Top Ten: Forgotten rear-engined cars

The 1000 coupe was an elegant antidote to the breezeblock-styled 1000 saloon that was Simca's staple offering from 1961-78. Not only was this car styled by Bertone, but it was built by that company, too, in a complex trans-Alpine production process: the bodies were sent from Italy to France on special trains for final finishing. Rarer and more special than the apparently parallel Fiat 850 coupe (see above) the Simca featured such sophistications as disc brakes all round and, with the later 1300 cc engine, could manage more than 100 mph. It seems to have avoided the reputation for poor handling suffered by the rather unstable saloon version, and the twin-cam Abarth versions are highly desirable. Sadly they were never imported to the UK in right-hand-drive form.