Mexican-built Mastretta MXT global debut
17 Jul, 2008
12 Comments 
Lotus has come across some new competition from a very unlikely source which is set to make its global debut alongside Project Eagle at the British International Motor show.
The all-new Mastretta MXT is the first ever sports car to be designed and built entirely in Mexico, and follows the lightweight Lotus mantra.
It uses a Ford-sourced supercharged 2.0-litre Duratec motor which develops a healthy 179kW of power and 249Nm through a 5-speed manual transmission - on par with the best the Exige has to offer.
Built around a semi-monocoque chassis constructed from bonded aluminium, the Mastretta MXT weighs in at only 900kg - 35kg less than the Exige S.
Fortunately for Lotus however, the Mastretta MXT can’t match the Lotus for dynamics, hitting 100km/h in around 5.0 seconds from a standing start and on to a top speed of 241km/h.
Right-hand drive production is expected to begin at the start of 2009 with an initial run of 80 units destined for the UK market at £32,999 (around $60,000 Australian dollars).
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July 17th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Well personally Id prefer a Lotus but good fro them
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July 17th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Are they planning on selling the business to TATA.
Otherwise why build RHD cars - they are in the middle of a massive LHD market.
Pity they had to knock off Maserati’s name. Perhaps the bloke building them changed his name to Mastretti to avoid such accusations?
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July 17th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Dig the metal-topped interior door finish. Just like Mum’s and Dad’s HK Belmont (wherever you are).
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July 17th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Suprised its not built on an old beetle floorplan.
Thought the Mexicans would have had plenty of those lying around.
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July 17th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
It sorta looks like some one got the front lights of a Cadillac CTS-V and put it on the body of a Audi R8 & raised the roofline a bit.
and currently the only car to take on a lotus is a Vauxhall vx220, which has a pretty similar body to the lotus and looks much nicer cause it was built when GM owne lotus, but well the vx220 can only take on the Lotus elise, nice to see some more competition in the market.
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July 17th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I was reading that article thinking is was a maserati….
Just going “oh god, that cant be a maserati!!!!!”
Thankfully it isnt but it does seem like tasty value.. if you were living in the uk you surely couldnt look past the atom could u ????
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July 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I must be weird - I think it looks horn! Though yes, it sounds slightly dodgy… but the engine is alright…
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July 18th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Hey Car-enthusiast, the VX220 wasn’t really competition for the Elise. That is because it was built on a modified Elise Elise. Modified to for the GM 4 cylinder instead of the Rover K-series. It was even built in the same factory.
But even then GM stuffed it up slightly:
“The VX220 was originally designed by Lotus to have 16″ front wheels and 17″ rear wheels. Vauxhall decided to fit 17″ wheels front and rear for aesthetic reasons. In turn this reduced the handling performance of the car.”
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July 18th, 2008 at 1:54 am
if that hits Australian shores for $60k i’d be first inline!!
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July 18th, 2008 at 3:03 am
The VX 220 was really a comfortable Elise. Carpets Radio n all that. Still loved it at the time over the Elise
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July 18th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
You gotta love those mexicans.
First car they ever fully design and built is a supercar. (I consider a Lotus Exige as a supercar =)
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July 23rd, 2008 at 4:54 am
For the first built mexican car, its incredible.
And yes mastretta sounds very italian but its because they are of italian decent duh! :p
its actually a very now mexican name since the designers mother is a famous writer. Soo in the end they did not rip of the Maserati name, its just one of lifes coincidences.
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