Lexus LC, Dodge Viper Rendered In Mid-Engine Guise Are Food For Thought

Cars can change drastically from one generation to the next, but you seldom see them switching their engines from one end of the chassis to the other.

That’s what Chevy’s preparing to do with the next Corvette, though. And it’s apparently fueled some speculation as to what some other flagship sports cars could look like if they followed that lead.

We recently brought you a speculative rendering from Rain Prisk, showing a Nissan GT-R with its engine virtually moved to behind the cockpit, between the axles. Now the designer has applied the same treatment to the Lexus LC and Dodge Viper.

Before we continue, we should point out that we have no reason to believe any of these automakers is considering any such move. But it does give us some proverbial food for thought. And as rare as such a move might seem, it wouldn’t be entirely without precedent.

Aside from the aforementioned Corvette, Honda came close to succeeding the original NSX with a front-engined model that was ultimately aborted and turned into a Super GT racer. Ferrari effectively replaced the mid-engined F512M with the front-engined 550 Maranello. And you could make the argument that the Toyota 86 effectively took the place of the old MR2. (If you really wanted to stretch, you could argue that the Alfa Romeo 4C sort of replaced the 8C Competizione, too.) But none of that means that Nissan, Lexus, or Dodge would follow the same route with their flagships.

Lexus has been reportedly considering a successor the LFA, though. And Dodge recently discontinued the Viper, whose sales (like those of the Nissan GT-R) have typically been slower than the performance capabilities of the vehicles themselves. Maybe a switch in orientation, then, could be just what these exotics need to make their mark. We wouldn’t count on it, though.