Born in 1982, Group C relaunched the World Endurance Championship and, for almost 10 years, this category attracted many competitors, both from major manufacturers and from more-modest craftsmen wanting to try their luck. Nissan was interested in this championship from an early stage, starting with the 1986 R85 V, fitted with a monocoque structure designed by March Engineering and a 3-liter V6 turbo engine. The model evolved over the years; for the 1989 R89C, a structure was built by Lola Cars, of Kevlar and carbon bodywork and a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 engine was fitted. With this car, Nissan took 5th place in the Constructors FIA World Championship.
The R90C is the culmination of this glorious design. Thanks to its powerful twin-turbo V8 engine, this model proved to be extremely fast: During the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990, the car driven by Martin Brundle set a blistering best-lap time in practice, six seconds faster than its closest rival. Its qualifying engine was said to produce 1,000 horsepower. In late 1990, Nissan claimed 3rd place in the Constructors’ FIA World Championship, its best result. Additionally, this model won the All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship (JSPC) three times.
For the 1990 season, seven T90/10 chassis were produced, six of which were with R90CK specifications and one (R90C07) set aside in reserve. This is the very last of 13 chassis manufactured by Lola, and it was put together in December 1990 by Nova Engineering (Japan) to R90CK specifications. In the yellow livery of its sponsor From-A, this R90C07 car raced in the 1991 JSPC in the hands of A. Nakaya and Volker Weidler. They claimed 2nd place three times: the 500 Km of Fuji, the 1,000 Km of Fuji and the 500 Km of Sugo. The only race this car entered outside of Japan was in 1992 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where Volker Weidler, Mauro Martini and Jeff Krosnoff finished 8th.
SCM Analysis
Detailing
| Vehicle: | 1990 Nissan R90CK |
| Years Produced: | 1990 |
| Number Produced: | 7 |
| Chassis Number Location: | Chalked inside footwell |
| Engine Number Location: | In V of the engine |
| Club Info: | Sportscar Vintage Racing Association |
| Website: | http://www.svra.com |
| Alternatives: | 1984–91 Porsche 962, 1982–84 Lola T600, 1983–86 Lancia LC2 |
This car, Lot 100, sold for $582,852 (€536,400), including buyer’s premium, at Artcurial’s Le Mans, FRA, auction on June 30, 2023.
Any racing car is insanely fast considering the constraints under which it is built and raced. The problem that promoters and sanctioning organizations have is maintaining the breathtaking spectacle of speed that attracts paying spectators while managing both their safety and that of drivers, all while keeping costs affordable enough to allow full grids of entrants. The history of motorsports is filled with repeated periods where a brave new approach is tried, succeeds for a while, then falls apart when one or more of these factors gets out of hand.
A new standard
In the early 1980s, the FIA and international race organizers were stuck with this problem: The Group 5-based championship had devolved into a Porsche 935 parade, and both spectators and entrants were departing in droves. They needed a new category that would allow diversity of approach and technology to compete equally on the track. Ideally, this would allow turbocharged, normally aspirated and even Mazda’s rotary cars to compete closely with one another.
Beginning in 1982, those involved settled on what was basically a fuel-economy standard. The new cars had to weigh at least 800 kg and carry 100-liter (26-gallon) fuel tanks. The races, excepting Le Mans, were 1,000 km long (620 miles), and five refueling stops were allowed. This meant that the cars had to average about 4 mpg. There were a few other rules, though not many, and the new category was called Group C. Phil Stott in the U.K. is the ultimate guru of these cars, and his input for this story is appreciated.
There and back again
Like many previous approaches, Group C was extremely successful but also had a distinct life cycle. It had a shaky first few years as spectators and teams got used to the idea, then about six years of excellent competition with big grids from diverse entrants, followed by a few years of decreasing relevance in the early 1990s. By 1991 it was mostly over.
The early years saw Porsche dominating with its 3.3-liter twin-turbocharged 956 and 962. Lancia was strong in the mid-1980s, then Jaguar got its act together in 1987 and 1988 with a 7-liter normally aspirated V12. In 1988, Mercedes-Benz re-entered motorsports for the first time since the 1955 Le Mans catastrophe with its Sauber-Mercedes turbocharged V8, winning the championship in 1989. Nissan, Toyota and Mazda participated but were seldom on the podium.
Starting in 1989, the FIA began a two-year transition to 3.5-liter, normally aspirated engines (the Formula One standard at the time), so 1990 was the end of turbocharged Group C racing. IMSA carried on in the U.S., and a series called the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship continued through 1992, but the era was over until historic racing revived it 10 years later.
In recent years, Group C historic racing has enjoyed quite a boom, particularly across the Atlantic. The Peter Auto group provides plenty of well-run, well-attended events every year in Europe, so the primary and defining market is there. For many, Group C has become the ultimate “weapons grade” racing in that all but the most historically important cars are seriously raced. There are a few caveats, of course: These cars are extremely fast and require a competent and very experienced driver. Also, they are not cheap to run or maintain, and some chassis are much trickier to drive than others.
Cost considerations
Over the decade-long run of Group C, there were several major marques that fought for the front and a variety of minor players that came out to play in the middle of the pack, so there are plenty of car options over a wide value range. History in the form of wins or podiums in major European races can matter to value, but the reality is that only Porsche, Jaguar, Lancia and Sauber-Mercedes ever won much. Lesser marques are just for driving, not collecting.
Porsche’s dominant 956 and 962 racers are the standard cars, both on the starting grid and in value. Porsche also built the most cars by far, well over 100. They are easy to buy, easy to maintain and relatively easy to drive fast. In today’s market a “spear carrier” 962 — a good car without collector-grade history — runs about $1.2m. (A Le Mans winner is worth 10 times that.) Jaguar did well in the late 1980s and a good XJR9 will cost a bit over $2.5m. The Mercedes-Sauber C9 and 11 are the most valuable at about $9m, but remember that there are only a few and they all have great history.
Why so cheap?
Our subject Nissan R90CK sold for under $600k, which seems a pittance, particularly considering that it is clearly fast. Its sister car with Mark Blundell driving — not Martin Brundle, as Artcurial’s catalog states — got pole and a lap record at Le Mans in 1990. What gives? To start with, it isn’t really an R90CK, it’s a spare chassis that was built up by Nova Engineering (not the factory) to CK spec at the end of 1990 with a somewhat different body. It never turned a wheel in Europe and did little in the Japanese series.
I’m told these Nissans are more challenging to drive quickly than a Porsche, and finding parts can be an issue. The bottom line is that this just wasn’t a particularly desirable car and it sold for a price appropriate to the March, Lola and Spice chassis that filled up the mid-pack of the day. RM Sotheby’s sold the Works R90CK that Blundell set pole at Le Mans a few weeks earlier for $1.2m (SCM# 6957854).
Buying smart
It gets down to figuring out what a buyer is looking for. The default purchase in Group C is always the Porsche 962. They are safe, dependable, easy to buy and sell, and are faster than you are. You need to have a reason to buy anything else. If you have the money and desire, you can spend more to obtain exclusivity, history, bragging rights or exotic mechanics (that would be the Lancia). On the other hand, you can spend less and go just as fast but give up some of the status that comes with running with the big dogs. It’s a rational choice to go either way. Therefore, this car was well bought for its weapons value. ♦
(Introductory description courtesy of Artcurial.)
