Mastretta MXT: Made In Mexico

Motoring Channel Staff - 18/July/2008

Mexico — With a Lotus-like kerb weight of 900kg, a design that's part Audi R8, part Vauxhall VX220, and the price of an HSV Clubsport, the Mastretta MXT has huge appeal.

To be officially unveiled at the 2008 British Motor Show in London, the compact tangerine exotic is already creating a buzz.

As Mexico's first home-grown sports car, the MXT has a very high power-to-weight ratio thanks to its 180kW (240hp) 2.0-litre turbocharged engine and 900kg kerb weight.

It'll sprint from zero to 100km/h in around 5.0 seconds and the Latino speedster doesn't look half bad either.

It has a top speed of 241km/h (150mph),

While the company behind the exciting new vehicle (Tecnoidea) has released two cars previously, the MXA and MXB, these were kit cars. 

The Mastretta MXT arrives fully constructed, has a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder Duratec turbo engine that pumps out 250Nm of torque via a 5-speed manual transmission, and it's low mass is due to the bonded aluminium frame and fibreglass body panels.

Designer Daniel Mastretta said the MXT was created in part to put Mexico on the sports car map: "We needed to create a great car because Mexico has no tradition of sophisticated sports car manufacturing."

Mastretta said that the 2-seater, mid-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car would show that Mexican car design is alive and well, while delivering the performance to excite drivers.

"It is most important that our customers are delighted by the new MXT. That's what we aimed to do from the first drawing of the car, but we also want to make our country proud of the MXT and to show the world what we can do," stated Mastretta.

Launching at the British Motor Show, the Mexican company expects to find most of its customers in the UK, and it will be priced from £32,999 ($67,000).

According to the press release, Lifestyle Automotive is the company licensed to import and distribute the cars in Europe and the company's chief, Tom Martin, is confident of success with Mastretta MXT.

"Customers who place orders at the show will be able to register their cars in May next year," says Martin, who says the vehicle on display at the British Motor Show is the penultimate prototype.

"We should complete Vehicle Certification Agency testing by October and RHD production, which is limited to 80 cars in the first full year, will start by January," added Mr Martin.

Riding on 17-inch alloy wheels shod with 205/45 R17s at the front and 235/45 R17s at the rear, grip should be no problem for the lightweight Mexican sports car.

Measuring just 3.9 metres long and 1.79 metres wide, the Mastretta MXT is a very compact vehicle and together with double wishbone suspension front and rear and 293mm vented disc brakes, could give the Lotus Elise a run for its peso.

There has also been talk of a supercharged version of the MXT on the horizon, and like this new cost effective Mexican sports car, expect to see similar sports cars emerging from China in the next few years as demand for low cost peformance cars and weekend toys increases.