Donto
P1
It
was three years go when we first showed you the Argentinian-built Donto P1
sportscar. At the time it was still in the development stage, although much of
the technical work and design had been finalized. But now the car is in its
final stages of construction, and it looks like the Donto team have been busy.
The prototype was fitted with a 180 horsepower engine, but for the production
car they’ve significantly upped the ante with a 300 horsepower unit mounted in
a mid-transverse position. Donto have neglected to say exactly what engine
they’re using. But whatever it is, it’s mated to a six-speed gearbox and allows
the car to accelerate from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 4 seconds, and carry on to a
top speed of 161 mph (260 km/h).
The
Donto P1 is based around a stainless steel chassis covered with carbon fiber
body panels. The designer, Lucas Lopez, has done a great job of making the car
look stylish, sporty, and perhaps most importantly of all, original. There is a
bit of KTM X-Bow in the design, but not so much it loses its own identity.
As
you’d expect from such a lightweight, minimalist design, there isn’t a huge
number of luxury options. However it does come with a removable roof and
windshield allowing the occupants to talk to each other without fear of
forcibly ingesting numerous hapless bugs. The simple dash features a
racecar-like AIM LCD display with 8 channels of data acquisition. In a further
nod to its track-origins, the Donto P1 features race harnesses and a removable
steering wheel.
Donto
Motors haven’t said yet when the P1 will be available for purchase. But to give
you an idea of what it will cost when it goes on sale, their projected price
for the car back in 2010 was US$ 55,000.
