SPIED: Hurtan Grand Albaycin – Miata-based roadster

Here’s a brand we don’t see, or hear about very often; Hurtan, founded by Juan Hurtado and based in Spain, is a maker of tailor-made vehicles with predominantly classic styling, and this roadster that has been sighted in Spain by our spy photographers appears on the Hurtan website to be the Grand Albaycin, which is slated for its unveiling later this week.

According to our sources, the Grand Albaycin roadster is based on a Mazda platform, which means this will be based on the Mazda MX-5/Miata. Powertrain has been tipped to be either a 1.5 litre engine producing 132 hp, or a 2.0 litre engine producing 184 hp.

This correlates with the powertrain in the recently updated ND-generation MX-5, which outputs 184 PS at 7,000 rpm and 205 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. The aforementioned 1.5 litre mill produces 132 PS and 152 Nm of torque in its native MX-5 application.

The Grand Albaycin in development car form here appears to wear the classic front-engined roadster proportions of overhangs that are short in front and slightly longer at the back. Retro cues come courtesy of round headlamps and tail lamps, and the former betrays its MX-5 roots with the diagonal arrangement of LED daytime running lights evident from the Japanese original, as does the lower front bumper intake.

The Spanish interpretation appears to use the folding hard-top arrangement of the MX-5 RF, as revealed by the upright rear screen flanked by buttresses. Here at its rear end, the Grand Albaycin embellishes the lower rear bumper section with quad exhaust tailpipes, whereas the MX-5 made do with one pair of dual outlets.

The Spanish outfit isn’t the first outside Mazda to build its own take upon ND MX-5 underpinnings, of course; Fiat rolled out the 124 Spider towards the end of 2015 that packed a 160 hp/250 Nm 1.4 litre MultiAir turbocharged engine, followed by a more potent Abarth version with an extra 10 hp. Which is your favourite take on this roadster formula so far, dear readers? Spanish, Italian or the Japanese original?

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