automobile design Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, Coach (vehicle), coaches, and vans. The functional design and development o ...

, a rear-engine design layout places the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

at the rear of the vehicle. The

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For ...

of the

itself is behind the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of gravity of the whole vehicle, as an imbalance of such proportions would make it impossible to keep the front wheels on the ground. Automotive diagrams 05 En

Rear-engined vehicles almost always have a rear-wheel drive car layout, but some are

four wheel drive The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive (FWD), was a pioneering American company that developed and produced all-wheel drive vehicles. It was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Dr ...

. This layout has the following features: *Packaging: since there is no need for a transmission tunnel, the floor can be flat. *Rear traction: having the engine located over the driven wheels increases downward pressure, which is helpful for grip on loose surfaces, although can be prone to

oversteer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of the vehicle to changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration. This sensitivity is defined for a level road for a given steady state ...

. *Simplicity of manufacture: the engine is near the driven wheels, and the transmission can be merged with the differential to save space. This layout was once popular in small, inexpensive cars and light commercial vehicles. Today most car makers have abandoned the layout although it does continue in some expensive cars, like the

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

. It is also used in some racing car applications,

low-floor bus A low-floor bus is a bus or trolleybus that has no steps between the ground and the floor of the bus at one or more entrances, and low floor for part or all of the passenger cabin. A bus with a partial low floor may also be referred to as a l ...

es, some Type-D

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...

es, and microcars such as the

Smart Fortwo The Smart Fortwo (stylized as "smart fortwo") is a two-seater city car manufactured and marketed by the Smart (marque), Smart division of the Mercedes-Benz Group for model years 1998–2024, across three generations — each using a rear-engi ...

. Some

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

s feature both rear and front motors, to drive all four wheels.

Notable rear-engined cars

Benz Patent-Motorwagen The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"), built in 1885 by the German engineer Karl Benz, is widely regarded as the first practical automobile and was the first car put into production. It was patented in January 1886 and unveiled in public ...

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

600, 700, and i3 *

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Corvair * Davrian *

DMC DeLorean The DMC DeLorean is a rear-engine, two–seat sports car manufactured and marketed by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) for the American market from 1981 until 1983—ultimately the only car brought to market by the fledgling compa ...

*Dune buggies such as the

Meyers Manx The Meyers Manx dune buggy is a small, two-passenger, recreational kit car designed and marketed by California engineer, artist, boat builder and surfer Bruce F. Meyers and manufactured by his Fountain Valley, California company, B. F. Meyers & ...

Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 (, ) is an Economy car, economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car. Launched ...

, 600,

850 __NOTOC__ Year 850 ( DCCCL) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 1 – King Ramiro I dies in his palace at Santa María del Naranco (near Oviedo), after an 8-year reign ...

, 126 and 133 * FMR Tg500 * Hillman Imp * Hino Contessa * Mercedes-Benz 130/150/170H * Mitsubishi i and Mitsubishi i-MiEV * NSU Prinz *

Porsche 356 The Porsche 356 is a rear-engine sports car, and the first ever production Porsche model. The 356 is a lightweight and nimble-handling, rear-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door available both in hardtop coupé and open configurations. Engineer ...

911 911, 9/11 or Nine Eleven may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** The 2001 September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, commonly referred to as 9/11 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that ousted the ...

generations, and 959 * Puma (car manufacturer) * Renault 4CV, Dauphine, Floride, Caravelle, R8, R10 and the 3rd generation Twingo *

Renault Alpine Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS, commonly known as Alpine (, ), is a French manufacturer of sports cars and racing cars established in 1955. The Alpine car marque was created in 1954. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originall ...

A106, A108, A110, A310 and GTA/A610 *

SEAT 600 The SEAT 600 is a city car made in Spain by SEAT from 27 May 1957 to 3 August 1973, built under license from Fiat on the original Italian Fiat 600, designed by Dante Giacosa. It was offered in two-door saloon body style rear engine layout, alt ...

and 133 * Simca 1000 * Škoda 1000/1100MB, MBX, 100/110, 110R, 105/120/130/135,

Škoda Garde/Rapid The Škoda Rapid/Garde is a fastback coupé designed and built by Škoda Auto, AZNP in Czechoslovakia between 1981 and 1990. Based on the Rear-engine design, rear-engined Škoda Type 742, Škoda 105, 120, and 130 Saloon (automobile), saloons, it w ...

, Roadster and 2nd generation

Smart Forfour The Smart Forfour (stylized as "smart forfour") is a city car (A-segment) marketed by Smart (marque), Smart over two generations. The first generation was marketed in Europe from 2004 to 2006 with a front-engine configuration, sharing its platform ...

* Stout Scarab * Subaru 360, Subaru R-2, 1st generation

Subaru Rex The is a Kei car, kei class automobile manufactured and marketed for model years 1972-1992 by Subaru primarily for the Japanese Domestic Market, although it was also sold in Europe, South America, Australia and the Caribbean — variously a ...

, 1st through 6th generation

Subaru Sambar The Subaru Sambar is a cabover truck and microvan manufactured and marketed by Subaru as Japan's second truck compliant with the country's strict Keitora (軽トラ) or ''Kei'' vehicle tax class, after the Kurogane Baby. Introduced in 1961 in ...

* Suzuki Fronte 360, Fronte 71 and 72, Fronte Coupé, Fronte LC20, Fronte 7-S / SS10 / SS20 and Cervo SS20/SC100 *

Tata Nano The Tata Nano is a city car/microcar manufactured and marketed by Indian automaker Tata Motors over a single generation from 2008–2018, primarily in India, as an inexpensive rear-engine hatchback for motorcycle and scooter drivers — wit ...

, Tata Pixel and Tata Magic Iris *

Tatra 77 The Tatra 77 (T77) is one of the first serial-produced, truly aerodynamically-designed automobiles, produced by Czechoslovak company Tatra (company), Tatra from 1934 to 1938. It was developed by Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray, the Zeppelin aerodynam ...

, 87, 97, 600, 603, 613, 700 * Tucker 48 'Torpedo' *Volkswagen Type 62 and Type 82 Kübelwagen, Kommandeurswagen, and Schwimmwagen *

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

, type 3 'pontoon',

Karmann Ghia The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia are a family of three overlapping sports car models produced by Volkswagen, marketed in 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 coupe (1955–1975) and 2+2 convertible (1957–1975) body styles, though German production ended one yea ...

and type 4 (411/412), as well as the VW Microbus / Transporter and type 181 'Thing' * ZAZ Zaporozhets series.

References

{{Automobile configuration Car layouts de:Heckantrieb id:Mesin belakang pt:Motor traseiro

Notable rear-engined cars

See also

References