As a teenager Felix Wankel dreamed of having a car with an engine that was half piston, half turbine. When he woke he told his schoolmates of his dream and continued his studies. That dream never died. In 1924 he concieved his first rotary engine and applied for the patent in 1926. The basic design of that engine was predated by a company called Enke in 1886. Undetered Felix Wankel continued design work until he recieved his first patent in 1929. In 1936 he patented the DKM engine design which could easily attain very high RPM but required an engine tear-down to change the spark plugs. On July 7, 1958 the first running prototype of the KKM design (later used by NSU, BMW and several others including Mazda) ran on the test bench.

For a much more detailed account of the history of the Rotary Combustion Engine, visit Monito.com and enjoy the history of this wonderful little engine.