That car, as well as the four-cylinder, front-engined 924 series that was launched two years earlier, threatened the future of their beloved air-cooled,rear-engined 911 that was a direct descendant of the very first 356 model engineered by Ferry Porsche back in 1950.

It immediately gained fame as a lightweight and nimblerear-engined, rear-wheel-drive, two-door sports sports car available in hardtop coupe and open configurations.

The scare stories that finally convinced the then government (mainly created by the friends of the Guardian) included the possibility that, as therear-engined Three Eleven would be powered by similar Rolls Royce RB211 engines to those being developed for Lockheed, the government would be obliged to pick up a large section of its development costs.

The scare stories that finally convinced the then government included the possibility that, as therear-engined Three Eleven would be powered by similar Rolls Royce RB211 engines to those being developed for Lockheed, the government would be obliged to pick up a large section of its development costs.

It'srear-engined, rear-wheel drive layout maximises interior space and it is incredibly easy to park, manoeuvre or complete a U-turn because the turning arc of the front wheels is not restricted by the engine.

Beingrear-engined was a bit of a disadvantage because it could not easily be loaded from the rear as the engine cover intruded on the interior space, but it was advantageous in terms of traction and interior noise.

The model features a reworked front end with a minor nip and tuck, hunchback-like rear end, tail lamps inspired by the ones found on Porsche's iconicrear-engined sports car, sleek-looking centre console with touch-sensitive surfaces, a centre stack dominated by a wide high-resolution screen, three-spoke steering wheel and Audi-esque digital instrument cluster.

"Chris is building a very shortrear-engined kit car," explained Hartlepool DMC competition secretary Chris Langan.

Both are based on the Renault Twingo and boast a quirkyrear-engined, rear-wheel drive layout.

THE Renault Twingo switches from a front-engined frontwheel-drive hatch to arear-engined rear-wheel-drive city car.

Each of the four new 911 Carrera GTS models - a Coupe and a Cabriolet, available with either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive -- build on the established core values of the iconicrear-engined 911 by adding further technical features to generate even higher levels of dynamic performance and driving enjoyment.