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A Simple History of the Rear Engined Passenger car

Part Four.

The Fiat 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.

                                        Seat 600
The mini 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 utilized in a forward control unitary body with zero crumple zone and only a small increase in wheelbase to accommodate three rows of seats. 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.

In 1953 Tatra received an order from the government of Czechoslovakia to design a luxury six-seat limousine. 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.

                                                                                                           Tatra T603
The Renault Dauphine 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.

                                            Renault Dauphine
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.
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,

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.
                              An example of the Dubonnet suspension system
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.


                                             NSU Sports Prinz

A Simple History of the Rear Engined Passenger car. links
Million Plus Models Part One.
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