There is an often repeated mantra in production car racing: win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Over the years, car manufacturers have poured massive amounts of cash into motorsport as a marketing tool, giving us some iconic cars and moments. From one-off homologation specials to estate cars, production car racing has the ability to turn any car into an immortal legend. In this second part of the 3 part series, we will be looking at some of the greatest marketing successes that sportscar racing has produced.
While more inaccessible to the mass market than the saloons of rallying and touring cars, sportscar racing is one for the dreamers. Le Mans and IMSA have seen all sorts of exotic cars over the years, including ridiculously expensive homologation specials and supercars.
All of 1998 GT1
GT1 gets its own section here because of the lengths that manufacturers went to homologate their cars. The GT1 class created by the FIA did not specify any number of road cars being built, which meant that manufacturers could only produce just one road-legal version. Toyota and Nissan took advantage of this loophole to produce just one car, and both kept this car for themselves allowing them to leave out driver luxuries. The flexibility of GT1’s homologation rules didn’t end there however, as teams found loopholes in the FIA’s rules for boot space. Mercedes argued that a small, inaccessible cubby hole underneath the rear bodywork could theoretically hold a suitcase, and while one could never get into that space since there was no opening big enough, this was accepted by the FIA. Toyota went one step further and argued that their fuel tank, which was empty for scrutineering, could theoretically fit the same suitcase and so should qualify as their boot space. Instead of being laughed out of France, this was allowed.
However, the first in the period to exploit homologation rules was Porsche. Dauer had built a road-going version of their Group C 962, boot space and all, which Porsche was then allowed to convert back into a race car. The Porsche 962 Group C monster had won IMSA championships and Le Mans twice, making it a beast of a car to base a race car on. In the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was much quicker than its GT1 counterparts, even being able to keep up with the LMP cars. The Dauer/Porsche 962 finished 1st and 3rd overall, with the next best finishing 12 overall - some might say this car started the craze for homologation specials at Le Mans. The bigger fuel tank allowed for GT1 cars over LMP cars gave an advantage that was worth developing a road car for.
While Nissan and Toyota only produced one road legal version of their GT1 cars, other manufacturers made them available for the well-paying public. Dauer made 13 road going 962s and Mercedes produced 28 models of their CLK GTR, dubbed the Strassenversion. Mercedes put a $1.5 million price tag on the CLK GTR, making it the most expensive production car at the time. But it is not the most expensive Le Mans Legend…
Ferrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO has gone for mind boggling amounts of money at various car auctions and private sales in the last 10 years. It broke the existing record twice, first going for $38 million in 2014 and then for $70 million in 2018. The car was made as a homologation requirement for Group 3 at Le Mans and other sportscar races, with only 36 examples built. It would achieve a best finish of second at Le Mans and would also win the Tour de France Automobile twice in 1963 and 1964. While impressive, the reason the 250 GTO has been sold for so much money is its beauty and scarcity rather than its motorsport pedigree. With 2 being owned by fashion tycoons Lawrence Stroll and Ralph Lauren, this car is truly a fashion statement.
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 has been an integral part of motor racing for so long that it is the basis of multiple one make championships across the world. The Porsche Carrera Cup is a staple of one-make Pro-Am racing in countries such as Great Britain, Brazil, Germany and France. The series uses identical Porsche 911 GT3s, making driver skill the separating factor here. The car has also been massively successful at Le Mans; the Porsche 911 GT1 won overall in the 1998 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with around 20 roadgoing versions built to satisfy homologation requirements. Furthermore, in the last 10 years, Porsche has won the GTE class of the race 3 times in 2022, 2018 and 2013, cementing the 911’s status as a sportscar racing icon.
The 911 is also an icon on the road, as its shape and configuration make it instantly recognisable to anyone who knows anything about cars. The basic ingredients have stayed the same since the 1960s; 2 doors, 4 seats, and a flat six engine mounted behind the rear axle which drives the rear wheels. There are 3 advantages of this engine layout: improved traction, a flat floor from the absence of a transmission tunnel, and saved space from the engine being near the driven wheels. While this can make the 911 prone to oversteer, modern technology such as a torque vectoring and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control serves to improve stability and handling, mitigating the oversteer. The 911 consistently ranks among the top 10 in polls for the top cars and sports cars of all time, and with the millionth 911 being produced in 2017, the sales figures back the polls up.
BMW M3 GTR
While the M3 GTR might have achieved cult status by featuring on the cover of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, it was built to beat Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. The straight-six engine found in the original M3 E46 could not compete with Porsche’s flat six, so they shoved a 4 litre V8 producing 350 horsepower in 10 cars and sold them for a staggering €250,000. The car would be tuned to produce over 440 horsepower in race trim and go on to win the GT category in 2001, angering Porsche who argued that it was a prototype and not a production car. The rules were changed, and BMW withdrew, but the M3 GTR lives on in the history books and the Need for Speed games.
The road version, called the Strassenversion, had a top speed of 295 kph or over 180 mph and weighed just 1350 kg, 185 less than the ordinary M3. This weight loss was obvious from the interior, where the removal of comfort features was something BMW were proud of. As their sales leaflet states, “those who want to win, have to be able to do without – the puristic interior of a winner.” Those who bought the car would have to do without air conditioning, radio, and rear seats, but at least they could say that their car was built with the sole objective of humiliating Porsche.
Chrysler Viper GTS-R
The Chrysler Viper GTS-R was the most feared car of the GT2 class in the late 90s and early 2000s, as it dominated the most prestigious events and championships. Overall wins came at the 24 Hour Races of Daytona, Spa, and the Nurburgring, while it won its class at Le Mans 3 times in a row from 1998 to 2000. It won the FIA GT Championship 5 out of 6 times from 1997 to 2002, only missing out in 2000, as well as winning the GTS class of the American Le Mans Series in 1999 and 2000. The Viper's success was Chrysler's way of gaining brand recognition in Europe and displaying a sporty image, distancing themselves from their sterotype of producing heavy, lethargic cars, so the road car and the race car were developed hand in hand to ensure its success on the track. Even before the manufacturer backed effort, privateers had raced the Viper in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and had earned top 20 finishes, demonstrating its potential on the track.
The Viper stood out thanks to its monstrous 8 litre V10 engine. The engine could reportedly produce over 700 horsepower in sprint events, although this was detuned slightly to 650 horsepower in endurance races. For context, leading F1 cars in the same time period are estimated to have produced around 750 horsepower, making the Viper's power figures astonishingly close. Road versions would still get 415 horsepower to utilise in the equivalent SR II model, which is still more than many racing cars today, and it would rise to around 450 horsepower in the updated RT/10 model in 1997. To celebrate the racing team's success, Team Viper built 100 'GT2 Champion Editions', upping the power even further to 460 horsepower, installing a wing and splitter, and a 5-point racing harness, useful for all that power. The Viper, then, was successful on and off the road at redesigning Chrysler's image, making it one of the biggest motorsport marketing successes.
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