The Mercedes-Benz C292 was a stillborn

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 ...

prototype race car intended for the

1992 World Sportscar Championship season The 1992 Sportscar World Championship season was the 40th and final season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship, which was contested over a six race series which ran from 26 April ...

as an evolution of the

Mercedes-Benz C291 The Mercedes-Benz C291 was a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season. It was Mercedes-Benz’ final car in the Group C category. Introduction The 1991 season marked the introduction of the FIA’s ...

, but never raced due to

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

withdrawing from sportscar racing after a dismal 1991 season. Built by

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

for

, the C292 featured the same Mercedes-Benz M291 3.5L Flat-12 which had initially disappointed in 1991, but during the offseason continued development and testing and was finally able to produce power similar to Jaguar,

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

, and

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. However, given the large amount of money Mercedes-Benz had invested in sportscar racing since their return, while receiving very little returns even after winning two championships and a

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, the decision was made to cancel the project after only a few C292s had been produced by Sauber. The exact number of C292s that were built is unknown, however one remaining copy is on display in the

museum. With the cancellation, the C292 was never tested, and therefore its potential in comparison to its competitors was never able to be seen. It is unknown if Mercedes even got to the point of installing the M291 engine in the C292. This would be the last Mercedes-Benz sportscar until the launch of the CLK-GTR in 1997.

References

External links

Gurney Flap - Mercedes-Benz C292 technical overview with photos
Group C cars C292 {{Motorsport-stub Sauber Motorsport

See also

References

External links