The Best-Selling Mid-Engine Sports Car Of All Time Is…

The least common engine placement in modern vehicles is to stick it in the middle or slightly forward of the rear axle. This is referred to as a mid-engined configuration, and while it is perfect for handling balance, it is a less-than-ideal solution for passengers and cargo.

In a sports car, practical considerations are less of an issue, and that’s where you’ll find the majority of mid-engined offerings. Cars like the Chevrolet Corvette C8, Toyota MR2, and of course, the Porsche Boxster and Cayman. Each one is known for its handling finesse, thanks in large part to that centrally mounted engine. But which is the best-selling of all time? Read on to find out.

The Porsche Boxster/Cayman and a Short History Lesson

The best-selling mid-engined car ever is: the Porsche Boxster/Cayman duo. They get this accolade partly because of a long production run (since 1996 for the Boxster and 2005 for the Cayman) and because the official Porsche production figures combine the Boxster and Cayman info, but few other mid-engined offerings come close.

The hard-top Cayman is now in its third generation, having been introduced with the second-gen 987 Boxster, and runs it close on sales figures each month. To better gauge the success of these mid-engined marvels, let’s take a quick look back at how they came to be such an integral part of Porsche’s product lineup.

Porsche is best known for its range of iconic 911 sports cars which have their engines placed defiantly over the rear axle. This makes them rear-engined, and, theoretically, very tail-happy around corners. That may have been true of the earliest 911s, but decades of finessing the formula have resulted in a particularly competent sports car that defies the laws of physics. Mostly.

But even the most gifted engineers have to concede that placing the engine between the axles is the best solution if ultimate handling balance is the goal. One of Porsche’s earlier efforts, the 914, was an awkwardly styled mid-engined creation that handled superbly but was hamstrung by underpowered engines, most likely to stop them outshining the contemporary 911.

Fast-forward to 1996, and a similar scene unfolded as the 986 Boxster was announced. Developed in tandem with the very first water-cooled 911, the 996, it arrived at the perfect time to capitalize on the roadster craze that had been ignited by the Mazda Miata MX-5 seven years earlier.

The mid-engined Boxster shared much of its engineering DNA with the new 911, but, like before, it was fitted with a less powerful engine. The launch model had a 201-hp 2.5-liter flat-six as opposed to the 296-hp 3.4-liter unit found hanging out the rear of the 996. Performance was decent, with a 0–60 mph time of 6.7 seconds, but incremental capacity increases and tech improvements made the Boxster a far more convincing sports car over the following years.

Sales were strong from the start, and this model, along with the Cayenne SUV, was largely responsible for bringing Porsche back from the brink of financial ruin. The second-generation Boxster arrived in late 2004, followed by the hardtop Cayman a year later. The 981 succeeded the 987 in 2012, and this marked the first time that a 911 engine was fitted to both the Boxster and the Cayman. In this case it was the 3.8-liter flat-six from the contemporary Carrera S, albeit in slightly detuned form.

The fourth-gen 982 followed in 2016 and is more commonly known as a 718 Boxster or Cayman. This is where four-cylinder turbo engines replaced the lower-rung six-cylinder models, but the introduction of a 4.0-liter flat-six in top-spec variants helped quell the critics somewhat. Porsche even introduced some proper RS variants that are proper track-focused sports cars. After almost 30 years of production, one thing has remained constant across all mid-engined Porsche models: they have always been the best-handling offerings in their class.

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What Of The Other Mid-Engined Contenders?

While the official Porsche production figures combine the Boxster and Cayman info, there were slightly more Boxsters produced each year, and the Cayman only went into production in 2005. Even so, these figures dwarf just about any other mid-engined cars. Exotics like the Lamborghini Gallardo (14,022 built) and Ferrari 355 (11,273 built) come nowhere near these numbers, and even far more affordable offerings often sold in very limited runs.

The cheap and cheerful Smart Roadster was produced between 2002 and 2005, and while it sold well, it pales in comparison to the Boxster/Cayman figures. The quirky little Honda Beat Kei car was a tiny little sports car, designed to take advantage of the lower tax rates provided to diminutively proportioned vehicles in Japan, but it, too, was only available in limited numbers over a short production run. The gullwing Autozam AZ-1 Kei car sold in even fewer numbers.

The Chevrolet Corvette C8 raised a few eyebrows when it arrived in 2020. Its mid-engined configuration had been considered numerous times before, but this was the first time such a radical change had been made on a production car. It turned out to be just what was needed to keep the Corvette ahead of the competition, and sales have been steadily increasing each year. Given another decade, it will be interesting to see how the C8 fares.

Aside from a propensity for them to catch fire, the sporty little Pontiac Fiero was a decent little American sports car that sold in big numbers and was available with a V6 engine that gave it passable performance. Plans for a second-gen model were shelved due to low profitability and slow sales in later years. Analyzing the figures, it is still the best-selling mid-engined vehicle over a single model, even though it was in production for just five years.

Why Are Mid-Engined Cars So Rare?

Global car production has averaged between 60 and 97 million vehicles each year over the past 25 years. The total number of mid-engined cars produced over the last 50 years is not much more than one million. That’s a tiny fraction of total production, and there are several good reasons why this is the case.

Mid-engined cars are more expensive to design, are less space-efficient, and can be tricky to work on. They are, however, the best configuration for sports cars where ultimate handling and responsiveness trumps all other considerations. That’s why Formula 1 cars are mid-engined, and SUVs are not. Well, the Toyota Previa Minivan was mid-engined, but that was a pretty cool one-off anomaly.

Some manufacturers find that a front mid-engine layout is a decent compromise. This is where the engine is on or behind the front axle, but ahead of the passenger compartment. Moving the majority of the weight inside the wheelbase helps handling, but it also compromises on cabin space, so is more common on sporty cars.

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Get A Mid-Engined Porsche Before It’s Too Late

While the Boxster/Cayman duo may be the most prolific mid-engined cars out there, they are still rare compared to most front-engined roadsters and sports cars. And they are about to become even rarer. That’s because the next generation of both models will be fully electric.

The exact release date is a moving target, but we don’t expect the current models to be around for longer than, at most, another year. If that isn’t a good incentive to invest in a mid-engined gas-powered Porsche, then we don’t know what is.

Sources: GM, Honda, Porsche, Toyota, Statista, GoodCarBadCar, Statista.com