- Mosler Automotive
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- This article concerns an American auto company. For the now-defunct manufacturer of safes and bank vaults, please see Mosler Safe Company.
Mosler Automotive 
Type Private Industry Automotive Founded 1985 Founder(s) Warren Mosler Headquarters Riviera Beach, Florida, United States Key people Rod Trenne Products Sports cars, Racing cars Website moslerauto.com Mosler Automotive is 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 currently produces the MT900R racer and the street-legal MT900S, as well as several unique project vehicles. Additional manufacturing facilities are based in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. Filmmaker George Lucas was the first to take delivery of the MT900S.[1]
Contents
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.
Confronted with this test, Mosler stated that the test car was older and worn out. In fact, the Consulier obtained by Car and Driver was borrowed from a Track Time Driver's School: it had worn tires and brake pads, no interior trim, and three cigarette lighters which were specially installed so Track Time could plug in their computer equipment. Mosler offered to send his company test driver with new brake pads for the car and agreed to pay the $25,000 if the Consulier didn't lap faster than the Corvette. Car and Driver refused, saying it might be faster because of the driver. Mosler responded that could use any driver they wanted for their car, but to have them drive the Consulier and get paid if it lost was a conflict of interest. Car and Driver refused and subsequently published a negative article where they ridiculed the interior, the three lighter plugs, and compared the overall fit and finish negatively with a new Datsun ZX. They also claimed that Mosler defaulted on his promise. To back up his claims, Mosler raised the challenge to $100,000 which was later won by Chet Filip at the Sebring road course. The Consulier GTP went on to compete successfully in many races for the next six years, before being banned by the IMSA in 1991. Overall, 100 Consulier GTPs were produced.
In the early 1990s, Consulier also developed environmentally friendly vehicles, including electric cars, composite-bodied cargo vans, and small city-car commuter vehicles.
Mosler automotive spin off
In 1993, Consulier Industries spun off its automotive division, now named Mosler Automotive, and changed its name to Consulier Engineering. (Consulier Engineering (NASDAQ:CSLR) through its subsidiary Patient Care Technology Systems markets the Amelior patient care systems which are data based integrated emergency room information systems and passive tracking systems. Additionally, through its subsidiary Consulier International, it markets Captain Cra-z Hand and ALL Purpose Cleaner and through its affiliate, Biosafe, develops and markets environmentally safe products as alternatives to traditionally toxic pesticides.)
The newly named Mosler Automotive introduced the Intruder, a rebodied Consulier with a new 300 hp GM LT1 engine. This car raced at the 24 hours of Nelson Ledges for two consecutive years, winning both years - unfortunately, the Intruder was also banned after its dominating 1993-4 performances. In 1996, an Intruder modified by Lingenfelter Performance Engineering to yield 450 hp won Car and Driver's One Lap of America. It too was banned after three victories.
In 1997 the Intruder was given a v-shaped windshield that reduced drag, and renamed the Raptor, once again winning the 1997 One Lap of America. It also went on to win the 1999 One Lap. The Raptor entered in the 1997 One Lap weighed 2773 lb (1,258 kg) and had 443 hp (330 kW) from a Lingenfelter modified 6.3 L V8 engine.
In 2001, an all-new Mosler debuted - the Mosler MT900. This carbon-fiber chassis, rear wheel drive supercar was designed by using Siemens advanced design software, and used a 350 hp (261 kW), mid-mounted GM LS1 engine. An early prototype MT900S, despite being 390 pounds (177 kg) heavier and having 65 hp (49 kW) less power than the production version could achieve a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, and a quarter-mile time of 12 seconds flat. Since then, the MT900 has undergone several revisions to become the 2005 MT900S, which has 435 hp (324 kW) from its Corvette Z06-derived LS-6 V8, powering a 2,500 lb (1136 kg) car (without fuel). A Photon variant is available which adds a Hewland transmission, thinwall subframes, BBS magnesium wheels, titanium springs, and carbon fiber seats and bodywork, reducing the car's mass to 1,980 lb (900 kg). MotorTrend with its guest hot shoe, Le Mans winner Justin Bell, behind the wheel reported a 0-60 time of 3.1 seconds, a standing quarter-mile time of 11.72 seconds and a standing mile time of 30.4 seconds. In addition to breaking acceleration records, Motor Trend also reported 60-0 braking in 100 feet, braking from 100-0 in 275 feet and the ultimate test, 0-100-0 in 10.98 seconds, breaking the 11.15 second record previously held by the McLaren F1 LM. It was discovered after the Motor Trend test that the Mosler MT900 test car had a faulty O2 sensor and was very down on power.
Introduced concurrently was the MT900R, a race prepared version of the MT900. In 2003, the MT900R won the GTS Division of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. In Europe, the MT900R has successfully raced and won in the British GT Championship, FIA GT Tourist Trophy races, International Open GT Championship, Britcar Championship, Spanish GT Championship as well as selected races in other series. In 2008, The Mosler Dutch Supercar Challenge, an MT900R only race series ran its inaugural event at the famed Nürburgring F1 track.
Mosler has also produced several one-off project vehicles, including a six wheel custom Jeep that uses many GM components (dubbed the J-10 Sport) and the TwinStar, a Cadillac Eldorado boasting twin Northstar V-8s.
Models
- Consulier GTP
- Intruder
- Raptor
- J-10 Sport
- TwinStar
- MT900
References
External links
Categories:- Motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
- Sports car manufacturers
- Companies established in 1985
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