Here is a look back at these mid-rear-engine sports cars which, intended to be marketed, were ultimately never entitled to mass production. From Alfa Romeo to Ford, including BMW, Nissan and Aston Martin, many brands have tried their luck in vain.
On paper, a mid-rear engine architecture works best for a sports car. It allows in particular an ideal distribution of masses and short overhangs, thus guaranteeing handling synonymous with thrills even with a reasonable power or first-rate performance with a large displacement. Manufacturers have been interested in it for a long time for their sports projects, even when they are not specialists in this segment. But many are breaking their teeth there, and over the decades many rear-mid-engine auto projects were abandoned.
French people who dare more or less
On the side of the French manufacturers, Renault is undoubtedly the one which knew how to concretize the most its projects of cars with mid-rear engine. The Renault 5 Turbo was followed by the Spider, then the Clio V6 and today the new Alpine A110, the predecessor of which carried its engine overhang. The new generation berlinetta was to have an English “cousin” at Caterham, but this project was abandoned when the two brands ended their partnership during development. Peugeot, which had distinguished itself with the 205 Turbo 16, raised many hopes with its RC Pique and RC Carreau concept cars in 2002. But despite the success of these vehicles, their marketing was never on the order of day. Citroën has never gone so far in this area.
A recurring heritage in Europe
For a generalist or even a premium manufacturer, marketing a mid-rear engine car usually involves designing a complete architecture for a single model and some possible derivatives. This is expensive, and these expenses must be weighed against the expected sales volumes. However, the sports market has often suffered from a lack of profitability, as is currently the case. Sometimes it was a change in regulations or the takeover of one manufacturer by another that forced a development to stop.
Most recently, in 2019, Alfa Romeo canceled its 8C hybrid supercar project announced the previous year. The company in Biscione had not already been able to materialize, in 1982, the Alfasud Sprint 6C linked to its ambitions in Group B. Still a little higher, on the other side of the Alps, Volkswagen had to resolve in 2012 to stop the development of a small roadster based on the 2009 BlueSport concept. The vehicle could have been entitled to an alter ego at Seat. Also in Germany, BMW was planning to replace the i8 with a coupe derived from the 2019 Vision M Next concept, but reportedly canceled the project last year, according to some brand officials. Previously, between the M1 and the i8, BMW and Italdesign considered entrusting Alpina with the production of the Nazca, but this project also fell through. And when the BMW group announced to reinvent Mini in 1997, it was with the concept ACV30 based on MG F. But its marketing was probably not considered with this platform.
Americans dream of a central engine
American manufacturers are particularly accustomed to sports with a failed mid-rear engine, and have been for a long time. The current Chevrolet Corvette C8 is the culmination of a decades-long process that has seen the birth of many prototypes.
The same could have been done with the Ford Mustang, several mid-rear engine prototypes of which were built in the 1960s. And before the 2005 GT, Ford was banking on the GT90 as the heir to the GT40. Introduced as a concept in 1995, it was shelved after three years of development. A decade earlier, the more modest Ford Maya had met the same fate. At Chrysler / Dodge, it is the second generation of Viper that could have had a mid-rear engine. As for the 2002 Cadillac Cien supercar, it was discontinued a few months after the concept was presented.
On the other side of the Pacific in Japan, Nissan envisioned the idea with the two MID4 prototypes in the 1980s, and Honda could have made the second-named CRX a direct rival to the Toyota MR2 according to some rumors. South Korean Hyundai has been working on a series of RM prototypes since 2012. The marketing of a sports derivative of these has been confirmed but the production model could well be electric.
Englishmen with thwarted ambitions
Sports specialists are not exempt from abandonment when it comes to mid-rear engine models. Long before the next Valkyrie, Valhalla and Vanquish, Aston Martin tried it in 1979 with the Bulldog but no commercialization followed. The 1984 Lotus Etna had the same fate. The 2010 Jaguar C-X75, despite extensive development including a change of engine, was discontinued in 2013.
Even Porsche could not achieve as it saw fit its project for a small four-cylinder roadster with the code name 984, dating from 1984. Nevertheless, this one can be considered as a precursor of the Boxster put on the market twelve years later, proof that certain ideas are never totally forgotten.
TO HAVE. In images, in pictures. French concept cars that should have been produced
