garnish.

Notes

(1) As a general principle, the higher the quality of the vodka, the better the Cosmopolitan, the lower priced sprits tending to taste rather more abrasive which for certain purposes can be good but doesn’t suit a “Cosmo”.

(2) The choice of unsweetened or sweetened cranberry juice (the latter sold sometimes as “cranberry juice cocktail”) is a matter of taste and if using the unsweetened most will prefer if a small splash of sugar syrup (or agave) is added because tartness isn’t associated with a Cosmopolitan.

(3) There is however a variant which is sometimes mixed deliberately to be tart.  That’s the “White Cosmo”, made by using white cranberry juice.

(4) Of the orange liqueur: Most mixologists recommend Cointreau but preference is wholly subjective and Cointreau & Grand Marnier variously are used, the consensus being Cointreau (a type of Triple Sec) is smoother, stronger and more complex.  Grand Marnier is also a type of Triple Sec, one combined with Cognac so the taste is richer, nutty and caramelized which some prefer.

(5) Of the lime juice: It really is worth the effort to cut and squeeze a fresh lime.  Packaged lime juice will work but something of the bite of the citrus always is lost in the processing, packaging, storage and transporting the stuff endures.

(6) Art of the orange peel: The use of the term “garnish” of suggests something which is merely decorative: visual bling and ultimately superfluous but because cocktails are designed to be sipped, as one lingers over ones’s Cosmopolitan, from the peel will come a faint orange aroma, adding to the experience as the fumes of a cognac enhance things; spirits and cocktails are “breathed in” as well as swallowed.

(7) Science of the orange peel: When peeling orange, do it over glass so the oil spurting (viewed close-up under high-magnification, it really is more spurt than spray) from the pores in the skin ends up in the drink.  For the ultimate effect, rub the rim of the glass with the peel, down a half-inch on the outside so lips can enjoy the sensation.

The presidential “parade convertible” 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan, parked outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.

In the US, the Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo) produced the Lincoln Cosmopolitan between 1949-1954 but only in its first season was it the “top-of-the-range” model, “designation demotion” something which would over the decades become popular in Detroit.  Political legend has it Harry Truman (1884–1972; US president 1945-1953) personally selected Lincoln to supply the presidential car fleet as an act of revenge against General Motors (GM), the corporation having declined to provide him with cars to use during the 1948 election campaign.  It’s assumed GM’s management was reading the polls and assumed they’d need only to wait to wait for a call from president elect Thomas Dewey (1902–1971) but as things turned out, Mr Dewey never progressed beyond president-presumptive so GM didn’t get the commission, the keys to Cadillacs not returning to the Oval Office until the administration of Ronald Reagan (1911-2004; US president 1981-1989).  While it wouldn’t much have consoled the GM board, there was some of their technology in the Lincolns because, FoMoCo was compelled to buy heavy-duty Hydra-Matic transmissions from Cadillac, their own automatic gearbox not then ready for production.

The presidential “parade convertible” 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan with “Bubbletop” fitted.

The White House leased ten Lincoln Cosmopolitans which were modified by coach-builders who added features such as longer wheelbases and raised roof-lines.  Nine were full-enclosed limousines while one was an armoured “parade convertible” (a “cabriolet D” in the Mercedes-Benz naming system) which was an impressive 20-odd feet (6 metres) in length.  The car used a large-displacement version of the old Ford flathead V8 (introduced in 1932) and weighing a hefty 6,500 lb (2,900 kg), performance wasn’t sparkling but given its role was slowly to percolate along crowd-lined boulevards, it was “adequate.  In 1954, during the administration of Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969; US president 1953-1961), the parade convertible was fitted with a Plexiglas roof (a material the president would have been familiar with because it was used on some World War II (1939-1945) aircraft and in this form the Lincoln came to share the aircrafts’ nickname: “Bubbletop”.  The “Bubbletop” Cosmopolitan remained in service in the White House fleet until 1967.

The Glossies

Lindsay Lohan, Cosmopolitan, various international editions: April, May & June, 2006.

Cosmopolitan Magazine was launched in 1886 as a family journal of fashion, household décor, cooking, and other domestic interests.  It survived in a crowded market but its publisher did not and within two years Cosmopolitan was taken over by another which added book reviews and serialized fiction to the content.  This attracted the specialist house founded by John Brisben Walker (1847-1931), which assumed control in 1889, expanding its circulation twenty-fold to become one of America’s most popular literary magazines.  The Hurst Corporation acquired the title in 1905, briefly adding yellow-journalism before settling on a format focused on short fiction, celebrities and public affairs.  The formula proved an enduring success, circulation reaching two million by 1940 and this was maintained until a decline began in the mid 1950s, general-interest magazines being squeezed out by specialist titles and the time-consuming steamroller of television.

It was the appointment in 1965 of Helen Gurley Brown (1922–2012) as editor which signalled Cosmopolitan’s shift to a magazine focused exclusively on an emerging and growing demographic with high disposable income: the young white women of the baby boom.  In what proved a perfect conjunction, a target market with (1) economic independence, (2) social freedom, (3) an embryonic feminist awareness and (4) the birth control pill, the magazine thrived, surviving even the rush of imitators its success spawned.  Gurley Brown had in 1962 published the best seller advice manual, Sex and the Single Girl and Cosmopolitan essentially, for decades, reproduced variations on the theme in a monthly, glossy package.  It was clearly a gap in the market.  The approach was a success but there was criticism.  Conservatives disliked the choices in photography and the ideas young women were receiving.  Feminists were divided, some approved but others thought the themes regressive, a retreat from the overtly political agenda of the early movement into something too focused on fun and fashion, reducing women yet again to objects seeking male approbation.

Taylor Swift (b 1989), in purple on the cover of Cosmopolitan, December, 2014.

Still published in many international editions, Cosmopolitan Australia was one casualty of market forces, closed after a final printing in December 2018.  However, surprising many, Katarina Kroslakova (b 1978) in April 2024 announced her publishing house KK Press, in collaboration with New York-based Hearst Magazines International, would resume production of Cosmopolitan Australia as a bi-monthly and the first edition of the re-launched version was released in August, 2024.  Other than appearing in six issues per year rather than the traditional twelve, the format remained much the same, echoing Elle Australia which re-appeared on newsstands in March, ending a four-year hiatus.  Both revivals would as recently as 2023 have surprised industry analysts because the conventional, post-Covid wisdom was there existed in this segment few niches for time consuming and expensive titles in glossy print.

Amelia Dimoldenberg (b 1994) in polka-dots, on the cover of Cosmopolitan Australia April | May, 2025 (Issue 5, digital edition) which is downloadable file (96 MB in Adobe's PDF (portable document format) format.  Where digital titles have a history in print, the convention is to use the traditional cover format.  Even in the digital age, some legacy items have a genuine value to be exploited.

Ms Kroslakova clearly saw a viable business model and was quoted as saying print magazines are “the new social media” which was an interesting way of putting it but she explained the appeal by adding: “We need that 15 minutes to drop everything and actually have something tangible and beautiful in our hands to consume.  If we can present content which is multi-layered and deep and has authenticity and connection with the reader – that’s a really excellent starting point.”  She may have a point because in an age where screen-based content is intrinsically impermanent, the tactile pleasure of the traditional glossy may have genuine appeal, at least for an older readership who can remember the way things used to be done, something perhaps hinted at by her “15 minutes” reference, now regarded by many media analysts as a long-term connection given the apparent shortening of attention spans and after all, bound glossy pages are just another technology.  The revival of the print editions of Elle and Cosmopolitan will be an interesting experiment in a difficult economic environment which may get worse before it gets better.  Whether the novelty will attract enough of the "affluent readers" (what used to be called the A1, A2 & B1 demographic) to convince advertisers that it's a place to run their copy will likely decide the viability of the venture and while it's not impossible that will happen, Cosmopolitan is a couple of rungs down the ladder from the "prestige" titles (Vogue the classic mainstream example) which have maintained an advertising base. Cosmopolitan Australia offers a variety of subscription offers, the lowest unit cost available with a two-year, print + digital bundle (12 issues for Aus$105).

Lindsay Lohan on the cover of Cleo: March 2005 (left) and May 2009 (right).

Published in Australia between 1972-2016, Cleo was a monthly magazine targeted broadly at the demographic buying Cosmopolitan.  It was for decades successful and although there was some overlap in readership (and certainly advertising content), there was a perception there existed as distinct species “Cleo women” and “Cosmo women”.  Flicking through the glossy pages, husbands and boyfriends might have struggled to see much thematic variation although it’s likely they looked only at the pictures.  In the same vein, other than the paint, actual Cleo & Cosmo readers mostly probably wouldn’t have noticed much difference between Ford & Chevrolet V8s so it’s really a matter of where one’s interests lie (just because something is sexist stereotyping doesn’t mean it’s not true).  Had the men bothered to read the editorial content, they wouldn’t have needed training in textual deconstruction to detect both titles made much use of “cosmospeak”, a sub-dialect of English coined to describe the jargon, copy style and buzzwords characteristic of post 1950s Cosmopolitan magazine which contributed much to the language of non-academic “lipstick feminism”.  To summarize the market differentiation in women’s magazines, the industry joke was: “Cosmopolitan teaches you how to have an organism”, Cleo teaches you how to fake an organism and the Women’s Weekly teaches you how to knit an organism”.  As a footnote, when in 1983 the Women’s Weekly changed from a weekly to monthly format, quickly rejected was the idea the title might be changed to “Women’s Monthly”.

Martyrdom of the Saints Cosmas and Damian, oil on canvas by Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro, circa 1395-1455), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France).  Fra was from the Italian frate (monk) and was a title for a Roman Catholic monk or friar (equivalent to Brother).

“Cleo” was a spunky two syllables but “Cosmopolitan” had a time-consuming five so almost universally it was used as “Cosmo”.  In Italy, Cosmo is a male given name and a variant of Cosimo, from the third century saint Cosmas who, with his brother Damian, was martyred in Syria during one of the many crackdowns on Christianity.  The name was from the Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos) (order, ordered universe), source of the now familiar “cosmos”.  Cosmas and Damian were Arab physicians who converted to Christianity and while ostensibly they suffered martyrdom for their faith, there may have been a financial motive because the brothers practiced much “free medicine”, not charging the poor for their “cures” so their services were understandably popular and thus a threat to the business model of the politically well-connected medical establishment.  The tension between medicine as some sort of social right and an industry run by corporations for profit has occasionally been suppressed but it’s never gone away, illustrated by the battles fought when the (literally) socialist post-war Labour government (1945-1951) established the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) and the (allegedly) socialist “Obamacare” (Affordable Care Act (ACA, 2010)) became law in the US.  By the twenty-first century, the medical establishment could no longer arrange decapitations of cut-price competitors threatening the profit margins but the conflicts remain, witness the freelancing of Luigi Mangione (1998).

The Mazda Cosmo

1968 Mazda Cosmo 110S (110S the export designation).

Although the Mazda corporation dates from 1920, it was another 40 years before it produced its first cars (one of the tiny 360 cm³ “kei cars” (a shortened form of kei-jidōsha, (軽自動車) (light vehicle)) so the appearance at the Tokyo Motor Show of the Cosmo Sport created quite an impression and that it was powered by a two-rotor Wankel rotary engine produced under licence from the German owners added to international interest.  Over two series, series production lasted from 1967 until 1972 but the intricate design was labour intensive to build and being expensive, demand was limited so in five years fewer than 1,200 were sold.  That makes it more of a rarity than a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing (1,400 of those built 1954-1957) and while Cosmo prices haven’t reached the level of the German car, it is a collectable and a number are now in museums and collections.  Mazda continued to use the Cosmo name until 1996 and while none of the subsequent models were as intriguing as the original, some versions of the JC Series Eunos Cosmo (1990–1996) enjoy the distinction of being the world’s only production car fitted with a three-rotor Wankel engine (the 1969 Mercedes-Benz C111 was a Wankel test-bed). 

1975 Mazda Roadpacer (HJ model)

The Eunos Cosmo is not the only Mazda with a unique place in the troubled history of the Wankel engine, the Roadpacer (1975-1977) the only car built by General Motors (GM) ever sold with a Wankel engine.  Most Holden fans, as one-eyed as any, don’t have fond memories of the HJ (1974-1976) Premier.  Usually, all they’ll say is its face-lifted replacement, the HX (1976-1977), was worse.  With its chassis not including the "radial tuned suspension" (RTS) which lent the successor HZ (1975-1980) such fine handling and with engines strangled by the crude plumbing used in the era to reduce emissions, driving the HJ or HX really wasn’t a rewarding experience (although the V8 versions retained some charm) so there might have been hope Mazda’s curious decision to use the HJ (and later the HX) Premier as their top-of-the range executive car, complete with a smooth two-rotor Wankel, might have transformed the thing.  That it did but the peaky, high-revving rotary was wholly unsuited to a relatively large, heavy car.  Despite producing less power and torque than even the anaemic 202 cubic inch (3.3 litre) Holden straight-six it replaced, so hard did it have to work to shift the weight that fuel consumption was worse even than when Holden fitted their hardly economical 308 cubic inch (5.0 litre) V8 for the home market.  Available only in Japan and sold officially between 1975-1977, fewer than eight-hundred were built, the company able to off-load the last of the HXs only in early 1980.  The only thing to which Mazda attached its name not mentioned in their corporate history, it's the skeleton in the Mazda closet and the company would prefer were forget the thing which it seems to think of as "our Edsel".

The archbishop and the abdication

Archbishop Cosmo Gordon Lang (1932), oil on canvas by Anglo-Hungarian society portraitist Philip Alexius László de Lombos (1869–1937 and known professionally as Philip de László).  Lang was christened Cosmo in honor of the local Laird (in Scotland, historically a feudal lord and latterly the “courtesy title” of an area’s leading land-owner, most prominent citizen etc).  The noun Laird was from the northern or Scottish Middle English lard & laverd (a variant of lord).

Scottish Anglican prelate Cosmo Gordon Lang (First Baron Lang of Lambeth, 1864–1945; Archbishop of York 1908–1928 & Archbishop of Canterbury 1928–1942 was a clergyman with uncompromising views about much.  This type was once common in pulpits and although those of his faction exist still in the the modern Church of England, they tend now to exchange view only behind closed doors.  He’d probably be today almost forgotten were it not for an incendiary broadcast he made (as Archbishop of Canterbury and thus spiritual head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican community) on BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Radio on 13 December, 1936, two days after the abdication of Edward VIII (1894–1972; King of the UK & Emperor of India January-December 1936, subsequently Duke of Windsor).  The address to the nation remains the most controversial public intervention made by a Church of England figure in the twentieth century, judged by many to be needlessly sanctimonious and distastefully personal, its political dimension the least objectionable aspect.

As a piece of text it did have a pleasingly medieval feel, opening with some memorable passages including: “From God he received a high and sacred trust. Yet by his own will he has abdicated” and “It is tragic that the sacred trust was not held with a firmer grip”.  That set the tone although when he said: “There has been much sympathy with the king in his great personal difficulty, and I do not forget how deeply he has touched the hearts of millions with his warm interest in the homes and lives of his people” his large audience may have thought some Christian charity did lurk in the Archbishop’s soul but quickly he let that moment pass, returning to his theme: “The causes which led to the king's decision are fully known to the nation.  But it has been made plain that the reigning sovereign of this country must be one whose private life and public conduct can be trusted to reflect the Christian ideal."

Unlike many modern Archbishops, there was no ambiguity about Lang so in his defense it can be argued be provided the Church with a moral clarity of greater certainty than anything detectable in Lambeth Palace in recent decades.  So there was that but by the 1930s the mood of opinion-makers in the UK had shifted and Lang’s text was seen as morally judgmental and the idea Edward VIII had failed not so much as a constitutional monarch but in his divine duty seemed archaic, few in the country framing things as the king’s personal failure before God.  What was clear was the point Edward’s relationship with a twice-divorced woman disqualified him morally and spiritually from being king which many critics within the church thought a bleak approach to a clergyman’s pastoral role.  In a sermon from the pulpit to the faithful it might have gone down well but as a national address, the tone was misplaced.  In self-imposed exile, privately Edward privately described the broadcast as “a vile and vindictive attack” and in his ghost-written memoirs (A King's Story (1951)), he accused the archbishop of “cruelty”.

Remembered also from the broadcast’s aftermath was a satirical verse printed in Punch by the novelist Gerald Bullett (1893–1958 (who published also under the pseudonym Sebastian Fox)).  Bullet’s included the words “how full of cant you are!”, using “cant” in the sense of “to speak in a manner speak in a hypocritical or insincere), an allusion to Lang signing his documents : “Cosmo Cantuar” (Cantuar the abbreviation for Cantuarium (Latin for Canterbury)):

“My Lord Archbishop, what a scold you are!
And when your man is down, how bold you are!
Of Christian charity how scant you are!
And, auld Lang swine, how full of cant you are!”