1982 FRTX: The Stalwart Spaceship
After the end of the Mark 3 Rioter, Hugi Motors kept its gap unfilled for the good part of three years. Many feared that the long-standing sports nameplate was gone for good, but sometimes the biggest of silences has some sort of noticeable noise at one point. That noise appeared in 1982, in the form of the 2-door FRTX coupe.
FRTX? Few knew what the acronym stood for, let alone the existence of such a bold concept car in Hugi’s ranks. The car lived a reclusive life in the company’s most secret quarters, engineered by an elite team made from former Rioter engineers. When this two-tone coupe made its appearance in Detroit, jaws dropped, both from journalists and sports car fans.
The FRTX packed enough tech to make a sci-fi robot jealous; its front indicators were linked together by a red light strip, presumably there to indicate the speeds via various degrees of blinking. Were the headlights missing? No, they were covered by a thin layer of Kevlar designed to protect them, a layer which could be retracted through a button on the car’s futuristic digital dash. And the mirrors were not mirrors, but rather cameras which could be controlled to help park the car in tight spaces.
Of course many of these technologies were merely marketing stunts, for most future Hugi cars hardly featured such advanced driver safety. But there was one stunt which was never quite clarified as being such; the engine. Beneath the FRTX’s fibreglass body and surrounded by its spaceframe chassis lied a 6.5-litre, naturally-aspirated V12. Yes, naturally-aspirated; even in concept form, Hugi downright refused to stick turbos to his creations.
The specs were as mouth-watering as they were unbelievable; an estimated top speed of 322 km/h, with a 0-100 time of 5.3 seconds. Tied to a close-ratio 5-speed gearbox, all 572 of the FRTX’s horses were boosted by a 24-valve, double-overhead-cam aluminium head. In fact, all of the FRTX’s engine was made in aluminium, a proof that lightweight was being strongly considered for sportier applications. But since the car was never driven in anger, many felt the engine was merely a non-functioning scale model, designed solely to attract keen eyes.
Marketing stunt or not, it worked at full sing. Countless articles were made about the car, one of the main highlights of the 1982 Detroit Motor Show. Its spaceage feel and presence led to its nickname; the Stalwart Spaceship.
In the end, the FRTX was as experimental as they came. But even after its dramatic first appearance, there was still one last bit of secrecy unrevealed. A small area within the B-pillar was covered in cloth, which was not taken off even after the car’s full unveiling. After countless guesses as to what said cloth was covering, chairman Hugi Aleixo invited all journalists to Hugi’s stand.
Amongst flashing cameras and doubts about the car’s tech, Hugi finally revealed the secret behind the covered blue area, as he approached the piece of cloth;
"We at Hugi are very proud of the FRTX. The 1980s are the biggest, most promising era where a sports car can be born in. New, lightweight materials, refined fuels… Obviously this was just a tour-de-force, but one that shouldn’t go unnoticed. The FRTX embodies the American freedom, coupled with the passion and elegance of European sportiness. But above all else, this mark is here because we feel it represents our feelings about this car. It’s simply…
…a riot."
To Be Continued!
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