New Twingo: Renault's Rear-Engine, RWD Two Finger Salute To The City Car Establishment

After the particularly uninteresting second-generation, Renault has upped the ante with its latest Twingo. Sure, it looks ordinary enough on the outside, but as we'd been expecting, underneath there's a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive chassis.

In a world dominated by front-engined, front-wheel drive city cars, that's pretty damn significant. The Twingo shares its platform with the upcoming Smart FourFour, a shortened version of which will be used in the ForTwo.

With the engine mounted low between the rear wheels it's much more spacious than a front-engined car. What interests us more though, is the low centre of gravity that'll give, and the rear-wheel drive layout that should make this an entertaining car to drive.

Renault hasn't revealed any pictures of the interior, or details about the engines on offer, although a small three-pot is the likely choice. There's also rumours of a hot Twingo, which is a much more enticing prospect than the uninspiring Renaultsport version of the second-gen Twingo. It'll go on sale soon after next month's Geneva motor show.