First mid-engined sports car

The Matra-Bonnet Djet coupé – was the world’s first production, mid-engined sports car.
The car was named "Djet" because Bonnet thought the French would not pronounce the word "jet" correctly.
The French government gave one to Yuri Gagarin - a dream car for the average Russian at the time.
The Djet was designed by Jacques Hubert for René Bonnet in 1961, a small coupé with steel backbone chassis and glass fibre bodywork.
The body consisted of a number of individual panels, rather than a single moulding and had the advantage of much easier repair.
The drag coefficient of 0.27, low even by today's standards, gave the car the potential for high top speeds from a relatively small engine.
The power unit was the 1108 cc Renault 8 unit, but turned through 180 degrees to give a mid-engined configuration. The car had independent suspension all round with coil springs and wishbones. The ultimate engine gave it a top speed of 200kph, and only 1493 examples were produced.
Unlike the F/TF the 'Jet' was only produced as a coupe, although sometimes with a rather neat sun roof...

Nice design details and a glimpse of engine...

Matra-Simca Bagheera was a car I dreamt about as a teenager- 3 seats in a row.....+ mid-engined.

Nice car but very much of it's time.

Well, not really. These are the decendants of the Panhard flat twin engined aerodynes made to win the Index of Thermal Efficiency at Le Mans pour la gloire de la France. The big difference is that these were made with supple and competent suspension giving Lotus Elan standard roadholding. Proper little road cars. It is little surprise that Chapman used the Renault layout for the Europa. The cheapness of the powertrain (£14!) was a welcome bonus. I would say it was well ahead of its time. I would love one!

That's fascinating, thank you. It was the mid-engined first that piqued my interest due to our cars. I have no idea how the choice was made, except it was by 'Rover Special Projects' - does anyone know the full story?

I think I’ll sign up for one also. The engine access is interesting; another thing in common.