Mexico’s Mastretta MXT Hits Production Line By The End Of This Month

About two months ago we reported Mexico’s Mastretta MXT is heading to production. Speaking at the Guadalajara International Motor Show (SIAG), Daniel Mastretta announced the first production MXT will be delivered by the end of July.

Well, it did not happen quite so, but after the Mastretta MXT has made the auto show rounds for years, production MXTs are expected to begin rolling out of Mastretta’s factory later this month, ending a development cycle that dates back to 2004.

Despite the fact that the 2011 Mastretta MXT, Mexico’s homegrown sports car that took a Top Gear slagging, now is ramping up production. It seems the company is on track to produce 100 vehicles by the end of 2011, and that figure will double next year.

As a refresher, during their TV show, Clarkson, May and Hammond said: “Mexican cars are just going to be lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat.” In addition to this, to make matters worse, Clarkson joked that the BBC wouldn’t receive any complaints from the Mexican ambassador because he would likely be asleep. He was not.

However, co-founder Daniel Mastretta didn’t fire back at Top Gear with anger. In fact, the comments on the popular show helped publicize the MXT and spurred the company to make improvements to the vehicle.

This car will be powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged Ford Duratec engine, upgraded to produce some 250 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque. This power is transferred to the wheels through a five speed manual gearbox.

The interior, while functional, looks more kit-car than world class sports car. It’s obvious that the company has been component shopping from numerous corporate parts bins, but it can be improved.

And now comes the really interesting part… the performance numbers, which compensates any defect. The Mastretta MXT can sprint from zero to 62 mph in just 4.9 seconds, on the way to a top speed of nearly 150 mph. This car will pull 1.1 Gs in a corner, and it’s mid-engine, rear drive layout gives it a relatively balanced weight distribution of 44 percent front, 56 percent rear.

Mastretta MXTs will soon be put in the hands of media for evaluation drives. We can consider that’s a vote of confidence by the manufacturer in its product.

Price: around £ 33,000.

Source: MotorAuthority