In the late 1960s, a Japanese automaker took a bold leap with an unconventional engine that defied traditional design.

It would have been easy to write rotary engines off the speculative books at Mazda — poor milage and questionable long-term reliability made traditional piston engines seem favorable to many.

Mazda built its last rotary engine on Friday, June 22. By final, we mean the line that assembled Renesis engines for Mazda's RX-8 sports car was idled, and there are currently no plans to restart ...