New spy photos of what’s clearly a mid-engine hatchback have led to reports the production car will end up with a 2.3-liter turbocharged hybrid powertrain matching the concept car’s 390 horsepower.

As hard as it is to believe, Hyundai is in fact still pushing ahead with a mid-engine sports car. Do I worry the pending economic disaster we may be staring down at the moment will ruin this? Absolutely. But I’m going to push that out of my mind and continue with hope.

New photos of a Hyundai Veloster on the back of a flat-bed has led to some interesting rumors out of South Korea. While I can’t share the photos here, you can head over to to see there’s a big “MR23T” painted on the side of the car, just ahead of a massive air intake that suggests this thing is definitely mid-engined.

The Korean Car Blog now claims the “MR23T” on the side of the car stands for Mid-engine, Rear-wheel drive, 2.3-liters, turbocharged, indicating the car to be a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive design with a 2.3-liter turbo engine.

From there, the blog’s “sources” claim what’s been photographed is not a final design, as the eventual production car will not look so similar to the current Veloster. They also claim the new 2.3-liter turbo engine will be paired with an 80 horsepower electric motor and hybrid setup through Hyundai’s partnership with EV automaker and supplier Rimac.

In total, the new car is expected to produce 390 horsepower, the same as the Hyundai RM19 concept car just with a very different powertrain.

In the past, Hyundai has been very clear that the mid-engine concepts it’s playing with are engineering testbeds for all sorts of stuff, so it’s possible even this assumed powertrain from the code on the side of the car may not end up being what the company goes with.

But I really like what I’m seeing and hearing. Those exhaust holes in the rear bumper? Hell yeah. The different wheel designs? All good. If a production version of this ever exists, we all have to step up. We have to.

Today at the LA Auto Show, Hyundai showed the RM19 Racing Midship Sports Car “concept,” and it was…