It’s considered a truism by many who know a great deal more about these things than I do, that the purest form of sports car is a mid-engined two-seater, usually with the engine behind the seats and ahead of the rear axle, though not always – some, such as the Opel GT, have the engine placed between the driver and the front axle (known apparently as “front mid-engined”) but for most people, it’s the former that comes to mind when the phrase “mid-engined layout” is used.
The resulting more even weight distribution – often 50:50 or very close to it – creates numerous benefits, especially for the enthusiastic driver. Improved traction at the rear and better braking at the front, better handling – especially in the wet – and a reduced chance of spinning, though when the limit is reached, breakaway is sudden. It’s not a coincidence that this layout has been adopted by F1 teams for decades now.
Of course, it’s not all good news – when is it? – and compromises in other areas have to be made, primarily in terms of passenger space, as the engine sits where the rear seats would normally be. As a result, mid-engined cars tend to be two-seater sports cars, and since there’s only room for the driver and one passenger, the lack of luggage space is less of an issue, although most such cars have two – albeit small – luggage compartments.
Many of the world’s most glamorous, most flamboyant and most expensive cars, such as the Bugatti Chiron or Pagani Zonda, are mid-engined supercars – and this applies to our classic world too; a whole series of Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s at bank-account draining money lead the way, together with the likes of the Lancia Stratos and BMW M1.
For those of us however who don’t possess the financial clout to put such exotica in our garages, all is not lost – there are plenty of mid-engined classics at affordable prices – which for the purposes of this piece, means under £20,000 – for us to enjoy the same superb handling, albeit perhaps at lower speeds, but just as much fun (probably).
One of my favourites is FIAT’s Bertone-designed X19, especially the pre-impact bumper models. Sometimes referred to as a mini-Ferrari – perhaps because of its Italian roots and the fact that FIAT owns Ferrari – the X19 is a superbly styled wedge that looks quick and nimble, and it is, belying its relatively small 1.3 and 1.5-litre engines. What this funky little FIAT is not, is expensive – excellent examples can be found for between £10,000 and £15,000, such as this 1973 example for sale in Italy, some for even less.
Toyota launched their mid-engined go kart – the MR2 – in 1984, to almost universal praise from the motoring press; Road & Track and Car and Driver magazines both chose the MR2 (MR2 stood for “Midship Runabout 2-seater) on their lists of ten best cars of the year. I remember driving one owned by a musician friend and was so impressed I almost bought it from him, until I realised that I’d need a second car for more everyday use, which was not an option at that time. His was a 1.6; the MR2 also came with a 1.5-litre engine, both took this small (under four metres long) and light (975kg) sports car to a top speed not far short of 120mph. MR2 Mk1’s are still astonishingly cheap – good ones can be found for less than £5,000, such as this (admittedly high mileage) 1988 example
Over the last twenty years the Porsche Boxster and Cayman have redefined what a small, pure mid-engined sports car is capable of. Fifty years ago, Porsche, in collaboration with VW, introduced the first Boxster, except it was called the 914. We wrote about it just recently – prices have been rising steadily over the past few years, especially of the 2.0-litre model, but it’s still possible to get one for well under £20,000, although perhaps not for much longer. Here’s an ex-California car – now in London – and in my favourite colour, for £15,750.
One other thing all the cars discussed above have in common besides their engine position is a detachable targa roof, delivering almost-wind-in-the-hair (if you have any) motoring to go with the outstanding handling.
Lotus has long been renowned for its purist approach to sports car design, making small, light sports cars since the launch of the beautiful Elite in 1958. In 1966 they combined this philosophy with the mid-engined layout to create the Lotus Europa, installing the 1470cc engine from the Renault 16 into a lightweight fibreglass shell. The Series 1 suffered a little from its letterbox rearwards visibility, though this was tackled with subsequent versions by lowering the rear buttresses a few centimetres. Europa’s have also breached the £20k barrier on a regular basis, but good ones can still occasionally be found for less, such as this low mileage 1973 Twin-Cam model
Lotus also took on the likes of the Porsche 911 with the Esprit, and even these can be sourced for under £20,000 – like this one. This dramatic Giugiaro-designed extreme wedge was Lotus’s entry into Porsche territory with a mid-mounted 2-litre engine pumping out 160bhp in its original version propelling the car to over 130mph. It’s a lot of performance and style for that money.
AC Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey are best known for the beautiful AC Ace and Aceca, and of course the brutal Cobra – all of which fetch astronomical prices. However, AC sportscar ownership can be much more realistically achieved by searching out an AC 3000ME. Announced in 1973 but not launched onto the market until 1979, this fibreglass mid-engined coupé was powered by the Ford Essex 3-litre generating the equivalent of 136 horses. This is the rarest of the cars featured here, with just 76 built originally, plus another 30 under licence by AC Scotland. Even so, if you can find one, it needn’t cost a king’s ransom – one was sold by Bonhams in March 2018 for just £15,180, not a lot of money for an exclusive mid-engined sports car.
Pontiac is perhaps a less likely source for a mid-engined two-seater – better known for the GTO and the Trans-Am among other muscle cars, the Fiero was the first mass-produced sports car with this layout. In the five years between 1983 and 1988, they built over 370,000 of them, although it was never a critics’ favourite. Compared to the other cars discussed here, the Fiero had a relatively large 2.5 or 2.8-litre engine, but performance was generally deemed insufficient for a car with such sporting pretensions. Nevertheless, if you want something different from the European and Japanese offerings in this sector, it’s possible to pick up a Fiero for well inside our self-imposed budgetary limit, such as our recent Prime Find………
Finally, for this piece, we come to the Lancia Montecarlo , available as both a full coupé and a targa. Designed by Pininfarina and launched in 1975 with a 1995 cc engine producing 118bhp, the first series suffered several issues, most significantly with its brakes, necessitating a two-year suspension in production while Lancia’s engineers tried to find a way to stop the brakes locking up so easily. The Montecarlo shared limited rear visibility with the Lotus Europa, improved in this case by inserting glass panels in the rear buttresses. Unfortunately, and in common with many Lancia’s of the period, the Montecarlo was bedevilled with the demon rust, and few are left. Their reputation for erosion on top of unreliability has made them a scary prospect for many classic enthusiasts and this may be why prices for a glamorous Pininfarina-designed mid-engined sports car remain relatively low – here’s one that just sneaks in under our £20,000 barrier
Personally, I wouldn’t say no to any of these, but if I had to choose one, it’d be the 914, especially in 2.0-litre guise. As we come to the start of a new year and indeed, a new decade, what would be your choice, dear ViaRETRO reader, for some mid-engined sportiness – one of the above, or something else entirely?
