VUHL 05 supercar unveiled in London

The VUHL 05 is described as an innovative mid-engined two-seater born of a motorsport heritage thanks to the father of its designers, Guillermo Echeverria senior, who was a professional driver who built and successfully raced his own cars for 30 years. 

His sons Guillermo junior and Iker, inherited his passion and knowledge and added qualifications in transportation design. Guillermo junior has direct experience of the performance car industry and Iker won the Mexican QUORUM Industrial Design Award in 2007 - while still a student.

The brothers subsequently formed their own Mexico City/Detroit-based design agency, ETXE, which having worked on projects for numerous global brands, then penned the 05 - a lightweight supercar for road and track in the vein of the BAC Mono, Ariel Atom, KTM X-Bow, etc.

Said Iker: "Our background means the VUHL 05 has been developed by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. We were determined to create a highly intuitive machine that was both stirringly fast and immense fun to drive - a car we ourselves would want to own."

The 05's monocoque weighs in at 78kg, while the dry weight of the entire car is 695kg. The chassis' three-section bonded tub is made with aluminium extrusions and aluminium honeycomb to ensure a high level of torsional rigidity for optimum handling. Bolted directly to the passenger cell is a chrome-moly steel subframe housing the engine and rear suspension while occupant protection comes courtesy of a three-stage forward crash structure and double layer sidewalls.

The standard body is made from RTM reinforced plastic, but carbon-fibre is available as an option. The aerodynamic features include a flat underbody, front and lateral splitters, rear diffuser and rear spoiler.

Power comes from a 2.0-litre version of Ford's DOHC turbocharged EcoBoost engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, with 285bhp and 420Nm of torque on tap, giving a power to weight ratio of 400bhp per tonne. This translates into a 0-100 km/h time of 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 245 km/h.

The 05 rides on OZ alloy wheels shod with Michelin tyres: 205/45 17s at the front and 235/45 18s at the rear. Suspension is by unequal length double wishbones front and rear and braking is by four-pot alloy callipers all-round, with 310mm ventilated discs at the front and 280mm units at the rear.

Orders are being taken now for delivery beginning in the spring of 2014. Pricing will start from c.£55,000 (plus tax, plus shipping) and there will be a range of performance options available to allow the 05 to be personalised to taste.

Initial sales will be confined to the UK and North America (dealers are currently under appointment in both countries), but the intention is to make the car available in other key European countries as well as in China, Middle-East etc in due course.

The VUHL, which only landed in the UK from Mexico late last week, will run in the 'First Glance' class at Goodwood as part of the Michelin Supercar Run, and will be piloted on the Friday and Saturday by former Renault UK and Formula Ford Festival Champion Duncan Tappy, and on the Sunday by Mexican F1 rookie Esteban Gutiérrez.