I'm trying to get more info from someone about that car.

Wow, where is it at and when did this rotary get put into the Stang?

New one on me. I knew that GM had actually designed the Monza back in'75 to take the rotary instead of the V8 until the gas crunch hit and blew that plan to smithereens. I've NEVER heard of this car before. Gotta be the holy grail for mustang afficiandos. I googled it and found some mention but no pics.

Why would a Rotary Monza be canc'd from a gas crunch? They're pretty good on gas from what I've seen.

Pretty good? 12-15 mpg back then. I think the current RX8 is rated at 16. NOT competitive with v6's, much less 4 cyclinders. The real bullet in the back was meeting emissions as the rotary's were dirty little suckers.

Are we talking about the Mazda company or the Monza, line of the Chevy Corvair?

Mazda holds the license for rotary engines. As to the question of  problems with the wankel (rotary) engine - the biggest issue has been the seals (which would be equal to piston rings on a V-8 engine). The early year rotary engine had problems with longevity due to seals going bad. They could not pass emissions and as mentioned gas milage as measured against comparible sized engines (4 and 6-cylinders) was not great, they were good - but not all that impressive. They closed down the rotary engine lines for a while. When they broguth them back they decided to market them based on power in a small package. You notice that they only sell them (in the USA) in the RX versions sports cars. In the early days they sold them in pickup trucks, 2 and 4 door sedans too.

They were very competative .... A lot of guys ran up against them in their Muscle cars - if they were real careful, they got their lunch taken. Cubic wise, they are in a class by themself, very effcient - but as noted, not that thrifty on gas. Much better as a performance package.

Neither. The Chevy Monza, based on the vega chassis came out in 75 and it's engine compartment was originally designed to house a rotary engine.

I used to know someone with a V8 Monza 255CID ?

Maybe it was a Pontiac or Olds and not a Monza.

I was limiting my thinking to the same time frame as the 1965/66 Mustang in the picture. The '70's Monza's didn't even come to mind.

Didn't GM also place the 350 in that body? I seem to remember a bunch of them ruling the Drag race tracks for a few years. I think they got a loop hole, due to California version needing a smog certified engine. Instead of reworking they 49 state version they were able to stick the California certified "smog" 350 ci in the car instead. despite the low smog hp/tq rating, when it was ready for racing it was a pretty hot package?

I had to look this up - 262, 305 and 350 V-8's were available at various times during  production run of the 70's Monza.

 

I had a 76 with the infamous 262 cid. What a piece of crap. This is the one where you had to jack the engine up off the motor mounts to remove the back spark plugs. Last GM car I ever owned. I don't know of any factory 350's though I do know of several "tuner" houses that made the swap and sold em out of Chevy dealerships. Buford and Olds had similar versions although not sure if you could get the V8 with them. I seem to recall the V6 only on those but could be wrong.

Kermit, sorry to hi-jack your post. I'd love to know more about the rotary mustang if you find out any more.

The rotary motor in the Mustang looks like an early '70's Mazda motor. Even the emblems look like they came off a rotary powered Mazda pick-up.

I agree. No way that air filter housing is circa 65. There's no wingnut. Ditto the oil filler cap. Looks Japanese as well. I'm pretty sure we're looking at a plastic fan, too.

You might notice that on the trunk lid shot there is a ton of bondo in the rear edge of that panel. Not a real nice car by any means. I'm thinking a post '65 conversion of some sort.

As far as those stinkbug Chevy Monzas go I can recall many sub zero Chicago mornings dragging the non-starters in and pulling the flooded spark plugs. It wasn't bad enough that you had to lift the engine off the mounts. If you had an AC car the fan blade would hit the shroud so you'd have to piss with that. And if THAT wasn't enough the exhaust was so tight to the floor that when you lifted engine it would bend the pipes and you'd end up with a damn exhaust leak.

The 350 was only available in California cars. 262/305 was much more common in midwest.

I don't remember the exact year, maybe 78 or 79, Chevrolet Motor Division put out a Monza Mirage. "Ground effects" plastic body panels all over the thing. I worked at Chevrolet at that time and a customer bent one. The car was less than two years old and we had on HELL of a time getting replacement panels for that POS. And then getting the insurance company to cover everything was a whole 'nuther story.

I'ts got to be a later install, my Mustang by the numbers book doesn't show one being made by Ford & as far as I know Maxda & GM are the only ones with the rights to the Wankel

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You can't condemn the bad if you don't commend the good

World's first and only active car with a US made rotary engine.
Experimental 1965 Rotary Engine Ford Mustang
Photo By: Douglas Wilkinson
Location: The National Automotive and Truck Museum of the United States, Auburn, Indiana.
Powered by a Curtis Wright RC-60, twin rotor, 240cid, 185 hp @ 5000 rpm engine.



http://www.remarkablecars.com/for-sale/showproduct.php/product/15403/cat/818


http://rangerdave.freeforums.org/

Aren't Rotary engines supposed to be able to turn something like a gagillion RPM'S?

I heard a tale that there were some Rotary racing engines in the Formula series, or is this just an old garage tale? Was told they were fast and quiet in comparison to the Formula engines etc...

I used to tinker with Mazda RX-2's. It's amazing how fast a tach will peg when you put a big Holley on it. I raced one for awhile with a 185 B&M supercharger on it

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You can't condemn the bad if you don't commend the good

good find