It’s a bit bizarre that after decades of muscle cars and other sports cars from the Chrysler Corporation, none of these “Mopar” cars have had a mid-engine configuration. Mopar has adapted for the times, for example it built several FWD sports cars when those were trendy. And its major competitors have all offered mid-engine halo cars. It might seem odd there’s never been a mid-engine Mopar. But the truth is we very nearly did have a mid-engine Chrysler supercar.

Why move a car’s motor into the middle of the vehicle? It makes it more nimble in corners. Specifically, switching from a lefthand corner to a righthand corner faster. In many cases, it can also make it easier to balance the car’s weight front-to-back. Finally, the vehicle has enough weight over the rear wheels that it will have the best possible traction while accelerating.

Early engineers experimented with engine placement. The 1962 Rene Bonnet Djet was the world’s first mid-engine production car. In 1964, Ford unveiled its mid-engine GT which became successful in auto racing. The Pontiac Fiero (1984-1988) was the first mass-produced mid-engine car out of Detroit. Ford built a second generation of the mid-engine GT from 2016 through 2022. Chevrolet built its first mid-engine Corvette prototype in 1968, but in 2020 it officially joined the party and went into production with the mid-engine C8 Corvette.

During all of this time, we never had a mid-engine sports car or race cars from Dodge. The closest we came was a 2004 concept car: the ME 412. That car was not a Dodge or a Plymouth. It was a Chrysler. Before you laugh at that know that Chrysler has historically been the luxury brand that prioritized performance. Walter Chrysler built the first car designed in a wind tunnel. Chrysler introduced the first Hemi engine and even experimented with a turbine engine.

The 2004 Chrysler ME 412 (also written ME Four-Twelve) featured a 6.0-liter V12 built by Mercedes. It was a RWD with a seven-speed dual clutch Ricardo automatic transmission. Its frame featured a carbon fiber tub, the powertrain made 850 horsepower, and the whole thing could reportedly reach 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and continue through the 1/4 mile in 10.6. That would have been the most powerful and quickest road legal production vehicle.

Today, Chrysler Corporation has become part of the Stellantis automaker conglomerate. This new company is 15 brands strong, including Maserati. It is unlikely we’ll see a mid-engine Chrysler because it would compete with the Maserati MC20.

Next, meet the gnarly mid-engine Dodge built for Fast and Furious movies, or see some rare footage of the Chrysler ME-412 in action in the video below: