We introduce a novel distributed control architecture for heterogeneous platoons of linear time-invariant autonomous vehicles. Our approach is based on a generalization of the concept of leader-follower controllers for which we provide a Youla-like parameterization, while the sparsity constraints are imposed on the controller's left coprime factors, outlining a new concept of structural constraints in distributed control. The proposed scheme is amenable to optimal controller design via norm based costs, it guarantees string stability and eliminates the accordion effect from the behavior of the platoon. We also introduce a synchronization mechanism for the exact compensation of the time delays induced by the wireless communications.