Five mid-engined cars that aren't supercars

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

When we think of a mid-engined car, we think of things like Ferraris and Lamborghinis. But not every car that has its engine mounted inside its wheelbase is a supercar and today we take a look at five that aren't.

And we are not even counting front mid-engined cars like the Honda S2000, Mercedes-AMG GT, pretty much every Morgan and the Toyota Previa (yes, really).

Pontiac Fiero

While it regularly tops 'worst sportscars' polls on a regular basis, the now much maligned Fiero was wildly popular at the time, outselling the Toyota MR2 by more than two to one in the USA during its time in production.

What do four wedgy sports cars and a tiny cartoon truck have in common? An engine in the middle. And they aren't supercars.

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The first model introduced in 1984 quickly earned a reputation for bursting into flames and cooling issues plagued it throughout its production run, and while it may have looked like a supercar (and spawned many lame Ferrari replicas), it never, ever performed like one and was even available in a 'Fuel Economy Leader' guise with long gearing that was somewhat economical, but painfully slow.

Fiat X1/9

The X1/9 had some serious pedigree even before the first car rolled off the production line in 1972. It was designed by Bertone under the watchful eye of the legendary Marcello Gandini and it's engine was designed by equally-legendary Ferrari engine designer Aurelio Lampredi.

It was praised for its superb handling and radical looks and is loved to this day by millions the world over.

And being an Italian car from the 70s, could disappear in a cloud of rust almost literally before your eyes.

But it was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that when Fiat stopped making it in 1982, Bertone carried on making it for a further seven years.

Toyota MR2

A few years after the X1/9 died and the same time as the Fiero came out - that's 1984 - Toyota got into the affordable not-a-supercar mid-engined coupe game with the legendary MR2.

Tests at the time showed it to be 'significantly faster' than the X1/9 or Fiero with a 0 to 100 time of around 9 seconds, which is not awfully far off some far more exotic and expensive machinery at the time either.

Toyota ultimately ruined the concept entirely in 1999, with a misguided attempt to take on the Mazda MX-5 with the dull-looking MR-S, which was still called the MR2 in Europe and America.

Autozam AZ-1

Oh, sure the Honda Beat is also a tiny mid-engined Kei car, but nothing is cooler than the gull-winged Autozam AZ-1.

While it may not have actually been a supercar, the tiny AZ-1 sure did a damned good impression of one, with its wild gull-wing doors and purposeful mid-engined supercar stance. All in a tiny, tiny package - the AZ-1 was just over 3 metres long and weighed an almost inconsequential 720kg.

It was powered by a 657cc three-cylinder turbo and only came with a five-speed manual transmission. Which is about perfect.

Mazda did all sorts of wild limited editions and the AZ-1 is an absolute cult car today.

Daihatsu Midget

Not all mid-engined Kei cars looked like mini supercars, however. And the Daihatsu Midget is brilliantly weird proof of that in the metal (and plastic).

Starting life in 1957 as a three-wheeled almost-a-scooter 'autorickshaw', the Midget morphed into a quirky mid-engined mini-ute for its second incarnation in 1996.

Powered by a Kei segment standard 660cc engine under the drivers seat, the Midget II was available as a ute or van, with one or two seats, with a manual or automatic transmission and even the option of AWD.

It also came standard with an adorable 'face' courtesy of its retro headlamps and the unique and distinctive feature of the front-mounted spare wheel.