LOS ANGELES, California – It was the chassis that snagged my attention. Beautifully crafted in polished aluminum, it could have succeeded on its own as an art form, or as a skeletally minimalist sports car like the Ariel Atom. I'm compelled to stop for a closer look at the beautifully executed framework, the meticulous attention to detail and the impressive engineering of the front suspension.
I'm greeted by a dapper gentleman who explains that what I'm looking at is the underpinnings of a Mexican-produced sports car, the Mastretta MXT. He introduces himself as Carlos Mastretta, General Manager of the 24-year-old company known previously for engineering urban microbuses. More than happy to talk about the tiny two-seater, Mastretta, whose daughter attends university in Vancouver, is hoping to find distributors for the MXT in Canada.
Making its North American debut at the L.A. Auto Show, the Mastretta MXT is clearly intended as a Lotus Elise fighter. Following the illustrious Colin Chapman's "simplify, then add lightness" philosophy, the tiny coupe weighs just over 2,100 lbs, with an emphasis on performance through "purity of design".
Visually, it even resembles the Elise; the wide face is similarly insect-like, while the low-slung, curvaceous body is formed from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. The cockpit is more welcoming than the Lotus, without the wide sills necessitating the butt-first stock-car entry manoeuvre, deeply cushioned leather seats, ultrasuede upholstery and technological goodies like Bluetooth, GPS and iPod connectivity.
Behind the MXT's cockpit is a 2.0L, turbocharged Ford-sourced engine that puts out 247 hp and 257 lb-ft of torque. Although that's not much by current supercar standards, it's enough to propel the flyweight MXT from 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds. In order to comply with North-American regulations, though, the car will be sold without a drivetrain in the US and Canada as a "Specially Constructed Vehicle". Customers can then install their choice of engine and transmission combination.
You might be interested to know that this industrious little car company is the one so famously slagged on television's "Top Gear", whose hosts caused an international furor over their racially-charged epithets towards Mexican people.
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| It was the chassis that snagged my attention. Beautifully crafted in polished aluminum, it could have succeeded on its own as an art form. (Photo: Lesley Wimbush/Auto123.com) |
I'm greeted by a dapper gentleman who explains that what I'm looking at is the underpinnings of a Mexican-produced sports car, the Mastretta MXT. He introduces himself as Carlos Mastretta, General Manager of the 24-year-old company known previously for engineering urban microbuses. More than happy to talk about the tiny two-seater, Mastretta, whose daughter attends university in Vancouver, is hoping to find distributors for the MXT in Canada.
Making its North American debut at the L.A. Auto Show, the Mastretta MXT is clearly intended as a Lotus Elise fighter. Following the illustrious Colin Chapman's "simplify, then add lightness" philosophy, the tiny coupe weighs just over 2,100 lbs, with an emphasis on performance through "purity of design".
Visually, it even resembles the Elise; the wide face is similarly insect-like, while the low-slung, curvaceous body is formed from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic. The cockpit is more welcoming than the Lotus, without the wide sills necessitating the butt-first stock-car entry manoeuvre, deeply cushioned leather seats, ultrasuede upholstery and technological goodies like Bluetooth, GPS and iPod connectivity.
Behind the MXT's cockpit is a 2.0L, turbocharged Ford-sourced engine that puts out 247 hp and 257 lb-ft of torque. Although that's not much by current supercar standards, it's enough to propel the flyweight MXT from 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds. In order to comply with North-American regulations, though, the car will be sold without a drivetrain in the US and Canada as a "Specially Constructed Vehicle". Customers can then install their choice of engine and transmission combination.
You might be interested to know that this industrious little car company is the one so famously slagged on television's "Top Gear", whose hosts caused an international furor over their racially-charged epithets towards Mexican people.
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| Behind the MXT's cockpit is a 2.0L, turbocharged Ford-sourced engine that puts out 247 hp and 257 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Lesley Wimbush/Auto123.com) |