Three-phase nonoverlapping stator wound-field synchronous (NSWFS) machines having salient pole rotors are investigated systematically in this paper. The influence of the rotor pole number on the NSWFS machines is investigated via optimized designs. Using two-dimensional (2-D) finite-element analysis (FEA), the NSWFS machines are found to exhibit higher torque than the nonoverlapping segmented rotor NSWFS (SNSWFS) machines. The FEA-predicted back-electromotive force (EMF), cogging torque, and static torque of the NSWFS machines are validated by experiments on prototype machines.