The 2001 Mosler MT900

 

 

A Failed but Good Looking Joint American/British Sports Car

 

 

 

 

     The Mosler MT900 is a joint American and British sports car built by Rod Trenne who used to work on Corvette C5s. The car features a carbon fiber chassis with a 5.7 liter LS1 V8 engine mounted amidships which powers the rear wheels. Other engine choices include a 5.7 liter LS6 V8 engine and a 7 liter LS7 V8. Horsepower is at 350 with a maximum torque of 350 lb. ft. Zero to sixty took 3.5 seconds according to Car And Driver. Top speed is 150 mph. One interesting thing that is neither American or British is that a Porsche ZF transaxle was fitted upside-down to let the engine sit in front of the rear axle.

     When the first MT900 was built it weighed 1,175 kg (2,590 lbs.) which was over the 900 kg target of the car. The car is capable of pulling of 1.02 g on a skid pad. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed the MT900's mileage between 19 and 28 mpg in city and highway driving.  The car uses a simplistic body shape with 0.25 coefficient of drag.

     Now for the price. The Mosler MT900 costs about $164,000. However when the car was being sold it was said that not a single road going version was sold with only one prototype produced. Besides only 14 were produced so you'll likely never see one anywhere.

     Thankfully a more powerful and sportier version called the MT900S was made in 2003. And in Forza Motorsport 4 it drives like a fast Sunday drive. What's also cool is that Star Wars creator George Lucas owns one.