Mid-engined midget gems | Six of the Best
The concept of the affordable mid-engined sports car is almost extinct; thank goodness for the old ones...
Smart Roadster Brabus, 2006, 16k, £12,995
There will always be something extremely exotic about driving any kind of car where the engine sits behind you. A mid-engined layout is so inextricably linked with motorsport, the glamour of two-seat supercars and some of the best driving automobiles ever that there’s always a frisson of excitement when the horse(power) is pushing rather than pulling. Especially so for humbler mid-engined machines, those that distil the specialness into something smaller and more accessible in every sense. Sadly, like so many automotive niches, it’s dying off: once Alpine A110 production is wound up this year, with it goes the everyday mid-engined sports car. Which surely calls for a celebration of all that is small, mighty, and mid-engined: a Smart Roadster could hardly fill the brief better. Its turbo triple even sounds a bit like a Boxster. This Brabus has a miniscule mileage for a 20-year-old car; probably rarer than some actual classic supercars these days, too…
Lotus Exige S2, 2005, 74k, PH Auctions
While Lotus still sells a wieldy, wonderful mid-engined sports car in the shape of the Emira, it is no longer the affordable two-seater the brand was so loved for. Look at the just announced 420 Sport for proof of that: faster, more capable and better looking than any Emira before it, but also more than £100,000 before options. Even accounting for inflation (and for the fact we all used to have more money to spend on fun cars), Exiges and Elises were never near that. But they were still brilliant. So buyers flocked to them, year after year. This Series 2 Exige, to be auctioned on PH next week, looks hard to fault: 190hp from the 8,200rpm Toyota 2ZZ, upgraded Nitron suspension, and lots of Lotus niggles rectified. The shrink-wrapped supercar idea has seldom looked quite so good.
Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, 2015, 2k, £59,995
It has sometimes, though. The Alfa 4C was one of those rare examples; a small mid-engined sports car that outdid the more senior supercars in terms of sheer beauty. It really was a staggeringly good-looking machine, in any colour and any spec. This is the sort of design drama and proportions only a mid-engined layout can buy you, and Alfa leaned into that advantage with everything it had: a bit of 8C here, some T33 there, and not a wasted millimetre to be seen. Never mind that the carbon-tubbed, turbocharged 4C wasn’t an Italian Exige to drive; it was cool as gelato, and in Spider form like this one even more enjoyable on a summer's day. A car to celebrate warts and all, because nobody - not even Alfa Romeo - will do something so courageous again. This £60k example is basically new - and pretty as a picture.
Zenos E10 R, 2016, 3 miles, £29,995
Is any car more obviously from another era than Zenos? Back in 2012 it seemed like a natty idea; today it might as well be a moon rocket. Of course, as it turns out, it wasn’t ahead of its time but behind it: had its concept of a more affordable, stripped-out (but modern-looking) mid-engined roadster come to fruition a little earlier, it might have met with more success. At any rate, there is plenty of analogue fun to be had in a used example - especially one that has covered the real-world equivalent of no miles in ten years of ownership. The lack of a proper roof doesn’t help its usability, though you might not need one during the UK’s apparently endless summer. A new version of the E10 is also inbound - but it won’t cost £30k.
Porsche 914, 1971, 16k, £27,950
The 914 is another historical curiosity, and no less obviously a product of its time. Porsche of the ‘60s and ‘70s was not the manufacturing titan it is today, meaning its collaboration with VW was more out of necessity than choice. The resulting sports car was not a giant commercial success - though it was well received in North America - and it doesn’t enjoy the sort of frenzied following that most old Porsches attract, not least because most examples are powered by a comparatively modest flat-four. The advantage of this lesser-regarded status is that you can buy a very nice-looking one like this for well under £30k. It will not threaten to tear your wig off, but it will ruffle your hair and drive like only a sub-one-tonne two-door targa can.
Renault Clio V6, 2004, 42k, PH Auction
We opened with mention of the soon-to-be-extinct A110, so let’s finish on the other mid-engined car that Renault built in a fit of road-legal ‘what-if’. Naturally it was left to TWR to work out all the tricky developmental issues - these not entirely resolved until Phase 2 - but the result is unquestionably one of the great cars of the 21st century, even if it wasn’t actually the best fast Clio to drive. Happily, its special status was recognised virtually from day one, hence the oodles of TLC that most examples have enjoyed - this one, destined for the PH auction block on Thursday, is certainly no different. Expect fierce bidding; expect its new owner to be as pleased as punch.
At launch, I thought the Alfa 4C looked great in the pictures, but when I saw one it was far too wide and didn't persuade me away from the Elise or the Fiat 124 Spider Abarth I eventually bought.
The Porsche 914 appealed when they were a very cheap Porsche, but not at today's prices.
I've always rather fancied a Smart Brabus but never got round to investigating one.
I think the first mid engine car I ever drove was a Matra Bagheera and I was never brave enough to explore its limits of its adhesion which I suppose is part of the fun.
Probably the biggest disappointment in mid engine terms was the Porsche Boxster. Perhaps I had high expectations but I found the whole experience just too soft and soulless. A car that should have been better than a 911 but wasn’t.
I got to borrow one for the weekend when I worked for a Lotus dealership back in the early 2000's, absolutely magical experience.
Of the options I rather like the VW Porsche, but the advert is a year old which makes me wonder about the underneath and other parts they are avoiding in the large set of photos.
Of the options I rather like the VW Porsche, but the advert is a year old which makes me wonder about the underneath and other parts they are avoiding in the large set of photos.
I'd ditch the Smart from the list and replace it with a MK1 or 3 MR2, really want an Exige though!
Of all these though I’d like to take away a 914 be it a 4 or6 though preferably a 6.
Good shout on the X19 though, another great little car.
I got to borrow one for the weekend when I worked for a Lotus dealership back in the early 2000's, absolutely magical experience.
So did I....
Ohlins all round, and AP big brakes, 220hp Supercharged.
Used to take it to all the Elise trophy races, so did around 2k miles in .it.
If the 914 was the 6 cylinder model I'd be a bit more interested in that.
I know on these lists there will always be suggestions of what cars could/should have been included, so for midget cars what about the Honda Beat or Autozam AZ-1?
As to the one in the list it looks straight with all the major bits done, and aircon is a real must in these cars I think - you're inside a plastic shell with the engine and a fixed roof, so it gets hot!
Removable wheel isn't needed in my experience (the wheel actually makes it easier to get in and out as you can hold something, rather than falling in and out like the passenger side, but it will make it feel racey). Stage 2 exhaust may not be track noise level compatible either (well done Lotus) but should sound decent. Nitrons the go to upgrade for suspension, and history looks good too. I reckon this could be a really good buy for someone.
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