I’ve turned 30 today. My wife and her mother got me a set of bespoke cufflinks in the shape of Wankel engine rotors. Life is officially awesome.
It is also a way of growing old I would never have suspected. My jaw must have broken the sound barrier as it dropped in amazement when I unpacked this thing. Not that I ever questioned the petrolhead cred of Natalie Polgar, recently turned Mrs. Orosz: She’s a former owner of a Lancia Delta HF Integrale and loves the Miura. But her mother? I would never have guessed.
As for what exactly this wonderful object is, it’s the heart of a Wankel engine which powers Mazda’s RX–8—and nothing else on the market today.
Never believe for a second that the Wankel was invented by the German engineer Felix Wankel. It’s alien technology, pure and simple.
The cufflinks are made of ebony and silver. They were crafted by the father and son
jewelers László and Bence Fördős. What I’ve heard is that it took some convincing on Natalie’s part for them to accept the commission, due to its devilish complexity, but they did a splendid job, didn’t they?
What’s the take home message? If you can’t help growing old, marry the right girl in the process. Also, I’ll have to get a Wankel-powered car now. That’s the easy part. I’ve got just the candidate:
Photo Credit: Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images (Mazda 787B at Le Mans), Natalie Polgar, and the author