For Sale: 1989 Sauber Mercedes C9 Group C

Submitted by msr on August 6, 2020

History and photos via Duncan Hamilton ROFGO

This 1989 Sauber Mercedes C9 Group C sports car is from Sauber Mercedes’ incredibly successful 1989 World Sports Car Championship season. It’s up for sale at Duncan Hamilton ROFGO.

The car, chassis 89-C9-A1, was built by Sauber Mercedes as a spare for the works team competing in the 1989 World Sportscar Championship. However, it never saw action.

Team Sauber Mercedes had won five races in the 1988 season, going toe-to-toe with the Silk Cut Jaguar throughout. So, with good reliability and race-proven chassis underneath them, the team went into the 1989 season still running their 1988 chassis.

With the cars wrapped in the iconic colours of the Silver Arrows, 1989 was even more successful. The cars won all but one race and crushed the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with none seriously damaged along the way. This left our car without a job.

Following the season, the car went back to the Sauber factory and then on to the Donington Museum, where it served as a display vehicle. It was acquired from the museum by the current owner in 2017.

It was sold with an engine and gearbox, but a few parts were missing, including from the rear suspension. It did have bodywork on it, and it’s believed that many of the panels were taken off the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans winning car.

Upon taking custodianship of the car, the new owner left it in the capable hands of BBM Sport in the United Kingdom who carried out a full bare-tub rebuild, including reverse engineering parts where necessary. The engine was handed to X-tec Engineering, who rebuilt both it and the gearbox with all new internals.

89-C9-A1 ran at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed for Mercedes-Benz’ 125th anniversary. It was also at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where the owner met Kenny Acheson, who drove for Team Sauber Mercedes in ’88 and ’89, leading to a test drive in the car for a Motorsport Magazine article.