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The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger Car

The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger Car

The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger

Rumbler Troftenwagen

The concept of position in the earliest is irrelevant as the passengers usually sat on top of the machinery and layout of the latter was dependent on the means of transmitting the engine power to the rear wheels. This led to compact but high cars, but due to the very limited performance was not unduly unstable. Because it made the best use of the technology of the time, the front engine rear wheel drive layout was to become standard about the turn of the century. This allowed a small reduction in height as speed increased and stability became important. For the next thirty years the front engined, rear wheel drive layout was refined resulting in a decrease in height but increasing intrusion of the machinery into the passenger space and the rear passengers located over the rear axle. The idea of locating the engine at the rear of the car to overcome this problem was conceived in the nineteen twenties and developed in the thirties. The layout reached a peak of popularity in the nineteen sixties, then fell out of use except for sporting cars after the rise in the popularity of the front wheel drive car. During the period when rear cars were produced in millions and one case tens of millions, the engine was usually located outside the . It is the cars of this period that I am reviewing here. The vast majority were light cars but there were some notable exceptions as you will see in the following text.The earliest rear engined cars would today be classified as mid engined cars, such as the Rumbler Troftenwagen and the light cars mentioned below. Rumbler Troftenwagen was designed and built in by Edmund Rumbler an aeronautical engineer in 1921. The Burney cars of 1928 were most probably the first true rear engined cars with the engine behind the rear axle to go into very limited production.

A Burney Streamline car lightauto.com Page 1 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

A 1914 GKW A Hanomag 2/10ps Kommissbrot

There were a few mid rear-engined cars between those first cars and the beginning of the rear engine period proper. The cycle car era produced a notable example in the G.W.K. made in Britain between 1911 and 1930, initially by Grice, Wood and Keiller, at Maidenhead in Berkshire. The transversely mounted rear engine was not the only unusual feature of the car. Throughout their years of production G.W.K cars were always fitted with a friction drive , utilising a friction disk that moved across the face of the flywheel to produce different reduction ratios from 4 to 1 in top to 14 to 1 as the lowest gear. The rest of the car was conventional for it's day. The engine fitted was a 1069cc water-cooled unit; it weighed 9.5-cwt and cost £150. Production between 1918 and 1930 was not great with nearly 200 examples of various types made. While G.W.K were struggling on in Britain, Hanomag in Germany produced the "2/10ps Kommissbrot", The latter being a popular name given to the car and referring to a loaf of bread. Made from 1924 to 1928 in which time 15,800 examples were produced. It's single cylinder water cooled engine of 500cc was mounted at the rear with three speed gearbox and a chain final drive in an oil bath to the solid rear axle. A two seat car with a 40 mph maximum speed, in most respects it was late example of the cycle car.

Limited experiments in front wheel drive and rear engine layouts had been carried out, but the need for a more complex means of transmitting the power to the driven wheels than the almost universally used live axle was the stumbling block. The simplest alternative to the live axle was the . The swing axle had been used by Hans Ludwinka at since the early nineteen twenties and Ludwinka was to become one of the pioneers of rear engine cars. The Tatra swing axle didn't use flexible joints but a system of bevel gears that allowed each to move independently. The flexible coupling commonly in use at the time was the fabric coupling it had a limited degree of deflection and working life and was not suitable for use with swing axles. The availability of better flexible couplings of the hardy Spicer type made it possible to develop a reliable swing axle transmission. The combination of the rear mounted engine with swing axle transmission proved to be the simplest way to remove the engine and the transmission from the passenger space and lower the overall height of the car.

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The -Ganz prototype 1933

From 1928 onwards, the idea of a people's car with a rear mounted air-cooled engine, all independent springing and a backbone frame was promoted in Germany by an engineer and journalist . Ardie a German motorcycle manufacturer produced an experimental car with a forked backbone frame the Ardie Ganz, in 1930. Adler a German manufacturer produced another Ganz prototype in 1931. In 1933 the first of his designs to go in production the Superior was made by Standard Fahrzeugfabrik. It had a mid rear mounted two engine. In 1927 Sir Dennistoun Burney the designer of the airship R100, set up a company to produce aerodynamically efficient cars, Streamline Cars Ltd at "Cordwallis Works", Maidenhead Berkshire England. The prototype of 1928 used an Alvis front wheel drive chassis turn back to front with the returned to the front. This was clothed with a teardrop shaped body. The production cars of which there were twelve made between 1929 and 1933 had a space frame chassis with all independent suspension using transverse leaf springs, hydraulic brakes and a variety of engines were used, mounted at the rear behind the rear wheels. This design had a top speed of 80mph. The design was adopted by Crossley Cars in 1933, fitted with 1991cc overhead valve six-cylinder engine. The radiator was moved to the front of the car and a pre-selector gearbox fitted. Only twenty-five examples were produced and that was in 1934. While these few expensive cars were being produced in Britain, in and Germany various designs, prototypes and a few production cars were being created. A Rear Engined Crossley

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The Zundapp "Volksauto" Chassis and Body

Dr Ferdinand set the engineers in his design bureau on project number 12 at the end of September 1931, the design of an . He didn't have a commission for the car, but this was something he wanted to do for some time. By December 1931 the design for a small car was sufficiently advanced for Porsche to look for a possible manufacturer. The main features of the design were, independent suspension on all four wheels using trailing arms at the front and swing axles at the rear, with Porsche patent torsion- bar springs. A three cylinder air-cooled radial engine that was complete with the gearbox and final drive located at the rear of the chassis behind the rear wheels. The first prototype of the Tatra Type V570 designed by Erich Ledwinka, the son of Tatra's chief engineer was produced in 1931. Although this prototype had a body of conventional form, the inspiration for the rear engined Tatra came from the idea of taking full advantage of the streamlined forms proposed by the aerodynamicist Paul Jarey. By locating the engine in the long tail, a low hood or bonnet line could be achieved. It had a and the air-cooled flat twin engine of 845cc; gearbox and final drive was located at its rear. Dr Neumayer head of Zundapp, a German motorcycle company was looking for a small car design to produce and the Porsche project No 12 proved of interest. The result was the Zundapp "Volksauto", project. The major change from the original project was the engine. A one litre capacity five cylinder water-cooled radial engine was fitted. Three prototypes were produced in 1932 and extensively tested but the project didn't continue due to financial and business factors.

Tatra 77 Limuzina 1934 The first prototype of the Tatra Type 77 was running by 1932, it was a large car in the manner of the Burney and Crossley with a streamlined body. The three litre air-cooled OHV at the rear of a platform chassis drove the rear wheels via Tatra type swing axles, that used a pair of crown wheels and pinions that allowed the half axles to articulate each side of the final drive unit. A double wishbone type of front suspension was fitted and transverse leaf springs were used at front and rear. lightauto.com Page 4 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

Skoda 932 Tatra Type V570 second prototype

Skoda produced the 932 prototype in 1932; it had a with an air-cooled flat four engine at the rear. Skoda didn't develop the design but produced the 420, a front-engined car that had some of the features that were innovative at the time, namely a backbone chassis with swing axle rear suspension. Tatra produced a second Type V570 prototype with an aerodynamic body in1933, the project was not continued as the Tatra board decided that the streamlined rear engined concept was to be reserved for limited production high cost cars concentrating on the type77 that was put into production in 1933. The Type 77 and the Type 77A with a 3380cc engine, were in production until 1938 and 249 examples were made. The existing Type 57 would continue to fill the roll of their economy car, which it did until 1948. The next manufacturer that Porsche was able to interest in his design was NSU another German motorcycle company. The next version of the design the NSU Volksauto was a complete redesign, the engine was again changed this time to an air-cooled flat four of 1500cc giving the car a maximum speed of 72 mph. Three prototypes were produced 1933 but again business factors unconnected with the cars design caused the project to be dropped.

NSU Volksauto prototype

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Mercedes-Benz 130H

Mercedes-Benz produced two rear engined cars in the middle of the nineteen thirties, the 130H and the 150H, “H” stood for Heckmotor. The former had a 1308cc side valve engine located behind the rear axle and produced 26hp. The 130H designed by Hans Nibel had a backbone chassis with independent front suspension by transverse leaf springs and swing axles at the rear. The 150h had a 1500cc engine producing 55hp that was located in front of the rear axle. Ten thousand of these models were produced. between 1933 and 1938. finally found someone interested in his ideas that could find the money and had the power to see them into production. This was the new German Chancellor. After Porsche had written a memorandum outlining his proposals, he was given a contract to proceed; this was in January 1934. The first ’s, the three Series 3 prototypes were completed in 1936, after many engine variations had been explored, the design was as the car was eventually produced with a 995cc flat four engine. The Tatra Type 87 was similar in concept to the Type 77 but was a completely new design, with an all-steel body whereas the Type 77’s body was made of steel over a wood frame. A redesigned front suspension and a new single overhead camshaft V8 air-cooled engine of 2968cc. It was lighter and smaller in overall size than the Type 77 and was in production from1936 until 1950 with a few small breaks due to the onset of war and then peace, in which time 3023 examples were produced. Its survival throughout this period was due to its popularity amongst those in power at that time, from German dictators to Communist dictators.

Tatra 87

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Tatra 97 Prototype 1936

The Tatra Type 97 was designed and developed about the same time as the Type 87. The by then classic Tatra form was followed, this time with a 1749cc single overhead camshaft flat four air- cooled engine that produced 40ps, in the rear of a streamlined five seat body. The front suspension with two transverse leaf springs and the rear with Tatra pattern swing axles were similar to the Type 87. With a weight of 1150kg and a wheelbase of 2600mm, it was not a small or inexpensive car but complimented the Tatra range and was in production in 1937. Five hundred and ten examples were produced by 1939 when the production ceased. A myth has grown up over the years, that production of the Type 97 was discontinued by orders of the German government, because it paralleled the Volkswagen. If you look at the basic similarities in the design this could seem possible, but if you compare the specifications in more detail the idea is unlikely. The Volkswagen only had a one litre capacity engine producing 25bhp, and it weighed 730kg it was an economy car, and designed to be produced at a rock bottom price. If you compare this to the Type 97’s details you can see they were totally different cars. Another factor than emphasised the difference between the two cars was the possible market. The total annual production of the Tatra factory in a year spread through seven different models was similar to the planned daily production of the Volkswagen. An indicator of their possible potential can be gained by studying the post war successors of both cars. As car production ceased all over with some exceptions and turned over to production of war materials, this may have been a bigger factor in its demise. The true threat to the Volkswagen was the Opel Kadett that at 1450 Marks was near to true cost of production of the Volkswagen. Wilhelm Von Opel boasted to Hitler at the 1937 Berlin Motor Show at the time the Kadett was introduced, that “ This is our Volkswagen”, and for his temerity had his steel quota restricted, limiting Opel’s production capacity. Thirty prototype Volkswagen cars were completed in1937, the series 30, and used for extensive road testing. In1938 another sixty prototype , the series 60, were completed for more testing.

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Renault 4cv first prototype and 4cv engine.

Louis Renault was pioneer of motoring who constructed his first car in a garden shed in 1898,at his parent’s home at Billancourt, near . His company that he rules in an autocratic manner prospered becoming one of the great carmaker in . During the Second World War when France was occupied by German forces, his factories were under German direction and he produced trucks for the German forces. His main preoccupation at that time was not freedom or France, but the preservation of his factories ready to resume producing cars when the war was over. To that end in 1941 he had his staff with Edmond Serre as head of project design a new car and produce a prototype. Fernand Picard, Serre's deputy, played the leading roll in design of the car. The car that emerged was unlike any previous Renault model but externally a passing resemblance to the Volkswagen prototype that had been revealed to the world before the war. But the car had a specification completely different to the Volkswagen with the exception of rear engine location. The 4cv differed in many ways from the Volkswagen, first it had a unitary chassis, and it had a water-cooled inline four-cylinder overhead valve engine of 760cc. Wishbones were used for the independent front suspension with coil springs used all round and rack and pinion steering. The performance was modest with a maximum speed of 57mph (92kph). Later prototypes also had their own distinctive body that would become well known in time. Louis Renault had made many enemies during his years of autocratic rule and having been seen to cooperate with the German invaders only compounded his crimes to his enemies. At the end of the war he did not live to see his new car go into production, because his countrymen imprisoned him. Dying in mysterious circumstances, his assets and his factories were seized by the state. Regie Renault was founded in1946 using the factories. It operated as a private company but owned by the state, similar to Volkswagen after 1948. The state appointed Pierre Lefaucheux as president of the new company and he soon prepared the 4cv for production, showing the car first at the Paris Salon in October 1946 and production started the following year. By 1950 production was up to four hundred a day.

Renault 4cv section lightauto.com Page 8 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

A Standard Volkswagen of 1945-53

By 1944 sixty five percent of the plant at , specially built to produce the Volkswagen had been destroyed by allied bombing. The tooling used to manufacture the Volkswagen saloon had been removed from the site and the remains of the factory was being used to produce Volkswagen based military vehicles and other war materials. The first allied troops to reach Wolfsburg at the end of the war were Americans. They were soon replaced by British troops as Wolfsburg was in the region designated as the British zone of occupation. The factory was at a standstill and chaos rained in the area. With the active support of Volkswagen workers the British army soon put the remains of the factory and its workers to work repairing and servicing its vehicles. As all kinds of vehicles were in short supply, the British forces and the Volkswagen workers gathered together any Volkswagen components that had remained when production had stopped civilian or military types. They began the assembly of whatever vehicles that could be made from them, for use by the occupying forces and civilian authorities. They were so successful that in 1945 the six thousand plus then employed at the plant produced seven hundred and thirteen vehicles. The Volkswagen factory was listed for disposal for war reparations but none of the motor manufacturers of the allied countries wanted it or the Volkswagen, having little regard for the car. The British army engineers thought otherwise having grown to respect the military Volkswagen’s they had encountered during the war years. As the Volkswagen plant was the only car plant in the British zone of occupation and vehicles were urgently needed, the tools to manufacture the Volkswagen saloon were returned to the plant, repairs to the building were stepped up. The production of the car was resumed, this time with the 1131cc engine that had been developed for the military models in 1941. During 1946 almost ten thousand cars were produced and the following year almost nine thousand. Some of the latter were exported to nearby European countries. In January 1948 the occupation authorities appointed Dr Heinz Nordhoff as director of the plant. With production and exports rising, at last cars were supplies to the people the car was originally designed for, the German motorists at large. All the principle engineers involved in the development of rear the engined cars were imprisoned at some time at the end of the Second World War. Ferdinand Porsche was detained by the French authorities for a couple of years, without any charges against him. This effectively removing him from working on future projects, but his son Ferry filled his place at the head of the team.

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Porsche 356

Almost as old as Volkswagen and initially derived from the components of the Beetle the original Porsche model the 356 except for the first prototype followed the beetle layout with a rear engine and Porsche has been rear engined cars ever since. with the Porsche design team led by Karl Rabe, designed and built the first car to bare the Porsche name, while resident in the small Austrian town of Gmund where they had been evacuated at the end of the second world war. The first prototype was completed in March 1948, and was a mid engined using Volkswagen components mounted in a space frame chassis. The second prototype used a purpose built platform chassis, the engine again a 1131cc Volkswagen unit tuned to produce 40 bhp was mounted in the usual Porsche position and again using all Volkswagen components. With a body designed by , the 356 was born. Between 46 and 51 356s were made at Gmunde, all with aluminium bodies. In 1950 production of the was transferred to , Germany, their pre-war base. The cars were made in the Reutter factory where the pressed steel bodies used from now on, were also made. After the initial revolutionary design, The story of the Porsche 356 is one of evolution Between 1950 and 1955, over seven thousand of all types of this original 356 was made, the engine size steadily increasing from 1086cc, to 1488cc and the power output rising to 115bhp in the Carrera 1600GT Coupe of 1959. During this time the car evolved steadily with improvements in all it’s components, the Volkswagen content being reduced as Porsche designed items became available. In 1955 the 356 evolved into the 356A and that in turn evolved into 356B in 1959 as the design was refined and improved, by then the car had long been pure Porsche. Porsche started the nineteen sixties with 356B fitted with the 1582cc OHV flat four engine introduced in 1959 356A. The final 356 model the 356c was introduced in 1963, the model had evolved with chassis refinements and increased engine power. In 1965 the 356 coupe was replaced by the . The 912 was the new 911 chassis fitted with the 1582cc engine used in the later 356 by now producing 90BHP. Over thirty thousand 912's were produced between 1965 and 1969, proving there was still a place for the small engined Porsche. The most enduring Porsche or any rear engined model is the 911, first produced in 1964 with a two litre air-cooled horizontally opposed six cylinder engine producing 130 bhp. In 2014 there are twenty versions of the latest reincarnation of the 911 on sale in the UK, the most powerful sporting a 412 Kw engine still mounted at the rear.

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Tatra T107 first prototype

In 1945 Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent state, after being occupied by German forces from 1938 until they were driven out by the Russian forces towards the end of the Second World War. Czechoslovakia was no different to the other countries of Europe in having a severe shortage of transport vehicles. Tatra carried on producing a limited number of both the Type 57, a front engined economy car and the Type 87 a , as well as heavy trucks. After the communist coup d'etat in 1948, the economy of the country was rigidly directed and Tatra was directed to concentrate on heavy truck manufacture, only making a limited number of prestige cars for the communist party bosses. Hans Ludwinka was also imprisoned, in his case by the Czechoslovakian authorities for his involvement with war production for the . He lost all his assets and the rights to all his patents. Ledwinka replacement as the chief engineer at Tatra was Julius Mackerle; he set Ing Soucek to design a replacement for the Type 97. The Type 97 had been an expensive and complex car and what was needed was a car for a more suitable for the times. Work started on the new design at the end of 1945; the result was the T107 it had similar proportions to the Type 97 but was slightly larger and heavier. The engine was again a 1750cc air- cooled flat four unit, but of simpler construction with a single camshaft and push rod overhead valve that produced 48bhp. Torsion bars were used in place of the transverse at the rear was the other major changes in specification, although the whole of the car was completely new. The body designed by Josef Chalupa was of advanced form even for a Tatra, with a full width body of flowing lines passable as being drawn at the end of the twentieth century not in the first half. The first prototype was produced in December 1946 and a second in 1947. Another designer was brought in as the car didn’t perform as required and five more prototypes with a 1952cc engine and other changes were produced. In this form the car went into production as the T600 Tatraplan. Tatra made 4275 of this model by mid 1951 then production was transferred to the Skoda factory, were another 2099 were produced by the end of 1953, Tatra concentrating on truck production.

Tatra T600 Tatraplan lightauto.com Page 11 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

Tatra 603

In 1953 Tatra received an order from the government of Czechoslovakia to design a luxury six-seat . The car that was produced from 1956 to 1975, the T 603 and later a development the T 2-603 used the proven Tatra T603A engine but the rest of the car was all new. The design consisted on a unitary chassis/body with trailing arm and strut front suspension and swing axles and trailing arms at the rear all with coil springs. The 2472cc air-cooled OHV Vee eight-cylinder engine was overhung at the rear. It became a popular limousine used by eastern block politicians which was its intended market and over twenty thousand were produced.

Sir Roy Fedden is remembered for the highly successful sleeve valve air-cooled radial aero- engines he designed for the Bristol Aeroplane Company, England, Before and during the Second World War. He was dismissed in 1942 after a disagreement. He and his team began the design of a radical car in 1943. They produced a design with many unique features, a sleeve valve air-cooled three cylinder radial engine that was located at the rear of the car driving a torque converter. The all-independent suspension using swing axles to drive the rear wheels had Lockhead-Thornhill hydro-pneumatic strut springing and a part aluminium chassis frame. A prototype was ready for road testing in 1945, but the roadholding was deficient and after the prototype flipped over on test in 1946 the project faded away. The Fedden Prototype

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Fiat 600

The 600 was Danti Giacosa's replacement for the Topolino. The last version of the 500C had been discontinued the previous year 1954. The 600 was a totally new car, and for Fiat a new layout with the engine at the rear as well as unitary construction. When the 600 were introduced in 1955, rear engine cars had been produced for well over a decade and their advantages and disadvantages were by then well known. Giacosa used the advantages to produce a four-seat car, although with limited luggage space, that had a reasonable performance from an engine of only 633cc, due to its low weight of eleven and one half hundredweight and also compact dimensions. Capable of almost 60 MPH and returning a fuel consumption of 45 to 55 miles per gallon and the ability to cruise at 50 MPH. He overcame the stability problems associated with other rear engined design's by identifying that the problem was not the weight distribution of the cars, but the simple swing axle rear suspension used in those designs. His answer was to use a semi- trailing arm type of rear suspension, that eliminated the large change in the camber of the rear wheels that inherent with the simple swing axle suspension system. The people carrier may seem to be a concept of the twenty-first century, that is not so. Within a year of the launch of the 600 a six-seat version was in production, the Multipla. By replacing the transverse leaf spring used in the front suspension by upper links and coil springs, the mechanic components of the 600 were utilised in a forward control unitary body with zero crumple zone and only a small increase in wheelbase to accommodate three rows of . Over seventy six thousand of this first version of the Multipla were produced by 1963. The 600 was replaced by the 600D in 1960. The engine size was increased to 767cc, with a maximum speed up to 70 MPH. Production ceased in Turin in 1970, but carried on in the Seat factory in Barcelona. Before then the 600 had been produced by NSU/Fiat in Germany, Zastava in Yugoslavia and Concord in Argentina. Over two and a half million were eventually produced. Giacosa's next rear engine car for Fiat was the Nuova 500 of 1957, with a similar layout to the 600, but with a two-cylinder air-cooled engine instead of the water-cooled inline four-cylinder unit. Being a two/plus/two-seat car, it was the true replacement for the "Topolino", at the bottom of the Fiat range. With a wheelbase fractionally over six feet and a length under nine feet, it was also a lightweight weighing less than five hundred kilos. The 479cc engines in the early production cars were so under powered with only 13 BHP that they were recalled and an up rated engine that produced 16.5 BHP was fitted. In 1960 Fiat introduced the "Gardinera", a 499cc with a similar inline twin cylinder engine as the "500", but with cylinders horizontal. The engine was located under the floor at the rear of the car. With a slight increase in wheelbase and the weight increased to five hundred and seventy kilos, it was newer a four seat car with a luggage area over the engine. In parallel with the Fiat models, the "500", platforms were clothed in prettier bodies by Autobianchi at their Desio factory. Named the Bianchina, a , later a convertible, a four seat saloon, an estate car and a version on the Gardinera platform were produced. A version of the Nuova 500 was made by Styr-Puch in in 1957, with their own flat-twin air-cooled engine and swing axle drive and suspension. The Styr 650TR of 1965 to 1969, was the hottest 500 model made and a competent rally car. lightauto.com Page 13 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

BMW 600 and 700

BMW had been making the Isetta micro car since 1955. In 1957 they introduced a compact four-seat, four wheeled mini car based on the Isetta. A 582cc version of their well known air-cooled flat twin engine that was located at the rear of the car. The BMW 600 shared with the Isetta the distinction of having a door at the very front of the car. Almost thirty five thousand BMW 600's were produced by the time it was superseded by the BMW 700 in 1959. The 700 was a development of the design of the 600. The engine size was increased to 697cc, but the biggest change was the fitting of a new body designed by Michelotti. Production continued until 1965 and a total of 188,121 examples of all type were produced. An unusual feature of these cars, was the Dubonnet independent front suspension system used on the cars, probably the last time it was used in any design.

The of 1956 was mechanically similar to the 4CV but with a 845cc engine. The elegant body/chassis unit was all new and larger than the 4CV. The model was in production for twelve years and over two million examples were produced. The Italian stylist Frua created for Renault the body design for Floride coupe and cabriolet that was introduced in 1959. Based on the mechanical components of the Dauphine, its impact was more visual than technical. Even so it was produced for almost ten years and one hundred and seventeen thousand examples were produced.

Renault Dauphine

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Goggomobile Drawing

Hans Glas GmbH, of Dingolfing, German, they produced a range of miniature twins under the name of Goggomobile, from 1955 to1966, and after the factory was taken over by BMW production continued until 1969. They had an air-cooled, twin-cylinder, two-stroke, rear mounted engine driving the rear wheels via swing axle. The first model the T250 had a 245cc engine producing13.6hp. In1957 the T400 with a 392cc engine producing 18.5bhp, was added to the range. 54,000 saloon's and were produced. The Mazda R360 first produced in 1960 was their first car. It was also in the category, with a rear mounted 360cc Vee twin engine driving the rear wheels and was in production until 1966. Mazda’s next Kia model was the P360 Carol of 1962. It was a much more sophisticated than the R360 with a monocoque body/chassis and a rear mounted four-cylinder water-cooled overhead valve engine and four-wheel independent suspension by torsion bars. Over two-hundred and sixty- thousand had been made before Mazda temporarily stopped producing Kia cars in 1970. The Mitsubishi 500 type A10, in production from1960 to 1962, was Mitsubishi’s first car since 1921. It was a small two door saloon with a 493cc, air-cooled, inline twin-cylinder four stroke engine located at the rear. With independent suspension all round and a maximum speed of 56 mph. This was replaced by the Colt 600 fitted with a 594cc engine otherwise with the same specification, which was in production from 1962 to 1965. Their model range was widened in1963 with the introduction of the Colt 1000 that had a four-cylinder engine of 977 cc, this was followed by the Colt 800 with 843 cc three-cylinder engine in 1965.

In 1961 Hino began manufacturing a car of their own rear engined design the Contessa with an 893 cc engine that was in principle similar to the Renault. Hino was taken over by Toyota in 1966.

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NSU Sports Prinz

The first NSU designed car to go into production since 1928 the Prinz was a mini car with a 583cc transverse inline air-cooled twin cylinder engine producing 20BHP. An unusual feature of the engine was the Ultramax eccentric strap drive for the overhead camshaft. The unitary construction chassis was independently sprung with wishbones at the front and swing axles at the rear all with coil springs. The Prinz was produced from 1958 until 1962 and almost ninety five thousand were made. A pretty little coupe version the Sports Prinz was produced from 1959 to 1967. The engine was tuned to produce 30BHP and it had a top speed of 76MPH. The NSU Prinz 4 was revised Prinz with a new body and many other improvements. Five hundred and seventy thousand were produced between 1961 and 1973.

The Vespa 400 was the Italian Piaggio companies only mini car. It was a two seat car with 393cc two-stroke air-cooled twin cylinder engine giving it a maximum speed of 55MPH. Thirty four thousand were made in the Piaggio factory in France from 1957 until 1961.

Simca produced their first rear engined car the 1000 in 1961. The chassis design of the 1000 was similar to the rear engined Fiat of the period and was fitted with heavy engine already in use in the Aronde. It was in production until 1978 with a couple of increases in engine size. One point six million saloons and estate cars were produced.

Simca 1000

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Subaru 360

The first car bearing the name the 360, was introduced in 1958. It had a twin cylinder two- stroke engine 0f 360cc located at the rear. Only six hundred and four were produced that year, but the rate of production had reached over twenty two thousand in 1961. This model later with a larger engine was in production for fourteen years. Subaru replaced the 360 with the R2 in 1969, still with an air-cooled two-stroke engine of 356cc. This was replaced with a water-cooled version in 1971 and production ceased in 1972. The Subaru Rex replaced the R2 in 1972 and was in production until 1992. During that time the rear mounted 258cc two-stoke engine was replaced with a four-stroke until that was later increased to 490cc then finally to 540cc.

At the opposite end of the size scale to the Subaru was the , one of the few large rear engined cars produced. Introduced in 1960 it was Chevrolet's answer to the European small saloon cars imported into the USA at that time, it was one of a new breed of "Compact" cars being introduced by US manufacturers. Initially weighing in at 2492 lbs it was almost double the weight of the contemporary rear engined Fiat's and Renaults. Fitted with a 2295cc air-cooled flat six engine that produced 80BHP it had double the power of output of the engines fitted to the majority of rear engined cars on the market at that time. As well as being the first rear engined car produced by Chevrolet, the unitary chassis/body unit and the independent springing with wishbones and coil springs at the front and semi-trailing swing-axles and coils at the rear were a first. Initially produced as an economy car for the US market but because it was too costly and different for the market it

1969 Chevrolet Corvair Monza Sports Coupe didn't sell as well as planned. Fortunately for Chevrolet the sporting Monza version of the Corvair appealed to American enthusiasts. Higher output engines became available; the highest being a 180BHP optional turbo charged unit for the Corsa model of 1965. The suspension was developed to improve handling and the rear suspension was revised in 1965 using multi links in place of the swing axles. One and a half million examples were produced over ten years but by US standards it was not considered a successful model. lightauto.com Page 17 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

Zaporozhets ZAZ965

It is claimed that Joseph Stalin was an early user of rear engined cars, choosing a Tatra T 600 in 1949. But it another ten years before a rear engined car was produced in the USSR. By 1960 a rear-engined car was in production in the Ukraine. The Zaporozhets ZAZ965 was a two-door saloon with a 748cc, later a 887cc air-cooled Vee four engine in a unitary chassis and independent suspension with torsion bars at the front and coil springs at the rear. It was replaced by the ZAZ966 with a new body form and a 1196cc engine in 1967. A later version the ZAZ968 was produced until 1990.

Volkswagen introduced the 1500 in 1961. Based on general design of the Beetle platform but with a completely new body. The other big difference was the 1493cc engine was more compact allowing it to be located under a boot or locker at the rear, this being in addition to the one at the front of the car. Before it was superseded by the 1600 in 1965 nine hundred and forty-thousand had been produced. The main differences between the 1500 and the 1600 were an enlarged engine at 1584cc and disc brakes at the front for the 1600. The rear suspension of the 1600 was revised to semi-trailing swing axles in 1967. One point eight million were produced by 1973 when it was discontinued.

Volkswagen 1500

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Renault R8

The fourth and last mass produced Renault model was the R8 of 1962. This was the year after the first front wheel drive Renault the R4 was introduced. The R8 had a box like body shape, and mechanically was very similar to the Floride and Caravelle but with a 956c.c. engine, also disc brakes were fitted all round. One point three million R8's were produced by 1971 when Renault ceased making rear engined saloons. The year following Renault introduction of their last rear engined saloon. introduced Britain's first and only mass-produced model of this layout. The Imp was produced by the Roots Group to give them a share of the booming mini car sector of the market. The was a collection of motor manufacturing companies owned by the Rootes brothers. The Rootes brothers were successful motor agents that had graduated to motor manufacture. The cars they had been produced up until the introduction of the Imp were middle and large sized cars of conservative design. Their existing models had evolved over a long period of time and the group had little experience of developing new models. As early as 1955 work had been started on small car concept, designed by Michael Parkes an ex Ferrari development engineer and an other engineer Tim Fry, but it was two small being almost a micro car. By the end of the nineteen fifties a larger and more refined design was taking shape. They stayed with their original idea of a rear-engined car. The final design had trailing arm rear suspension and the unusual feature of a swing axle type of independent front suspension.. Finding a suitable engine of a refined design proved a problem, until it was decided to mass produce an adaptation of the design of the Coventry Climax FWMA engine. The FW series of engines in various sizes had been used with great success in Lotus, Cooper and other racing and sports cars including the Lotus Elite. The Imp engine was a die cast aluminium water-cooled inline four with a single overhead camshaft with a capacity of 875c.c.that produced 39bhp. The car was not fully developed before production commenced at a new factory at Linwood in Scotland, with a new labour force. The resulting deficiencies in the cars produced gave the car a bad start that it never recovered from. Although in production until1976, only four hundred and forty thousand of all versions were produced.

Hillman Imp lightauto.com Page 19 of 22 The Story of the Rear Engined Passenger car

NSU Prinz 1000

The NSU Prinz 1000 was introduced in 1964and produced along with the existing Prinz 4. The new unitary body shell was also in the Chevrolet Corvair style as the Prinz 4.With a Transversely mounted air-cooled inline four-cylinder engine of 996cc with a chain driven single overhead camshaft. Later developments were the TT and 1100 models with a 1085cc engine and the TTS and 1200 with a1177cc engine produced from 1965 to 1973, production of all versions was over half a million units.

A rear engined Skoda designed car finally reached production in 1964. This was just as the rear engined car vogue was coming to an end. The 1000MB was a totally new car with a monocoque chassis/body unit a first for Skoda. They had explored front wheel drive as well as rear engine layouts in prototypes of various sizes with engines of various configurations before settling for an inline water-cooled four of 998cc. This was located behind the rear axle, driving the rear wheels through swing axles in the manner of the Renault cars. The 1000MB were roomy four-seat cars considering the engine size. Built to durable rather than beautiful, as was the way in Eastern Europe at the time. It proved a good workhorse in that region and was considered in Britain what would be called " Cheap and cheerful” But that didn't diminish from its true value. One and a half million 1000MB's and versions of it were produced by the time production ceased in 1977.

Skoda 1000MB

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Fiat 126

Fiat introduced a roomier four-seat two-door saloon in 1964, to run alongside the "600". The 850, it had an 843cc engine and a 270 centimetre increase in the wheelbase, but the specification was the same as the "600". An 850T version of the "Multipla" was also available the following year. Fiat also produced coupe and Spyder versions using the "850", platform with an engine that produced 47 BHP at 6200 RPM, later 52 BHP from a 903cc engine. A total of over a half of a million of these produced by 1972. Spyder production had ceased by 1973. Many special versions produced by the legion of specialist coach builders at work in Italy at the time. The 850 saloon and coupe models were also produced by Seat in Spain. Fiat had not given up on the rear engined car and in 1972 introduced their 126 model as a replacement for the 500. It had an all new body shell and used components from the latest 500 including the 592 cc engine, this was increased to 652 cc in 1977. It was made in Italy until 1980 and in Poland as the 126p by FSM from 1973 to 1987 with almost two million produced. SEAT began producing their 133 model in 1974 and continued in production until 1982, it was effectively an 850 with a new body shell and had either the 843 cc or 903 cc Fiat derived four cylinder engine. FSM Fiat in Poland began making the last in the line of rear engined models evolved from the 1950s 500 the126bis in 1987. It had 704 cc water cooled twin cylinder engine and was made until1991.

Seat 133

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Tata Nano and a Smart FourTwo

This has been the story of true rear engined car, ones with the engine outside the wheelbase behind the rear wheels. Such cars had an important place in mass car ownership as the layout provided good packaging at the right price as determined by the technology of the time. Eventually the development of front wheel drive with the engine outside the wheelbase at the front became the layout of choice leading to demise of the true rear engined car, with one exception; perversely Porsche still produce an evolved rendering of the 911 and by decades of development tamed the wayward ways of the rear engined car. The rear engined economy car may be dead but economy car designers have returned to the early concept of the mid-rear engined car with the engine transversely mounted ahead of the rear axle within the wheelbase, as I mention at the beginning of the story, that is now popular in sports cars. The Smart Fourtwo, the Tata Nano and the discontinued Mitsubishi i, use this layout to good affect; but they are part of that other story, The story of the mid-rear engined car.

Mitsubishi i

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