what other mid-engine cars have you owned???

[geoffbland]

Have y’all ever read the history of the Pantera? It’s an insane story about Ford trying to compete with Ferrari before they did the Shelby. It was sold through Lincoln dealerships. They just put a 351 Cleveland engine right behind your head. Literally 6 inches or maybe 8 inches between the engine and your body. No power steering. I had one about 15 years ago and though it looked absolutely beautiful, your belly button only went to the top of the car, it was totally undrivable. If you smoke a cigarette, you would hit the windshield. It had the worst problem for throttle oversteer that would make the earlyPorsche turbos drive like a Civic. You let off the gas in a hard corner and suddenly you’re looking backwards with no correctional ability whatsoever. I lived in Colorado and tried to take it out to the mountains and when I came home after driving for 2 to 3 hours, I was exhausted. But boy did it turn headsView attachment 82677View attachment 82678

Most '70s-'90s kids in the UK know about the Pantera as we all played Top Trumps. It used to beat all the other cars solely on engine size.

 

[TheMotizzle]

1991 MR2 turbo

Saved all my money and worked overtime all summer in high school to get it. Loved that car and definitely a big reason I wanted the Emira.

It came with those rims. Later swapped them out for OEMs.

 

[Exige]

Started with 3 Pontiac Fieros.

• 88 Formula (V6)
• 86 GT with 350ci ZZ4 TPI engine swap
• 88 Coupe with built Quad4 engine swap

Later, on to Lotus.

• 05 Lotus Elise when they first came out.
• 06 Lotus Exige for the past 15 years.

I've also driven a number of fun mid-engined cars over the years thanks to my friends and job.

• F 458 Spider
• F 488 Spider
• Porsche 918 Weissach
• McLaren 650S
• McLaren 600LT
• F 360 Spider
• Evora S (manual)
• Evora 400 (manual)
• Evora GT (manual)
• R8 V10 Plus
• Boxster
• Aventador
• Murcielago (manual)
• Huracan
• others I don't remember haha

Most of those were short drives. A few I did a lot of miles.

I've only test driven an Emira (V6, manual, touring suspension), but I was admiring a purple one this past weekend!

I have not bought one yet. I don't like to own 2 sports cars at once and I'm pretty locked into my Exige at this point. The Exige is the most visceral and direct of all of the cars I've driven. But who knows what the future holds.

 

[Nelumbo]

Started with 3 Pontiac Fieros.

• 88 Formula (V6)
• 86 GT with 350ci ZZ4 TPI engine swap
• 88 Coupe with built Quad4 engine swap

Later, on to Lotus.

• 05 Lotus Elise when they first came out.
• 06 Lotus Exige for the past 15 years.

I've also driven a number of fun mid-engined cars over the years thanks to my friends and job.

• F 458 Spider
• F 488 Spider
• Porsche 918 Weissach
• McLaren 650S
• McLaren 600LT
• F 360 Spider
• Evora S (manual)
• Evora 400 (manual)
• Evora GT (manual)
• R8 V10 Plus
• Boxster
• Aventador
• Murcielago (manual)
• Huracan
• others I don't remember haha

Most of those were short drives. A few I did a lot of miles.

I've only test driven an Emira (V6, manual, touring suspension), but I was admiring a purple one this past weekend!

I have not bought one yet. I don't like to own 2 sports cars at once and I'm pretty locked into my Exige at this point. The Exige is the most visceral and direct of all of the cars I've driven. But who knows what the future holds.

Digressing here, but did you notice the suspension changes between the '86 and '88 Fieros?

 

[Arafaat]

Miss this old girl sometimes! The Emira reminds me of a mix of her and my S2000 from ages back, can't wait to pick her up this weekend!

 

[Exige]

Digressing here, but did you notice the suspension changes between the '86 and '88 Fieros?

Oh wow, don't get me started on Fieros! But, sorry, it has actually been too long for me to say for sure on the 84-87 vs 88 suspension. Plus my 86 had an extra 150 pounds at the rear with the V8 so not a fair comparison there.

On the other hand, I've driven many Elises and Exiges and they pretty much all feel a bit different. They are very sensitive to geo setups and are so customizable that no two seem to be the same.

I built my 3rd Fiero up with inspiration from the S1 Elise. When I first drove an S2 Elise, it very much reminded me of that Fiero, just better in every way!

 

[Foosh]

Have y’all ever read the history of the Pantera? It’s an insane story about Ford trying to compete with Ferrari before they did the Shelby. It was sold through Lincoln dealerships. They just put a 351 Cleveland engine right behind your head. Literally 6 inches or maybe 8 inches between the engine and your body. No power steering. I had one about 15 years ago and though it looked absolutely beautiful, your belly button only went to the top of the car, it was totally undrivable. If you smoke a cigarette, you would hit the windshield. It had the worst problem for throttle oversteer that would make the earlyPorsche turbos drive like a Civic. You let off the gas in a hard corner and suddenly you’re looking backwards with no correctional ability whatsoever. I lived in Colorado and tried to take it out to the mountains and when I came home after driving for 2 to 3 hours, I was exhausted. But boy did it turn heads

Pantera played no role in the Ford v. Ferrari war, and didn't appear until 1970-71 long after Shelby. Shelby Cobras appeared in the mid 1960s and the Daytona (coupe) version made Ford competitive. However, it wasn't until the Ford GT40 was developed with Shelby's assistance that Ford won the war, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright for four consecutive years (1966-69).

For reasons you alluded to above, Pantera never became a successful race car.

My mid-engine cars:

2005 Lotus Elise
2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S (not truly mid-engine)
2019 Porsche Cayman
2022 Corvette Stingray
2026 Corvette E-Ray
2026 Lotus Emira

 

[1stEmiraNow2Clarks]

I still have all these... and probably more as I won’t be able to find all the pics.. or load them from my phone.
Also TVR is generally considered "front mid-engine" and those are what I have the most of.

(The one on the right above, with factory LSD)

If you squint, there are 4 TVRs in the shot above...

 

[NCThirteen]

I have had a few.

^^ Guess would be considered rear engine.

 

[geewiz]

Only an NSX for me, previously. Otherwise I've been all Front Engine-RWD, except for one 911.

 

[DigitalWiz]

I had a 2007 cayman s manual in cobalt blue. A 2012 Audi R8 in matte Daytona gray and Now the Emira in Seneca blue. Edit, since everyone’s tossing in their REAR engined 911’s, here’s 2 of mine.

 

[Tracked Emira]

I still have all these... and probably more as I won’t be able to find all the pics.. or load them from my phone.
Also TVR is generally considered "front mid-engine" and those are what I have the most of.

View attachment 82722

View attachment 82723
View attachment 82724
(The one on the right above, with factory LSD)

View attachment 82728
If you squint, there are 4 TVRs in the shot above...

I only see 1 Hisense TV box and no TVS

 

[Rudolph]

* * * * *
Living in the Netherlands; age 83.....
After owing an EspritTurbo SE (28 years, from 1993 - 2021)......Steel Blue Metallic....
Now driving an 2021 Evora GT 410 Sport......Dark Grey Metallic.......the last supplied Evora of only a couple of new Evora's delivered from 2009 till 2021 by the Dutch Lotus Importer van der Kooi.

 

[David s]

Just got it back from a full resto

 

[SJones]

Europa S2 with Gordini engine owned 15 years, Elise owned 12 years both daily drivers

 

[Orchardbike]

Mark 1 MR2 & Evora 400