While we have recently been blessed with a resurgence of front-engined, rear-wheel drive sports cars, there haven’t been many mid-engined vehicles of late – let alone at an affordable price point. However, as a new concept car from Hyundai shows, the Korean automaker looks to be at least toying with the idea. This is the Veloster Midship Concept, which is being shown at the Busan Motor Show in Korea this week.
The standard Veloster is a 1.6-liter front-engined, front-wheel drive compact, but for this project Hyundai’s High Performance Team engineers have relocated a 2.0-liter Theta GDI four-cylinder turbo engine outputting 295hp behind the driver, and given the car some other modifications along the way.
Judging by the prototype, it looks as cool as it sounds – but don’t go getting your hopes up just yet. According to Hyundai, the concept is all about exploring the potential of the chassis and there are no current plans to actually put a mid-engined Veloster into production.
I suppose time will tell whether Hyundai or another manufacturer can reintroduce midship motoring to the masses. It’s long overdue, wouldn’t you say?
Mike Garrett
Instagram: speedhunters_mike
mike@speedhunters.com