1987 Nissan R87E
Offered by Bonhams | London, U.K. | June 27, 2014
Nissan built some pretty awesome Group C racing prototypes in the late-80s and early-90s even if they didn’t have much on-track success. The R87E was their 1987 car and their third attempt at breaking into the Group C world. It used a chassis supplied by March Engineering of the U.K. and an in-house designed-and-built engine.
The powerplant is a 3.0-liter twin turbo V-8 making in excess of 750 horsepower. This was a step up from their previous car’s 700hp V-6. 1987 was a disastrous year for Nissan’s program, running only two events and failing to finish both. So for 1988, this car was upgraded to R88C specification and it ran at Le Mans again in 1988. Here is it’s 1988 competition history:
- 1988 Fuji 500km – DNF (with Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Kenji Takahashi)
- 1988 Suzuka 500km – 6th (with Hoshino and Takahashi)
- 1988 Fuji 1000km (May) – 7th (with Win Percy, Hoshino and Takahashi)
- 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans – 29th, DNF (with Aguri Suzuki, Takao Wada and Hoshino)
- 1988 Fuji 500 miles – 5th (with Hoshino and Takahashi)
- 1988 Suzuka 1000km – DNF (with Toshio Suzuki, Hoshino and Takahashi)
- 1988 Fuji 1000km (October) – 9th (with Allan Grice, Hoshino and Takahashi)
This car was sold and restored to R87E specification with 1988 Calsonic livery and a 3.3-liter development version of the 3.0-liter Nissan V-8 – making 780 horsepower. Bonhams says the engine has been run for less than an hour since rebuild. Only three of these were built and this one should bring between $710,000-$810,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams.
Update: Not sold.