Description
This car is Lot 133 to be auctioned by Bonhams|Cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale on 11 July, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
Public Viewing:
Available Thursday 10 July from 09:00 until 17:00 and Friday 11 July from 09:00 until 17:00, at The Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Lot 133
1983/ 2004 Ford C100 MKIII Group C Racing Car
Registration no.
Chassis no. 83C100-02
● Designed by Tony Southgate
● The car that inspired the Jaguar XJR8 and XJR9
● Assembled and tuned by Bryan Wingfield
● Eligible for Peter Auto's Group C Racing and Masters Group C series
● Notably driven at Silverstone by Le Mans drivers David Leslie and Neil Cunningham
Over ten years after winning Le Mans four times in a row, Ford set its sights on a new win, a sort of descendant of the GT40. It was with the new Group C regulations, introduced in 1982, that the American manufacturer saw the opportunity to once again make history in the Sarthe-based race. The C100 project was launched as of 1981, with Len Bailey (who had already demonstrated his talent on the GT40 project) among those at its helm. The first cars, known as C100 Mk. 1, did not have the sought-after qualities, which is why Tony Southgate took over development from 1982. After several major modifications to the car, it proved to be much more efficient. The suspension, the work of John Thompson, had much to do with this, as did the all-new honeycomb aluminium chassis, giving much greater rigidity. Although it led the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans for a few laps, the C100 Mk. 2 unfortunately did not have a memorable season, despite being extremely fast in qualifying, including a pole position at the Brands Hatch 1000 km.
Based on this experience, the team led by Tony Southgate started from scratch with a complete redesign of the car. The aerodynamics were greatly improved, the honeycomb monocoque chassis was now commonplace and in the end, between the 1982 C100 Mk. 2 and the new 1983 Mk. 3, only the windscreen remained similar. Although the initial plan for the 1983 season was to fit the C100 Mk. 3 with a new turbocharged Cosworth engine, this was not ready for the 1983 season preliminary tests, which were therefore carried out with the tried-and-tested but high-performance naturally-aspirated DFL. At the Circuit Paul Ricard, driven by Gordon Spice and Marc Surer, the C100 Mk. 3 showed great promise, even outperforming the competition, which included the Porsche 956, Rondeau M482 and Sauber C7. As Marc Surer recounted: "Even with the naturally-aspirated engine, we were better than the competing Turbos." Thompson and Southgate reported measurements of up to 1814 kg of aerodynamic downforce. However, Ford was sorry not to see the Turbo engine, and above all, Ford's new competition director, Tom Ashcroft, did not want to continue and stopped the C100 programme altogether to concentrate on rallying, in particular for the RS200, also designed by Tony Southgate. The latter wanted, when the C100 project came to an end, to take over the project himself by buying it from Ford, but the car-making giant was opposed to this and preferred to erase all traces of the venture. Only Zakspeed, Ford's partner for the completion of the C100 programme, continued to develop the chassis with the C1/ 4 and C1/ 8.
Inspired by his work on the C100 project, Tony Southgate was called in by Tom Walkinshaw Racing to put his aerodynamic studies into practice on Jaguar XJRs, in particular the victorious XJR9 and 12, which won the 1988 and 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans respectively. Later, Southgate worked on the design of the Toyota TS010, Ferrari 333 SP, Nissan R390 GT1 and the Audi R8R and R8C. If Ford had given him enough time, the C100 might have had a completely different destiny.
So it was 1983, and Tony Southgate and John Thompson got Gordon Spice and Marc Surer to work on the Le Castellet circuit at the wheel of the third version of the Ford C100. The performance of this Mk. 3 was convincing, but Ford nonetheless decided to shelve the project. At least, that appeared to be the case. Two chassis had been built, 83C100-01 for the 1983 pre-season tests, and 83C100-02, which remained unbodied and unfinished.
The first chassis, on returning from Le Castellet, was entrusted to Bryan Wingfield, stripped bare and given a home in the Ford Transit Supervan II, which was nothing less than a C100 Mk. 3, remodelled and decked out in a Transit-like fibreglass body. On display at the Leyland Motors Museum until 1994 and the release of the Transit Mark 3 phase 2, the Supervan was recovered by Ford and Bryan Wingfield for an update. New bodywork and, above all, a new Cosworth 3. 5 HB engine. The entire 83C100-01 powertrain was now orphaned. But that was to underestimate Bryan Wingfield.
While Bryan Wingfield had been passionate about motor racing from an early age, it was as an engineer that he excelled. During the 1950s, he met the Ecurie Ecosse team, discovered the Jaguar D-Type and later worked on the Ford GT40 at Slough. These two adventures led him to create replicas of D-Types, C-Types and XJ13s for private clients, as well as buying or re-building GT40 parts and maintaining, restoring or rebuilding them. Many models passed through his hands, including P/ 1000W, P/ 1002, P/ 1009W, P/ 1012 and latterly P/ 1087, P/ 1088 and P/ 1089. These models, commissioned by John Willment in the 1990s, allowed Bryan Wingfield to embark on a new project, at the age of 63, to complete the one model that Ford never finished, the Ford C100 Mk. 3 chassis 83C100-02.
He bought the powertrain from the Ford Transit Supervan II (ex 83C100-01) and sourced a number of parts from Zakspeed, Ford and the Rosso Bianco Collection. For over 10 years, based on the writings and drawings of Tony Southgate, he assembled 83C100-02, even setting up Bryan Wingfield Racing, which also raced a Ford Probe GTP and a Jaguar XJR15.
This gestation period of 83C100-02 is recorded in a large bundle of binders, letters and original technical drawings.
Although it was completed in 2004, the car's first official outing was at the 2007 Silverstone Classic, to mark the 25th anniversary of Group C. The C100 was then entrusted to Scottish driver David Leslie, whose father had launched the careers of Allan McNish, David Coulthard and Dario Franchitti, and who was to tune the car's track set-up. Unfortunately, he died in a tragic plane crash in 2008. Thus, it was New Zealand's Neal Cunningham who drove the C100 for the 2009 season before it needed an engine overhaul. In 2011, Bryan Wingfield was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the C100 was put on hold, while he settled permanently in France, helped by his children and friends.
Meanwhile, the C100 saw its Cosworth DFL V8 engine rebuilt as new in the UK by Geoff Page Racing. Acquired in 2018 by its current owner, the C100 had to be reassembled and overhauled using the collection of parts from Bryan Wingfield's garage. It was with the help of Rondeau engineers Lucien Monté and Philippe Beloou, who at the time owned the Rondeau M482 of the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans, fitted with a drivetrain identical to the C100, that the latter was overhauled and set up. This comparison between the two cars showed just how large a budget Ford had put into the project. The parts used are of a rare precision and quality, combining magnesium, titanium, aluminium and composites.
The car has since been driven for some 3 to 4 hours on the Fontenay Le Comte, Le Vigeant, Bugatti (Le Mans), and Magny-Cours circuits.
Offered with a large number of parts (wheels, front and rear hubs, front bonnet, steering rack, electronic control units, gearbox pinions, brake callipers, engine and rear axle mounts, engine parts, etc.) to be collected from Le Mans by its future owner, this Ford C100 has had its fuel tank brought up to standard and undergone the crack test of the components of its running gear in order for applications for FIA and Masters passports to be made. Applications in progress will be handed over to the buyer once approved. Sold with its purchase invoice and accompanied by an extensive bundle of folders containing correspondence, technical drawings, race sheets, historical documents and other photos, 83C100-02 is still, until 2027, the last factory prototype produced by the American firm with the aim of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall.
Please note that this vehicle is from outside the UK. Our customs agents, CARS UK, will manage all post sale customs administration. A fee of £350+VAT will be charged on the buyer's invoice to administer both import or export customs movements. If the buyer also chooses to ship with CARS UK, this will be quoted separately. If this vehicle is to stay in the UK, it will be subject to Import VAT at the standard rate of 20% and Import Duty at 10%+VAT on the hammer price. This vehicle will not be available for immediate collection after the sale and will only be released on completion of customs clearance. If you have any questions regarding customs clearance, please contact the Bonhams Motorcar Department.
All lots are sold 'as is/ where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams|Cars website for all pertinent auction information.
