Rare Rides: A Totally Rad Consulier GTP From 1992
Do you ever feel there just aren’t enough purpose-built racing cars that can also be driven on the road? Well, Consulier yourself with today’s Rare Ride.
Ugh.
The Consulier marque was created in 1985 by Warren Mosler. Mr. Mosler was a hedge fund manager at the time, watching over $5 billion of other people’s money. Wanting to head in the opposite direction from the easy money, he created a car firm. Consulier Industries was its name, and the GTP was its first vehicle.
Starting production the same year the company was founded, the GTP was an original mid-engine, rear-drive design. The custom chassis underneath was made of a combination of fiberglass and foam, while the shockingly angular body fixed to the chassis was composed of carbon fiber and Kevlar. The GTP was the first vehicle in production to use composites in the body without any metal structural support.
Power was provided via two different Chrysler engines, depending on build date. The earlier versions used the Turbo II 2.2-liter Chrysler engine from sporty K-car based vehicles. This provided the 2,200-pound GTP with 175 horsepower. Later on, the GTP received the updated Turbo III version of the same engine, good for 190 horsepower. It should be noted that the GTP’s power figures are sometimes disputed among Internet Consulier Experts.
Two trim levels were offered: Sport and LX. The Sport version was more stripped-out and intended for track use, while the LX added luxury and convenience features like Alpine audio, power windows, leather seats, and air conditioning.
The GTP proved popular with racing and track day enthusiasts, racing successfully in IMSA for a few years. Actually, the Consulier ended up a bit too competitive, and IMSA took steps to cut its natural advantage. The racing organization first mandated it carry 300 pounds of extra weight, then banned it from IMSA races altogether for 1991.
Consulier would continue producing the GTP in very limited numbers through 1992 or 1993 (disputed). At that point, the company was spun off and renamed Mosler Automotive. Mosler then began production of revised versions of the GTP, carrying names like Intruder and Raptor. Those vehicles featured modified Corvette V8 engines. That lead to a brand new model we’ll see on our next edition of Rare Rides.
Today’s GTP has a totally rad paint scheme, and is the later Turbo III version from 1992. The seller claims it makes over 225 horsepower, and was ordered in pure track specification (though still street legal). With 5,500 miles on the parts bin odometer, the GTP asks $120,000.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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I have seen a couple of these and the body finish on this one looks much better than the others that had Bradley GT quality finishes, don't know if it because they had been beat up or they came this way
ANOTHER BANNED MOPAR POWERED CAR!!! How many Mopars have been banned in racing? It is obvious that the 300lb weight penalty didn't slow the cars down. They banned the cars outright. I am a fan of these cars. I've seen one in person. They have a certain oddness to them...and they were odd...but highly successful on the track.