This 3D Printed Mazda Rotary Engine Is Brilliant! Moving parts and lights showing the combustion cycle! The Wankel rotary engine was made popular by Mazda, who built rotary style engines from in production cars such as the RX-7, RX-8, and others from 1967 to 2012. The Wankel rotary engine is unique in that it has three main moving parts, in comparison to piston cylinder engines which have many more. There are two rotors, and a single eccentric shaft which all rotate, rather than reciprocating li