Biggest "redo" of a sports car

[H16]

Seeing teams like Champion have zero control over their customer cars is somewhat sad considering that the history of sports car racing is somewhat littered with cars that were altered from factory form. I am sure that Mike has been around much longer than I have, but here are my "biggest redos", that is a car that has been under private hands and totally redone, sometimes to the point of the fan almost feeling the need to rename it.

Porsche 962 - Two radical examples come from both sides of the Atlantic. One was Richard Loyd, the British team that used carbon in the tub and borried heavily from Jaguar XJR design in the wheel covers and independent rear wing.

The other being Dyson, the car that competed in IMSA briefly in 1991 was radical to say the least. Built by Fabcar, this 962 looked virtually nothing like the car that debuted as the 956 in 1982.

The Rafenelli R&S MKIII was a car that had its aero package totally redone, and were rewarded with a car that was competitive against teams with much larger budgets.

The Robinson R&S MKIIIC, sadly a casulty of the Grand Am rules package and ACO testing, had interesting bodywork and moved the radiators from the front to a more of a central (as central could be on the car) section, with a contompery LMP nose that replaced the low COG but otherwise unassuming nose of the factory car.

Surely there are other examples that people who have been around longer can attest to, share them with us.

[BSchneiderFan]

I suppose one would have to include the TWR-Joest-Porsche WSC95. And, in the opposite direction (that is, a customer car reworked by the factory), the Porsche LMP1-98, the unsuccessfully modified Joest Porsche which the factory ran at Le Mans in 1998.

[H16]

I forget about the Lola Porsche. From the outside, only an airbox and a slightly lower COG appeaered, but from what I hear, Porsche, who made an exception to the "no works prototype program" for their largest dealer, had to spend a lot of money to get what was virtually a GT1 drivetrain into the Lola B2k/10. Of course that was done with factory money for a semi-private team, but I doubt the designers had the Porsche engine in mind designing the car, more like a Judd V10 or Ford V8.

Yea, I didn't mention the Joest because I wasn't sure how modified the car was from its testing days in Daytona in 1995 when the factory briefly took it over. I have never figured out why the car won Le Mans in 1996 and 1997 with little help (obviously a Porsche GT1 would have looked better for Porsche's PR), but then the car is taken over and totally redone in 1998 and is nowhere. What was the deal there?

[BSchneiderFan]

To be fair, the car won in 1997, at any rate, because it was more fuel-efficient and because the factory 911 GT1s broke. One of them, I think the Stuck/Boutsen/Wollek car, was in a healthy lead on Sunday morning (?) when it caught fire. The other car - Kelleners/Collard/Wendlinger, I think - was pretty quick too.

[H16]

yes, but the bottom line is that Porsche won its step child, the WSC95 TWR, TECHNICALLY a Porsche as Porsche were the ones that had it rodone from a JagXJR14 or Mazda MXR01 or whatever, and leased to Joest.

Looking back, the WSC95 looked "right", with its smooth lines it inherited from jaguar, the LMP1 looked weird and somewhat bulky with an upinspiring cooling system. Perhaps that is the reason the car struggled.

I was glad that Porsche got a GT1 victory in 1998, albeit through reliability and not speed, but a win is a win.

[cybersdorf]

Porsche 908 chassis # 013 - started its life as a 03 in 1971, and ended its competitive career in the 80s as a turbo. Now back in its original form, in historic racing.

[BSchneiderFan]

What about the Dauer Porsche of 1994?

[cybersdorf]

...or the Kremer K8...
The list goes on.

[Osella]

Bitter GT1....

[cybersdorf]

Panoz GTR-1...

[Sean Crockett]

What about Pescarolo's reworking of the Courage C60.

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
What about the Dauer Porsche of 1994?

I'm sorry, but I should put you on notice that I ban anyone who dares to mention the "imposter" GT car on this forum.

[Nordic]

Tempted to say an Audi R8 into a Bentley speed 8,
but I to think the Jag into a Porsche trick was very clever.
Must find my pictures of the Dauer 962.......

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by Aysedasi
I'm sorry, but I should put you on notice that I ban anyone who dares to mention the "imposter" GT car on this forum.

Imposter GT car perhaps, but the thread is about redo of a sports car. What was the Dauer? Chopped liver??

[racer69]

Originally posted by Nordic
Tempted to say an Audi R8 into a Bentley speed 8,

How about the Audi R8C from 1999 into the Bentley

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Imposter GT car perhaps, but the thread is about redo of a sports car. What was the Dauer? Chopped liver??

Sorry matey, as moderator I take the liberty of having a larf now and again on subjects which cause me to raise my eyebrows.

The list includes:-

Audi R8 = pretty
Debora = racing car
GT/GTS = overall winner
Dauer Porsche = GT car

That sort of thing.

I guess I have to accept that the Dauer imposter car was a "redo" of a sports car (and a truly great sports car at that).

Just put it down to my warped sense of humour

[Fogelhund]

Certainly the Porsche 917 went through a number of changes, from an uncontrollable car in both coupe and spyder forms, to world beaters, again in both forms.

[pirenzo]

Audi R8 = pretty

I know you don't agree, but i stand by the view that you are wrong.

[Aysedasi]

That's fine Pirenzo, I can live with that! After all, a fellow GPL'er can't be entirely wrong

[BSchneiderFan]

Alas, I must concur with Pirenzo; I think the Audi R8 is pretty too. The R8R wasn't, the R8C was if you were partially sighted and, heresy I know, I don't think the Bentley is...

The Mercedes CLR was gorgeous, though. (When it was the right way up.)

[Sean Crockett]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
Alas, I must concur with Pirenzo; I think the Audi R8 is pretty too. The R8R wasn't, the R8C was if you were partially sighted and, heresy I know, I don't think the Bentley is...

The Mercedes CLR was gorgeous, though. (When it was the right way up.)

Sorry, but the R8C was gorgeous.

The Mercedes CLR must have been the greatest 'redo' as it went from a racing car to a stunt kite in a matter of seconds!!

[pirenzo]

The CLR was an anorexic Monkey, with the airborne grace of an Eagle, and the ground tied grace of a beanbag.

The R8C...no comment there.

My contribution here, well, they've all been said haven't they, but i spose one of the more drastic changes would have to be the Panoz GTR-1, to the LMP01

[cybersdorf]

Originally posted by Sean Crockett
The Mercedes CLR must have been the greatest 'redo' as it went from a racing car to a stunt kite in a matter of seconds!!

More like a "relaunch" I think.
It wasn't such a bad looking car (the grille was nicer than that of the Caddy ), all that was missing was the TAXI sign on the roof.

[Aysedasi]

I liked the R8C (but then it had a roof, didn't it). The CLR looked as though it had had a heavy weight dropped on it from upon high (and should have run with the weight still in situ ). If you want to compare the "prettiness" of the open LMP-style cars - look no further than the 333SP - a very pretty car.

[BSchneiderFan]

I agree that the CLR was, shall we say, a lowline design. Actually, I thought the CLK-GTR and CLK-LM of 1997/98 were stunning. Perhaps biggest redo could be CLK-GTR into a road car..?