The EMKA Aston Martin was a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

racing car built for EMKA Production's owner Steve O'Rourke by Michael Cane Racing and powered by an Aston Martin engine. The EMKA C83/1 was initially introduced in 1983 and competed in the

1983 24 Hours of Le Mans The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, finishing 17th overall. The car was modified for 1985 and raced at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing in 11th place after briefly leading the race in the opening hours. The EMKA Aston Martin failed to finish any of the other races it appeared at in 1985, and

Steve O'Rourke Steve O'Rourke ( – ) was an English music manager and racing driver. He is known for being the manager of Pink Floyd, a position he held from 1968 until his death. Among his accomplishments is negotiating Pink Floyd's split with bass player and ...

of EMKA Racing decided to take a break from international motorsport.

Development

EMKA Aston Martin was designed by

Len Bailey Leonard Bailey (25 July 1926 – 23 June 1997) was a British automobile designer. Career Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War ...

for the manager of the Pink Floyd,

. It was named after Steve O'Rourke's company EMKA Productions Ltd. The car was built by Michael Cane Racing. The monocoque was built by Maurice Gomm and the fibre glass body constructed by Protoco. The car was powered by an Aston Martin

Tickford Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing business in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, known for tuning and such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri. Under the name Salmons & Sons and their Tickford products the firm has ...

5,340 cc V8 engine, which was redesigned by Bailey. It featured a relocated

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plug ...

and water pumps to allow for large ground effect tunnels to be used.

Racing history

1983

EMKA C83/1 debuted at the 1983 Silverstone 1000 km race, with drivers

Tiff Needell Timothy "Tiff" Needell (born 29 October 1951 in Havant, Hampshire) is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of '' Lovecars'', and formerly served as co-presenter of ''Top Gear'' and ''Fifth Gear''. Biography Need ...

, Jeff Allam and Steve O'Rourke. The car failed to finish the race, retiring on the last lap due to a failed rear wheel bearing. The car next appeared at

with drivers Needell, O'Rourke and Nick Faure. Despite losing 2 hours due to a suspension problem, the car finished 17th overall and received the 'Motor' Trophy for being the first British car home.

1984

The car did not race in 1984.

1985

In 1985 Michael Cane Racing carried out extensive modifications to the car with design work being done by Richard Owen. The car now featured a revised rear suspension, a new bodywork and the removal of the ground effect. The car debuted at the 1985 1000 km of Silverstone race with drivers Tiff Needell, Steve O'Rourke and Bob Evans. The car qualified almost four seconds faster than it had done in 1983, but they did not finish the race. The EMKA's most successful appearance was at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans. With drivers Needell, Nick Faure and O'Rourke the car lead the race for nine minutes during the opening hours and finished 11th overall. Again being the first British car across the line. The EMKA Aston Martin failed to finish both the 1985 Spa and Brands Hatch 1000 km races. Steve O'Rourke decided to take a break from international motorsport, not returning until 1993 in the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

Chassis

*EMKA C83/1 competed 1983 ** 1983 Silverstone 1000 km- ret ** 1983 Le Mans 24 Hour- 17th *EMKA C84/1 competed 1985 ** 1985 Silverstone 1000 km- ret ** 1985 Le Mans 24 Hour- 11th ** 1985 Spa 1000 km- ret ** 1985 Brands Hatch 1000 km- ret

External links

Aston Martin Picture Gallery
- EMKA Aston Martin

- Aston Martin chassis numbers
RS Classic Racing
- EMKA Aston Martin {{Aston Martin Sportscar Racers Aston Martin racing cars Group C cars 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars