By Dean Larson

Photos courtesy of Vūhl 

The Vūhl 05/05RR is the Mexican sports car for the modern era. While Mexico’s readily available labor force and close proximity to U.S. buyers should help modern auto manufacturing, the Mexican sports car hasn’t really gone global yet. Mexico’s first foray into the sports car market, the Mastretta MXT, wasn’t ill founded, but its looks were well outdated by its release in 2011 and the company has been fairly quiet since. Borrowing heavily from British lightweight design and headed by two brothers with a background in industrial design, the Vūhl 05 stands a fighting chance at being Mexico’s true sports car.

The Vūhl 05 is based on an aluminum monocoque with optional carbon fiber bodywork or standard plastic (resin transfer molded). The bodywork has been aerodynamically enhanced with front and side splitters, a flat underbody and a rear diffuser and spoiler. Powering the Vūhl is the familiar Ford 2.0 liter Ecoboost, an all aluminum four-cylinder turbo unit with dual overhead camshafts producing 285 bhp and 310 foot pounds torque. A six-speed manual transmission and sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires put power to the asphalt while four-pot Wilwood brakes and a coil-over suspension keeps the car in check. Thanks to its well thought out underpinnings, the 05 weighs in at a competitive 1,530 pounds. 

The interior of the Vūhl is a successful incorporation of the founders’ focus on industrial design. A digital gauge pack, clean and simple gearshift and square-bottom suede steering wheel give it the look of a proper track-day special. Plain three-way toggle switches line the center council with blueprint style font labeling. The carbon fiber buckets are listed as optional, but having seen them in the car, its doubtful anyone will leave this box unchecked.

So is the Vūhl a track car? In many ways it is. It would be hard to argue that designers didn’t have track days in mind when they included an HD camera and racing helmet on the option list. However, the car reportedly performs well at low speed and is possibly more road-focused and safe in terms of driving experience. So it’s not exactly a focused track car, but more of a weekend driver that can hold its own on a circuit. And while this might seem like the wrong idea for a car with no roof or doors, it’s the perfect position for the 05 to be, especially with the recent debut of the 05RR. We’ll bring you an update on that soon.

The Vūhl 05 went on sale in the UK in May of 2016, with the U.S. being the next logical stop. The starting price is about £59,995, or around $78,000.