The Sard MC8-R was a modified and lengthened version of the Toyota MR2 (SW20) built for GT racing by Toyota's

SARD is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts. History The company was formed in 1972 as Sigma Automotive Co., Ltd by Shin Kato to develop and ...

(Sigma Advanced Research Development) works team. SARD heavily modified the original MR2 frontal chassis deriving with custom rear chassis in order to fit a

twin-turbo Twin-turbo (not to be confused with a twincharger setup, which is a combination of a supercharger and a turbocharger) refers to an engine in which two turbochargers work in tandem to compress the intake fuel/air mixture (or intake air, in the case ...

version of the 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE V8 producing . This is the first car which only using the frontal chassis of production car was effectively a purpose-built semi-

sports-prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of race car that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are n ...

that successfully got GT1 homologation. The MC8-R was lacked pace and very unreliable that makes it often at the bottom of the race and even the 'traditional' GT1

Toyota Supra is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name "supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond". The initial four generations of the Supra were pr ...

also faster than it and let alone with

McLaren F1 The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars, and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray. Murray was able to convince Ron Dennis to b ...

and

Ferrari F40 The Ferrari F40 (''tipo'' F120) is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car engineered by Nicola Materazzi with styling by Pininfarina. It was built from 1987 until 1992, with the LM and GTE race car versions continuing production until 1994 ...

. However, the overall construction method of this car (a heavily-modified production car frontal chassis with race-built rear chassis combined into a style of semi-prototype) inspired

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

to make 911 GT1

homologation Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

specials which dominates the GT1 and indirectly led to the cancellation of the early GT1. Since the custom rear chassis and numerous dedicated components will lead to significant differences from the original MR2, a homologation car had to be built. SARD built one MC8 road car in order to meet homologation requirements. This car disappeared from public eye within a year of its construction, but resurfaced again on the Japanese collector car website SEiyaa in 2015, two decades after its disappearance. The car is currently in the possession of a private collector, who has registered the car for road use in Japan. 1995 and 1996 *The MC8-R paritcipated 1995 BPR Global GT Series which is the first purpose-built semi-

that successfully got GT1 homologation which inspired 911 GT1 that kind of homologation specialists which planted a foreshadowing for the cancellation of GT1. *The MC8-R made its first outing in the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans piloted by

Alain Ferté Alain Ferté (born 8 October 1955 in Falaise, Calvados) is a professional racing driver. He is the elder brother of Michel Ferté, who is also a professional racing driver. Alain Ferté competed five seasons in Formula 3000 1985–1989. He won th ...

Kenny Acheson Kenneth Henry Acheson (born 27 November 1957) is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland who competed for RAM Racing in the 1983 and 1985 Formula One seasons. He completed only one of his three race starts, finishing in 12th posit ...

, and

Tomiko Yoshikawa is a Japanese racing driver who competed in junior open-wheel racing and sports car categories. She entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times, the 24 Hours of Daytona once and also raced in her native Japan in such series as the All-Japan Formula ...

. It retired after 14 laps. Later that year the car attempted the

1000km Suzuka The Suzuka Summer Endurance Race is an annual motorsport event for sports cars that has been held at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Mie Prefecture, Japan since 1966, and the oldest automobile endurance race in Japan. From 1966 to 2017, ...

, this time managing to finish 26th overall. *One MC8-R was entered in the

1996 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 64th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 15 and 16 June 1996. It was won by a Tom Walkinshaw-Porsche prototype run by Joest Racing with drivers Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter and Le Mans rookie Alexander Wu ...

, piloted by

Masanori Sekiya is a racing car driver, most famous for being the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1995. Sekiya drove in single-seaters in his early career, contesting the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and Formula Nippon from 1987 ...

Hidetoshi Mitsusada is a former racing driver from Japan. Career Mitsusada began competing in Japanese Formula Three in 1991 with Now Motor Sports and secured a podium in his first season with the team. By 1993, he continued to race with the team and won his firs ...

, and

Masami Kageyama is a Japanese racing driver from Kanagawa Prefecture.Masami Kageyama ...

. The team qualified 37th and finished 24th, second-to-last of finishers. 1997 *The team also entered the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, but driver

Olivier Grouillard Olivier Grouillard (born 2 September 1958) is a racing driver from France. He started racing go-karts from the age of fourteen competing in events such as the Volant Elf. He progressed to Formula Renault winning the title before Grouillard compet ...

failed to make it past pre-qualifying. Two cars were also entered in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

round at the

1997 Suzuka 1000km The 1997 Pokka Suzuka 1000km was the seventh race of the 1997 FIA GT Championship season. It was run at the Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japa ...

(one by Team Menicon SARD and one entered by IDC Ootsukakagu SARD), but neither car managed to finish. It was replaced for the following year with the

Toyota GT-One The Toyota GT-One (model code TS020) is a racing car initially developed for grand touring GT1 rules, but later adapted into a Le Mans prototype LMGTP car. It raced in the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. History Following the end of the G ...

References

{{reflist Motorsport Toyota racing cars

See also

References