Mastretta MXT news - Tequila slammer - 2007

Mexico: world leader in the fields of refried bean cuisine, high-level corruption and giant hats. But not sports cars. Not yet, anyhow.

However, the Mastretta MXT - the first car ever designed and built in Mexico - ambitiously aims to change all that.

Set to be unveiled at the British motor show next weel, the MXT is a 900kg two-seater powered by a two-litre turbocharged Duratec engine developing 240bhp. According to Mastretta, it'll hit 60mph in 'under five seconds', which sounds plausible given the power and weight claims.

However, Mastretta boss Tom Martin admits that the MXT isn't quite finished yet. "The MXT on dispay at ExCeL is the penultimate protoype," he says. "We should complete Vehicle Certification Agency testing by October, and production will start in January."

Hmmm. We'll withhold judgment until we see a proper working production car. If it lives up to the stats, though, Mastretta asserts that the MXT 'will put Mexico on the map'.

Which begs the question: where is it at the moment?