*That aren't VW or Porsche.

Welcome to Rear Engine week here at Retro Scene Mag.  We've got some cool stuff lined up with week, we will start with a small challenge we set ourselves, name five great rear engine cars that aren't Porsche or VW.  We then made our life more complicated by deciding to cover a couple of them in depth later in the week.  Here is our five, can you guess what we missed out for future in depth coverage?

1. Renault Dauphine

The Dauphine is one of my favourite cars, although it probably lives on a list titled "Cars I'll Never Own", partly for cost, partly because I don't know enough to own one, but mainly because I wouldn't want to ruin it by accident in any way shape or form.  The car replaced the similarly rear engine 4CV in 1956, it was a sales success in the UK and other markets.  Whilst it is certainly a pretty car the performance hardly set the world alight, it was under powered and didn't handle that well either.  Gordini did their best to give it a bit of power, but it was forever cursed to be pretty and slow.  That is until people started sticking interesting engines in them!


2. Chevrolet Corvair

Okay I'll get it out of the way, "Unsafe At Any Speed", yes this car is infamous, for all the wrong reasons.  Literally it is infamous for the wrong reasons, the allegations levelled against it were pretty much unfounded and incorrect.  It wasn't this that caused the Corvair to lose sales though, the newly launched Mustang really sounded the death knell for the car sadly.  The Corvair is a great looking car, it is very similar in shape to the VW Type 34 Razor, so anything that looks good on a VW Type 34 looks good on a Corvair, just bigger!  They have been used in racing as well as receiving a number of engine transplants over the years, particularly V8s in place of their flat 6 power plant.


3. Hillman Imp

Bring things down a couple of sizes we have the Hillman Imp.  874cc's of straight four, overhead cam, Coventry Climax derived powered goodness push the little Imp along in its light weight shell and small wheelbase.  The car has been successfully campaigned in racing series as well as having a loyal owners club.  Some of the modified version are running some screaming motors, from bike engines to Rover K-series.  The Imp also provided the basis for the Clan Crusader, Davrian and Ginetta G15 kit cars.  There are a few great Imps currently being built that we hope to see breaking cover over the next year.


4. Tatra T603 and T613

Tatra, where would the world be without you?  Probably without a VW Beetle for a start.  Tatra's cars were always very advanced engineering wise for their time, the first production aerodynamic car (the T77).  You can keep your flat four air cooled engines, everyone knows that V8s are where it is at, so Tatra win in our book simply because they have aircooled ones in the magnificent cool T603 and later the T613.  If I had the money there would be a Tatra on my drive right now.  There is something very special about these cars, the height of luxury from a communist country, diplomat chic, impressive engineering and unique styling, without a doubt one of the finest cars ever, rear engine or not.


5. Fiat 126

From the sublime to the... well not actually ridiculous, this is here to represent all the little Fiats.  City cars before the world of Smart forTwo, small, rear engine and not hugely powerful.  They have, along with their earlier counterparts, the 500 and 600, got a cult following of people willing to stick silly engines in them or style them beautifully.  Just check out the picture of Stuey's blue 126 to show you just how cool these little, inexpensive cars can look.  You've probably got spare space to put one in a cupboard somewhere too.


Well there is a small introduction to this week.  Did you spot what was missing??

 

Posted on: January 26, 2009 03:01

There are cars that get modified a lot.  However there are a lot of cars that are eminently suitable for modifying that barely get touched.  Here are our top 5 to keep an eye out for next time you think of starting a project and want to lead the way!

5. Triumph 2000/2500

There is something great about big lazy saloons that is perfect for cruising.  Weather you go full on low rider route, or a nice drop and big engine, they make for great cars.  There seems to be plenty of people investing time and effort into Granadas, Mercedes, BMWs and the like, but not many people have picked up on the potential of this great slice of 70's cruising, or its 60's predecessor the Mk1.  Even without any kind of modification these are a great looking car.  Add to that an engine bay that can swallow a range of engines with a body shape that would react well to some subtle modding and you've got a great package to work from.  Whats more the PCD is the very friendly 4x114.3, so take a look at our New Old School wheels series and start deciding what you'll fit to your 2000.

http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_2000

 

 

4. Daihatsu Charade

In the same way that the Hunter is an equivalent to the Cortina, you can consider a Charade an equivalent to a VW Polo, but with a more Golf shape.  These cars are cool from the factory, compact and fun.  The late 70's versions, the G10, have a look to them and react well to a bit of modification love.  The later 80's and 90's cars are more angular at the front and respond well to the same modifications that people have been applying to the aforementioned VWs for years.  You immediately have a cool ride, for half the price of the equivalent VW.  There are also the GTTi models for those that want to push performance as well, small light and high powered, what’s not to love?  The same is true for the Nissan Cherry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_Charade

 

 

3. Hillman Hunter

Fords are hugely popular, here in the UK they support at least two magazines and a number of shows.  When looking for an alternative classic to modify the Ford scene is a great place to start, by which I mean you look at a Cortina and think, 'what other cars are the equivalent of this?'  By this method you find yourself less popular, but much cheaper and a little bit more obscure cars.  The Hillman Hunter is one such car it has the style, size, practicality of the Mk2 Cortina, without the price tag for a clean example.  All the styling that has been tried and tested on Cortinas over the decades works just as well on a Hunter.  What’s more as it is that little bit less of a financial risk you may be encouraged to give a few more unusual ideas a go, perhaps inspiring the Ford boys to give something else a go.

http://www.rootes-chrysler.co.uk/hill-hunter.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillman_Hunter

 

2. VW Type 4

The ugly duckling of the VW family has long lived the shadow of its more pleasingly styled brethren.  A few souls have tackled the VW type 4 with varying degrees of success, however not many people have followed them into the challenge, choosing to go the safer and easier route of a Type3 or Beetle.  The thing is, these cars a much better set up to take performance mods, their engineering is, frankly, better than the rest of the aircooled VW range.  With the great selection of after market power gains available for all VW engines, these are a great base for an unusual drag or track car.  Probably the cheapest way to get into aircooled VWs with a whole lot of untapped potential, you could become a scene hero with a little bit of thought and effort.  There is definitely a swan waiting to grow out of this particular duckling, who is going to be man enough for the challenge next.

http://www.type4.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_4

 

 

1. MGB GT

The MGB GT has got to be one of the most popular classic cars, in the UK at least.  It has the image of being the archetypical flat cap wearing classic car buffs car of choice, a group of people who are traditionally very much in favour of originality in their cars.  This image has historically put people off the cars as a basis for modification.  When you break it down though it is a compact rear wheel drive two seater with sixties GT styling, what’s not to love.  Perhaps the fact that it doesn't live up to its sports GT styling seals its legacy as the sports car for people that like to drive slowly.  However in our world its a challenge, make it perform like it looks like it should.  With the addition of a set of Sebring arches and the application of a set of nice wide wheels, did we mention that its PCD is the same as most 70's Japanese cars, you can have a fantastically purposeful looking car.  Prices right now are reasonable, parts supply is about as good as it gets for an old car.  So it amazes me that we don't see more of them modified.  Where are they?

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_MGB



So what else is out there?

 

Posted on: May 27, 2008 03:57