1990 Nissan R90CK

Throughout its illustrious 100-year history, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has played out titanic battles and nail-biting finishes, not to mention cruel misfortune. Yet paradoxically, one of the event’s most defining moments occurred not during a race, but rather during qualifying.

The scene was set at the 1990 edition of the race following a rule change that allowed for a T-car to be deployed exclusively for qualifying. Nissan seized the opportunity to get the jump on its rivals by entering chassis R90C/1—a machine tuned for maximum turbo boost and thought to produce in excess of 1,000 brake-horsepower. Aspiring Formula 1 driver, Mark Blundell, duly secured a spectacular pole position by more than six seconds, blowing away his rivals and sending shockwaves throughout the paddock. Significantly, his opposition included four Jaguar XJR-12LMs and some 19 Porsche 962s, the lead Jaguar incredibly placing only 7th on the grid—more than nine seconds off Blundell’s time.

Nissan dominated qualifying to place four cars in the top five, with Blundell’s herculean effort immortalised in three minutes, 27 seconds of grainy yet utterly captivating in-car footage. Regrettably, Nissan’s challenge faltered during the race, with the R90CP of Masahiro Hasemi, Kazuyoshi Hoshino, and Toshio Suzuki the best-place finisher in 5th. Nevertheless, Nissan had made history by becoming the first Japanese manufacturer to ever take pole at Le Mans. This hugely significant example—chassis R90C/1—is the very car that achieved that incredible lap.

Chassis R90C/1 made its public bow at the second round of the 1990 World Sportscar Championship (WSC) in Monza, albeit designated as the team’s T-car. In the event, it remained unused, the car’s race debut coming three weeks later in the third round at Silverstone. Driven by former Formula 1 drivers Julian Bailey and Kenny Acheson, the pair qualified 7th before retiring from the race just nine laps from the finish due to a suspension failure.

Following chassis R90C/1’s Le Mans heroics, it resumed WSC duties, once again being deployed as the T-car at the Nürburgring and Donington Park. However, in the penultimate round in Montreal, Acheson drove the car to 5th place, the race having been stopped early with half-points awarded. Although Sauber-Mercedes took its seventh win in eight races, the sister Nissan of Blundell and Bailey finished barely six seconds behind, ensuring that the team approached the final Championship round in Mexico City with a mathematical chance of securing 2nd place in the Teams’ standings.

In Mexico, R90C/1 was driven by Acheson and Gianfranco Brancatelli. The pair qualified in 7th place in what would be the car’s final contemporary outing. A solid run to 4th place netted three World Championship points, although this was insufficient to prevent TWR-Jaguar from beating Nissan to 2nd place in the Constructors’ standings.

Believed to have been retained by the factory once its competition career drew to a close, and later put on display at the Le Mans Museum, chassis R90C/1 was purchased directly from Nismo by Group C Limited in August 2000. It was prepared in the United Kingdom prior to being entered in the HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour, where it finished 3rd driven by Anders Olofsson. It was then sold to Henry Camferdam, who continued to campaign the car, after which it was purchased by respected historic racer, Aaron Hsu, from whom the vendor acquired it in 2010.

Exercised frequently and enthusiastically since, highlights of the car’s historic career have included participation in the Group C demonstration at the 2015 Goodwood Members’ Meeting and in two historic Group C races at the 2010 and 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. Maintained by historic Group C experts Phil Stott Motorsport, chassis R90C/1 represents arguably the ultimate turbocharged Group C car, not to mention a hugely significant part of Le Mans folklore.