Filed under: Etc., Hatchbacks
Top 10 Mid-Engined Hatchbacks
by Noah Joseph on Dec 31st 2008 at 8:01PM 
Click above to start Top 10 Best Mid-Engine Hatchbacks
There are few concoctions in the automotive industry as bonkers as the mid-engine hatchback. The concept takes the most exotic layout and wraps it in the bodywork of the most mundane and commonplace, creating a paradoxical sub-segment that makes you wonder what their designers were smoking. (Turns out it was rubber, incidentally.) And while incarnations of the mid-engined hatch are a bit of a rarity, the years have produced a considerable number of these most insane of auto types. We're celebrating the holidays with our ten favorites, and invite you to come along in our gallery by clicking on the image below.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
toronado455 7:57PM (12/31/2008)
If, after conversion, it's no longer possible to actually open the hatch, is it still a hatchback? :-)
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GT 11:42PM (12/31/2008)
well, i guess, right? The hatchback is a shape, not just a door...
which leaves me thinking... does the Cayman S qualify? It is a MR and is definately has a hatch on the back, but...hmm
KAveh 8:02PM (12/31/2008)
Great post, but I think you forgot one of the grand daddies of crazy cars, the Renualt LeCar Turbo 1 and 2 .
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calguy 8:19PM (12/31/2008)
Echoing KAveh--
Renault 5 Turbo is the mother/daddy of all these wannabes.
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Dondonel 9:54PM (12/31/2008)
Absolutely, Renault 5 Turbo should top any such list, not only because it was the first one designed in this configuration, but also the last one produced in significant numbers.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:29PM (12/31/2008)
Yeah, it's unfortunate that this list has tons of cars that were made only for racing or only as one-offs.
And yet it ignores the Renault R 5 Turbo and the Peugeot 205 T16, both of which were actually sold as road-going versions (in small numbers).
Weird.
Richard 4:09AM (1/01/2009)
FOR SHAME, AUTOBLOG! FOR SHAME!
Not having the R5 Turbo top this list within a hair's breath of motor journalism malpractice.
OK. Go back to applying your ProActive!
BoxerFanatic 8:19PM (12/31/2008)
Not bad...
I kinda wish they had done the SHOgun conversion to a 93+ Probe GT. I've always liked fastback cars with hatchbacks, rather than boxy hatchbacks.
The dual-engined TT seems just weird. Sucking fuel twice as fast, and taking up twice as much space. kinda the overkill method of AWD.
But if these are the only answers to getting an affordable mid-engined car, I'd consider it. While wishing something sleek like an SW20 MR2 were still around as a new car.
They are affordable, but almost 20 years old, and most have 150-200 thousand miles on them already, and spares supplies can only hold out so long. Doesn't make me want one any less.
But honestly, a sleek car with a Subaru boxer, h4, turbo h4, or h6 and a lateral-output RWD 6MT, or dual-clutch gearbox... half the price of the cayman, with normal-car finishing... I would be in automotive heaven.
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Metar 8:26PM (12/31/2008)
I'm slightly disappointed that the real mid-engined hatchbacks - the Renaults, mainly, but also the Group B homologation models - were mixed with mere concepts like the Volkswagen and the Aygo, or tuner specials like the Sbarro or Festiva.
Also note that the Renaultsport team isn't responsible for the titles - that's what the squad up there in Enstone, UK is responsible for - and that the Megane Trophy is only the latest in a series... The Clio V6 you have here has another one before it, and the legendary Renault 5 Turbo homologation model.
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MikeW 8:52PM (12/31/2008)
What about the F1 van?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6879480568284090895&ei=fCBcSfObCY-M-wH949y8Cg&q=V10+f1
There is a hatch, on its back.
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jonathan 9:01PM (12/31/2008)
You guys left out the Toyota MR2? Shame
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BoxerFanatic 9:03PM (12/31/2008)
I like the MR2 better than these, but it isn't a hatchback, not even as much as a Ferrari 360/430. It has a horizontal engine lid.
KazO 9:14PM (12/31/2008)
The Group B cars deserve their own separate coverage, though it'd be interesting to find out which ones had homologation production versions (I know the R5 and the Pug did). Interesting addition the Matra. I didn't know anything about it until I encountered one recently while parts-hunting. It didn't seem to me that it was conceived as a performance car, though, with the small carbureted motor and tweed 3-seat front bench
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Aki 10:39PM (12/31/2008)
Egads, can you guys PLEASE stop using a higher res pic and resizing it in the gallery, they always look so screwed up.
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Gary 11:49PM (12/31/2008)
http://alhazan.com/gallery/albums/career/richie_valens.jpg
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Stuka 12:19AM (1/01/2009)
Ok, so where is the Lancia Delta Integrale??
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Harrison 1:12AM (1/01/2009)
That was a front-engined AWD car. You're thinking of the limited production S4.
tankd0g 1:20AM (1/01/2009)
Only one of them is a modern production car. Not surprising I guess, it's kind of an answer to a question nobody asked.
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Hike15 1:21AM (1/01/2009)
wasnt the lancia delta a hatchback?
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EEL 1:54AM (1/01/2009)
Oddly, if it wasn't for the the original Sega Rally titles from the '90's and practically every CodeMasters games today I would have never known of Group B WRC rally cars.
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