Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout followed by the first De Tomaso, the Vallelunga, which mated a tuned Ford Cortina 1500 Kent engine to a VW transaxle with Hewland gearsets. Introduced at Turin in 1963, 58 were built 1964-68. Finally, in 1966, the Lamborghini Miura was the first high performance mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive roadcar. The concept behind the Miura was that of putting on the road a grand tourer featuring state-of-the-art racing-car technology of the time; hence the Miura was powered by a V12 transversely mounted between the rear wheels, solidal to the gearbox and differential. This represented an extremely innovative sportscar at a time when all
V12 engine each piston can be smaller, lighter, and with a shorter stroke. Exhaust system tuning is also much more difficult on a crossplane V8 than a V12, so racing cars with V8 engines often use a complicated "bundle of snakes" exhaust system, or a flat-plane crankshaft which causes severe engine vibration and noise. This is not important in a race car if all-out performance is the only goal. Since cost and fuel economy are usually important even in luxury and racing cars, the V12 has been largely phased out in favor of engines with fewer cylinders. Engines are often designed around