Der Treser Roadster T1 In 1987 Walter treser had enough of "only" converting Audis. He constructed a small-production car: The Roadster T1 As main donator for parts the VW Golf GTI 16V was chosen. As you probably know, not exactly the weakest car of that time. In the Treser the engine was placed transverse mounted in front of the rear axle. Like in the Golf, it guaranteed excellent driving. With the mid engine concept, the Roadster was very quick in turns. But you should know what you were doing: the low rotating mass resulted in surprising oversteer when you pushed only a bit to hard. If you could handle that, you really had fun driving. The Roadster is like a Coupe when closed and really open with the hardtop retracted. The Body is somehow a predecessor to the SpaceFrame concept of the Audi A8. A skeleton of aluminium profiles is planked not with aluminium but with fiver enforced plastic that further stiffen the body. The chassis is planked on both sides and the room iinbetween is filled with polyurethan foam that improves the rigidity of the whole car. The result is a solid car that is not exactly lightweight: 1100kg. The reasons are that the Roadster should be as stiff as possible, the large wheels, the mechanism to retract the roof and that the used front axle is constructed to cope with the weight of a front engine. Despite all that great ideas, this vehicle drove Treser into bankruptcy. Difficulties in production and the high price tag sadly led to the end of one of the most innovative tuners and manufacturers of Germany. (1)
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The Treser T2 | |
(2) | Treser even worked on a second creation, the T2. It was again based on the Golf, though it now shared the drive train layout (front engine), too. The car is owned by Walter Beutlich, who bought it when Treser went bankrupt. The car shell be restored and made driving again. |
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