##1971 Mulsanne
Effectively solving the engine sourcing problem of the concept car, Kraft Haus started working on updating the design both of the body and the Typ850 engine. Having obtained more precise machinery, and quite a few highly experienced engineers team began work on the Mulsanne, the car to replace the now highly aging Brooklands.
Still using the twin 4 barrel carburetors, the revised engine now spotted long tubular race inspired headers, higher compression ratio pistons and demanded no less than 98 ron petrol. In return you got 300hp and 467nm of torque of pushrod glory that proved itself in the 1966 BRC championship and the streets, in the street legal version of the Brooklands.
A new 5 speed manual with an open diff was also built, based off the Getrag design used in the previously and now manufactured in-house by Flug automotive, which is also where the engines, brake and suspensions were now assembled. Essentially Kraft Haus Technik became a design and engineering studio, with a small plant where they assembled cars out of parts delivered from Flug.
Car wise, the thing that really stood the Mulsanne from the outgoing brooklands was the interior, as the mulsanne was not a racing car to begin with, so a highly luxurious hand made high quality interior was fitted, as well as 8-track player and sound system created especially for the car by Danish specialists from Bang & Olufsen. The interior for the first time in KHT history included soft plastics under the leather to reduce trauma in case of a crash, and the similar attention to detail was seen everywhere in the mulsanne.
Dynamically wise, the 300hp 1.3 ton supercar swapped the first 100km in just 5.1 seconds, and went on to top out at 265kph. The handling was perfected over the past 3 years by KHT’s team of test drivers, now being able to reach a 1.05G through the corners. The run of the Mulsanne was very short, starting in 1971 and ending in 1972, with ony 1600 ever made. Each was sold at a hefty price of $70,000 with a 50% markup, bringing nice money to KHT, but it was all about to change.
In 1972 Viktor Kruger, KHT PR manager and Flug owner saw the potential of Flug automotive and proposed to close down KHT and concentrate on highly profitable Flug. This proposition brought on a quarrel between Viktor and Kaspar Becker, the second founder of Kraft Haus Technik. In mid 1972 Flug automotive separated themselves from KHT and stopped provision of parts required to build the Mulsanne, in an attempt to pressure KHT into selling themselves to Flug Automotive, becoming their racing team, working on Flug racing program only. This attempt failed, and by 1972 KHT had no production, but was still independent, now run by the company’s original founder Kaspar Becker alone.
, do Kraft Haus Technik earn enough money to survive as a small company ?
