Going Like Sixty

Mexico introduced the Mastretta MXT, the first car to be designed and built in Mexico, at the British Motor Show to rave reviews. the two seater coupe used aircraft construction techniques to create a very light and therefore very fast car. The power is from a Cosworth engine which is turbocharged to create 240 BHP. It should top out at about 150 mph, with a price of about $64,000.  The first model will run on gas, with a compressed natural gas engine promised for the future. The designer Daniel Mastretta went for a retro Can-Am racing car with wide body and muscular stance. He promises that the car will be easy entry and easy exit. 

“Initial drawings of the car were like slashes on the page and these lines are integrated into the design of the car you see here today,” Mastretta says. “I was trying to evoke emotion with the MXT. It has a dynamic tension that I believe drivers will love. “We have a passion for design in transportation which goes back for 20 years and that is fundamental to this car. It looks fantastic, but there is function there too. Great aerodynamics and low weight combine to maximise performance and handling and the low nose and high wings which enclose the wheels allow the driver to place the car very precisely on the road or track.” (gizmag) 

McDonald’s has very cool interior designers at work in Europe.

European readers may be surprised at my surprise at how cool this McDonald’s design is. It seems that McDonald’s has been very successful in Europe, not because of the wonderful, healthy, fast, food, but because of the store design.

Well, duh! I haven’t been inside a McDonald’s in ages, not just because of the ankle biters, but because of the cold, boring predictable, and lame interior. If this comes to the U.S., it would revolutionize fast food store design. Could it be that McDonald’s will knock off Starbux as the new cool place to be seen?

Would you hang at a place like this?

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 is one of the fastest production cars to come out of GM, and at the heart of its stunning performance is the LS9 engine. Debuting in January of this year at the Detroit Motor Show, the 638hp (476kW) and 819Nm (604lb-ft) LS9 powerplant is capable of pushing the ZR1 from standstill to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds and onto a top speed of 205mph.