​1988 Toyota 88C

              
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• 1988 Toyota 88C

  One of two ex-works Le Mans Toyota 88Cs

  Iconic taka-Q NewMan livery

  Ex-Stefan Johansson, Paolo Barilla, Tiff Needell, Juan Manuel Fangio II

  One of very few cars to have raced in all three Group C championships

  Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring history

  Run by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers team in IMSA

  Enormous package of spares

  Perfect for Le Mans Classic and Historic Group C racing

   

  Complete Spares List (PDF)

• An Ex-Works Toyota from Group C’s apex year and an ideal entry for historic racing.

  With so many works teams and manufacturers represented, the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours is considered to be the pinnacle race from that golden era of sports car racing. Porsches had won six consecutive Le Mans – that’s every single one since the ‘new’ Group C category was introduced in 1982 for those of you counting – and, going into 1988, they were still very much the marque to beat.

  Jaguar was still playing catch up and, even though its TWR-run cars had enjoyed significant success, victory at Le Mans had still eluded them. For ’88 they fielded a fleet of 5 fire-breathing V12 XJR9s. But it wasn’t just the giants of Germany and Great Britain, the Japanese were keen to get in on the action and both Nissan and Toyota each sent a two car team – not to mention the three-car Mazda team in the GTP class.

  Bringing all this action into living colour were the dazzling array of now-infamous liveries, with household brands indelibly linked to the manufacturers they sponsored. Few people remember the designations of  ‘XJR9’ or ‘962’, but the Silk Cut Jag’ and Shell Dunlop Porsche? Iconographic. 

Just as striking were Toyota’s two 88Cs. One was sponsored by Minolta and the other was this, their standout Taka-Q car. These waspish yellow, black and white colours had been made famous by sponsor NewMan on the double Le Mans winning Joest Porsches, and its fair to say that they suited the curvier Toyota very well indeed – perhaps even better than the squarer Porsche 956.

The 88C capitalised on the tough lessons learned with its predecessor and, while both share the 87C chassis designation, the 1988 car was a significant improvement. Following a strict diet and focussing on nimble chassis design, Toyota utilised a relatively diminutive 2.1-litre four-cylinder turbo engine. The outcome was that the overall weight was a mere 760kg (the portly Jags were nearer 900kg) and the 650bhp available exceeded that of Porsche’s 956 flat six.

This example, chassis 87C-007, debuted at the 500km of Fuji in March ’88 and began a streak of three top-ten finishes in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship before making the long journey to France for Round Five of the World Sportscar Championship: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

Paolo Barilla, Hitoshi Ogawa and Tiff Needell excelled in qualifying and placed the No.37 Toyota on the 5th row of the grid. An outstanding result, when you consider that only cars to best the Toyotas were works Porsches and Jaguars, and a Porsche 962 each run by the prolific Joest and Kremer outfits.  During the race two trips to the gravel trap cost the No.37 car insurmountable time and, although undamaged, 87C-007 would finish in 24th place. The potential had been proven though, with the Minolta Toyota coming home 12th.

The 88C answered its ultimate calling in 1989 and found incredible form in the American IMSA series. Run by motorsport hero Dan Gurney’s All American Racers Team (AAR) 87C-007 was frequently helmed by Juan Manuel Fangio II and impressively scored two pole positions, three podiums and four top-five finishes. Arguably more impressive is the fact that 87C-007’s career had now spanned all three of Group C’s championships - All Japan Sports Prototypes, World Sportscars and IMSA – and had included the category’s big three races of Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring. Quite an achievement indeed and one that very few chassis can surely boast.

Recently returned to its 1988 appearance, 87C-007 would be an ideal entry for the enormously popular historic Group C racing series and indeed Le Mans Classic. Short of securing a drive in the current and Le Mans winning Toyota team for the 24 hour race, you are unlikely to be able to experience Le Mans at such speed than in the Classic Group C race.

For those seeking a genuine and important ex-works mount for Group C Racing, the barrier to entry has usually been exceptionally high there can also be the added complication of when damaged cars have tubs changed and identities become confused. But this Toyota is not only a refreshingly genuine and rare ex-works car with fantastic provenance, but is a significantly more realistic proposition and is accompanied by an abundance of spares – even down to moulds for the bodywork.

Both the potential and ingredients are very much there for this Toyota to be the ultimate historic Group C racer.

1988 Toyota 88C 87C-007 Race History

• Race Date

• Race

• Drivers

• Car No.

• Result

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  3rd March 1988
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km of Fuji 
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Paolo Barilla/ Tiff Needell
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  7th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  10th April 1988
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km of Suzuka
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Paolo Barilla/ Stefan Johansson 
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  37
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  5th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  1st May 1988
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  1000km of Fuji
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Paolo Barilla/ Tiff Needell/ Hitoshi Ogawa
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  37
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  10th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  12th June 1988
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  24 Hours of Le Mans
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Paolo Barilla/ Tiff Needell/ Hitoshi Ogawa
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  37
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  24th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  24th July 1988
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500 miles of Fuji
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Paolo Barilla/ Tiff Needell/ Hitoshi Ogawa
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  37
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  Retired
                

1989 Season

87C-007 run by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers team in the IMSA series. 

• Race Date

• Race

• Drivers

• Car No.

• Result

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  7th January 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  Daytona Test
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Willy T. Ribbs
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  N/A
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  5th February 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  24 Hours of Daytona
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord/ Steve Bren
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  50th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  5th March 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  3 Hours of Miami
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  4th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  18th March 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  12 Hours of Sebring
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord/ Steve Bren
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  39th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  2nd April 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km of Road Atlanta
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  14th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  23rd April 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  West Palm Beach
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  3rd
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  29th May 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  150-Laps of Lime Rock
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  13th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  4th June 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km Mid Ohio
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson/ Chris Cord
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  14th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  2nd July 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km of Watkins Glen
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  3rd
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  16th July 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  500km of Road America
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  5th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  30th July 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  300km of Portland
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  11th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  13th August 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  300km of Topeka
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  4th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  3rd September 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  2 Hours of San Antonio
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #1
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  2nd
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  10th September 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  300km of Sears Point
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  5th
                

•                 
  Race Date
                  
  1st October 1989
                

•                 
  Race
                  
  360km of Tampa
                

•                 
  Drivers
                  
  Juan Manuel Fangio II/ Drake Olson
                

•                 
  Car No.
                  
  #98
                

•                 
  Result
                  
  23rd