X-60 announced for November 1st

[jimmy]

X-Factory announced November 1st as the preliminary release date for the X–60 Conversion. The new X–60 (X sixty - six tee, 6T, gettit?) will convert an AE T4 truck to mid-motor in a similar style to the increasingly popular X–6 2wd buggy.

The photos show Paul Sinclairs X-60 with many prototype parts still in place - the team are still to make production versions of most parts.

Heres the blurb from XFactory:

Factory announces November 1 as the preliminary release date for the X – 60 Conversion. The new X – 60 will convert an AE T4 truck to mid-motor similar to the popular X – 6 buggy. These photos, taken at the recent ROAR National Championships, are detail shots of chief engineer Paul Sinclair's New Math truck.

Photos show several interesting aspects of the new truck: First, the mold for the rear control arms is done, and the Team is using production prototype arms. Since the beginning of testing, not a single graphite arm has failed, so this part of the X – 60 program is complete. Second, X Factory has decided to go with a carbon fiber battery strap instead of the current molded strap. The new strap will be similar to the one shown on Paul's truck, but the X Factory logo will be cut into the CF rather than a stick-on decal.

X Factory president Chazz said, "We are closing in on it, and the release date is looking more and more doable. All the decisions have been finalized and now it's a matter of making the parts and giving them a final test to make sure they're OK." Chazz continued, "There are lots of potential stumbling blocks between now and release, but this project has been going more smoothly than anything we've done before, so I hope we can meet November first.

"The chassis mold is about one quarter done, and we hope to have production prototype chassies before the end of this month. The Boyz will start testing immediately, of course, but that will allow us to move forward on many other things. We'll finalize the body at that point, an entire new design from one of the top body manufacturers that you're going to love. And we'll begin writing the instruction manual, which is never a simple task."

Engineer Paul Sinclair added, "I'm converting Brian's final hand-made CF shock tower into C.A.D. right now, and the battery strap will be finished right after that. So those items can go to the shop in Phoenix for full production and they should be ready by October 15th. We'll be able to put full production arms, tower, and battery strap on the production prototype chassies."

Once the first bodies are completed, photos can be taken for the box label, and printing can begin. "We'll be very busy the next 6 weeks, and everything must go like clockwork. Any hitch can delay the project. But I hope Brian Kinwald can run a full production X – 60, including the new body, at the Reedy Race in late October and to be able to ship the first trucks soon after returning to the office."

Kinwald photo still shows the GT2 body used in testing.