The Hugi XTP-30 (or How You Too Can Ruin a Road-Going Prototype)
Ah, racing cars for the road. In an era where most “performance” cars came either with just sporty decals or sporty decals and castrated engine, the notion of a supercar with racing ties was an even wetter dream for engineers.
Someone forgot to forward the rule book to one José De Laureano, though. José, a salesman at Hugi’s Lisbon dealership, saw the glamorous prototypes racing in Le Mans, and was immediately smitten by their potential. And after a bankrupt racing team left their sleek body behind, a door opened…
Thing is, José was not a designer. Or an engineer, but we’ll get to that one soon enough. Knowing he would need to make the car road-legal to make any real money from it, he turned to the one person who could help him…
…his wife, an interior designer. That might explain the XTP’s cacophony of racing subtlety and gaudy decals, not to mention the incredibly busy rear end. Hardly an example fitting of a Le Mans-bred car, even if it was incredibly aerodynamic for its time. But as they say in Portugal, one evil doesn’t come alone.
José felt no Hugi engine could suit his baby’s road-racer aspirations. Therefore, he turned to a major American manufacturer for help. However, he had requested the company’s stillborn, all-aluminium turbocharged V6 block (a project intended to power their own IMSA prototype). Rather than laugh and reject his request, they instead accepted it… With the catch that it would be a weaker road-legal version, ready for mass production.
The engine José got was a road-legal V6, yes. But it was a direct overhead cam, 130-horsepower V6! What the XTP got was a leftover slew of castrated carburetor engines, that powered station wagons in the late '70s. Unable to fight back through the courts, José was forced to sell the XTP-30 as-is, a once-sleek body with no power to back its own checks up. Never mind the fact it was extremely uncomfortable (complete with no ABS!) and too low for Portugal’s damaged roads…
But that’s not all, folks. the distraught salesman was selling the car under the Hugi brand, despite the fact that chairman Hugi Aleixo had never seen the car prior to its release! Once he discovered its promotional materials, he immediately ordered the XTP’s cancellation after 30 cars had been made, and fired José on the spot for damaging the brand’s reputation in the process.
Moral of the story? Always read the fine print, kiddies. And do ask your boss for permission first…