Group C. Aston Martin. That's really all we should need to say – to certain enthusiasts anyway – but there's more to this vintage racer than just that.
What we have here, boys and girls, is a 1989 Aston Martin AMR1. It's one of only four ever made, and one of just two later lightweight examples, and it's coming up for auction.
Long before today's Vantage-based GT racers or the Lola-based DBR1-2 (a.k.a. B09/60) – and not to be confused with the later AMR-One – Aston Martin made a brief foray into the celebrated Group C category. It was designed in Canada, with an engine developed by Callaway in Connecticut, and fielded in the World Sports Prototype Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans by Ecurie Ecosse out of Scotland.
In order to challenge the established players from Jaguar, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz, Aston developed a cutting-edge prototype with advanced ground effects – employing a massive aero tunnel, air ducts channeled around the narrow driver's tub, and a giant rear wing. Of course the 6.0-liter V8 didn't hurt, either, kicking out a prodigious 700 horsepower, and canted forward to make room for the aerodynamic elements.
Unfortunately the AMR1 never won a race or even scored a podium – its highlight a fourth-place finish at the hands of Brian Redman and David Leslie at Brands Hatch (achieved in the chassis you see here). And though a plans were under way for a more powerful AMR2 and even an AMR3, neither came to fruition. Ultimately Aston wouldn't race again until the launch of the DBR9 a decade and a half later.
Chassis number 4 was bought from the factory by its current owner, a former chairman of a regional Aston Martin club on the US East Coast. Now it's being put up for auction at RM Sotheby's sale in Monterey next month, alongside a selection of other racing Astons that are sure to garner some attention from enthusiastic collectors. (Photos by Simon Clay, Courtesy of RM Sotheby's.)
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