1986 Sauber C8 Will Make You Love Classic Racing Cars
Legendary Sauber race car wasn’t the most competitive back in the Group C days, but it did leave a hell of an impression.
Old school race cars have a certain magic that cannot be replicated by their newer versions. Modern racing cars are efficient, incredibly aerodynamic, and faster than ever before. However, does that make a racing car great? Not necessarily. There is something to be said for cars from this time period. With that we turn our attention to the Sauber C8, a legend of racing.
If we were going to compare the Sauber to a modern racing car, it would be classed as a prototype car like an LMP1. The C8 was built for a racing class back in the 80’s called Group C. This class gained quite the notoriety for being revolutionary for its time. Some Group C cars managed to break 400 kilometers per hour during races at Le Mans. The series saw ridiculous levels of bodywork to achieve higher downforce and lower drag than ever before. It was known to almost as popular as the largest name motorsport at the time and to this day, Formula 1. Thanks to 19Bozzy92 on YouTube, we get to see what made this era in racing so unique and memorable.
To start, it is best to understand a little bit of history surrounding the car. The C8 was made in collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Sauber, a motorsport engineering company. Introduced during the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Sauber C8 was powered by Mercedes M117 twin-turbo V8. Mercedes didn’t have the time to build their own chassis. They left this job to Sauber while they worked on getting the engine ready for endurance racing.
Some Group C cars like the Sauber C8 managed to break 400 kilometers per hour during races at Le Mans.
During its debut race, the Sauber only managed to qualify 17th. While qualifying is not as crucial in a 24 hour race, the team was definitely not happy. The car later crashed during the race week and didn’t even get to grid up for the race. The next year the car performed substantially better securing 8th and 9th position at Le Mans. However, neither car would not be able to finish the race. Things seemed pretty down for the team when they managed their first and only victory at the 1000km of Nurburgring.
The car after the 1987 was abandoned for the C9 Prototype and sold to a private team. The C8 never managed to finish a race at Le Mans during 4 years of competition. Does this mean that the Sauber was a bad car? Not necessarily, but it didn’t really win races. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it is an amazing piece of history. When you look at this car in person, your jaw instantly drops. The attention to detail in the construction of the chassis is mind-boggling. The sound is unlike anything available on the market. This brings us to our point. It may not have been the fastest or most consistent race car during its time, but wow, does it make you dream.
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