The Rise And Fall Of Mid-engined Cars

Mid-engined cars typically featured 12 cylinders, were Italian, and above all else, very expensive. But amongst the expense, affordable mid-engined cars do exist in numbers. Or at least they did.

- Matt Bell

Strictly speaking, mid-engined cars come in two formats. Front mid-engine and rear mid-engine. This relates to the engine being positioned in front of the driver, or behind them, sitting either behind the front-wheels (front mid-engine) or in front of the rear wheels (rear mid-engine). Over the years, FWD, RWD and AWD formats have all been employed with mid-engined cars. The winning formula appears to be rear mid-engine layout driving the rear wheels, as seen in the Lamborghini Miura, pretty much every Ferrari ever built and most recently, McLarens. As noted, the majority of the time, this layout is typically mated to supercars or high-end sports cars, this is due to the minimal two-seater layout that usually takes over, especially in rear midengined cars.