Mosler MT900

The MT900 is a sports car built in the United States and the United Kingdom by Mosler. Three submodels have also been produced. The MT900R was a racing version of the MT900. The basic car was updated as the MT900S for 2005, with the MT900S Photon being an optional performance package. The original MT900 was introduced in 2001 and the MT900S finished production in May 2011. Components for 25 MTs were produced as of January, 2005, though only about 35 road cars and 50 racing versions have officially been completed. The MT900 was the replacement for the Mosler Raptor.

MT900

The MT900 was designed by Rod Trenne, who previously worked on the Corvette C5. The name stood for Mosler, Trenne, and the car's 900 kilogram (1984 lb) target weight.

The MT900 used a carbon-fiber chassis with a LS1 V8 engine mounted amidships, powering the rear wheels. Power output is 350 hp (261 kW), with 350 lb·ft (475 N·m) of torque. A ZF transaxle, designed for Porsche, was mounted upside down to allow the engine to sit in front of the rear axle.

Mosler Automotive

Mosler Automotive was an American supercar manufacturer based in Florida. It was founded in 1985 by Warren Mosler as Consulier Industries, and manufactured the now-defunct Consulier GTP, which was later rebranded and updated as the Mosler Intruder/Raptor when the company spun off its automotive division as Mosler Automotive.

The company produced the MT900R racer and the street-legal MT900S, as well as several unique project vehicles, until its demise in June 2013. Additional manufacturing facilities are based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. Filmmaker George Lucas was the first to take delivery of the MT900S.

History

Consulier Industries

In 1985, Warren Mosler, a bond trader who managed a hedge fund with $5 billion under management, started a company called Consulier Industries and introduced the Consulier GTP, a 2200 lb. mid-engined car powered by a mid-mounted turbocharged Chrysler 2.2 L engine producing 190 hp. The chassis was a fiberglass-and-foam monocoque.

Mosler was so confident in the performance of his creation that he offered a $25,000 bounty to anyone who could pilot a street-legal production car around any US racetrack faster than a Consulier GTP. Car and Driver magazine took up the challenge, racing a stock Chevrolet Corvette around the Chrysler Proving Grounds racetrack in Chelsea, Michigan. Antoine and Csaba Csere took three laps each in the Corvette and a 1988 Consulier GTP Series I Sport. Both had similar lap times in each car, with the Corvette's best lap at 1:21.01 and the Consulier's best at 1:22.56. They stated that the Consulier was "difficult to handle," with "anemic" brakes.

Consulier GTP

The Consulier GTP was a sports car produced by the former Consulier Industries in the early 1990s.

Consulier Industries was later renamed Mosler Automotive, which then updated the car as the Mosler Intruder and again as the Raptor before production ended by 2000. The car was replaced by the Mosler MT900 the next year.

The Consulier GTP, conceived in 1985, was a 2200 lb (998 kg) mid-engined sports car. It was powered by a turbocharged Chrysler 2.2 L Turbo II engine producing 190 hp (142 kW). The chassis was a fiberglass-and-foam monocoque, the first carbon fiber and Kevlar-bodied vehicle ever to go into production - with no structural metal in the body.

The GTP Sport was the base model, with the LX adding Recaro seats, VDO instrumentation, Fittipaldi wheels, Alpine pullout CD system, sunroof, leather, air, cruise, power locks, mirrors, and windows, tilt wheel, and wool carpets; options included a security system and cellphone. Both had full instrumentation, in a plain flat black panel, with eleven gauges in two sizes.