We first heard rumors of this ambitious plan at the unveiling of the AM-RB 001 hypercar. And it appears that Aston has now confirmed plans to build a mid-engined sports car that will compete directly against cars from rivals McLaren and Ferrari. The report comes from Motor Trend, who sat down with Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer yesterday. The plan to build a mid-engined supercar is part of Aston's new "Second Century Plan."

The so-called "Second Century Plan" is part of Aston's expansion efforts that will see the company build and launch seven new models in the next seven years. One of those models will be the competitor to the Ferrari 488 and McLaren 650S. According to Palmer, the recently announced and totally awesome AM-RB 001 hypercar is the building block from which all future mid-engined Astons will be based. And Adrian Newey has said that he is interested in producing a more mainstream sports car that can be driven by more people. If I worked at Ferrari or McLaren that statement by Newey would certainly be cause for concern.

When will we see this new mid-engined Aston? Well, that's hard to say for sure. It likely won't be until after the release of the AM-RB 001 which means we will have to wait at least a few years. If what we've seen from Aston so far is any indication all of their new cars will be well worth the wait.