Throughout its 106-year history, British sporting brand Aston Martin has maintained a strong link to sportscar racing and its crown jewel: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Already in 1928, the firm followed in the footsteps of Sunbeam, Alvis, Bentley and later stablemate Lagonda to become the fifth major British brand to taken on one of the toughest endurance races on the planet.

Though the 1.5L International failed to finish the event, it was the start of a long-lasting campaign for Aston Martin. With the 1.5L LM6, the company scored its first finish in 1931, when Augustus Cesare Bertelli and Maurice Harvey took 5th place out of just six finishers.

Aston Martin would continue to compete intermittently throughout the thirties, fourties and fifties. The first podium would come in 1935 when Roy Eccles' outfit took a 1.5L Ulster to third, but the overall win kept eluding them

This all changed in 1959, when Caroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori emerged victorious in the gorgeous DBR1/300. Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frere made it a 1-2 to boot, finally establishing Aston Martin as a force to be reckoned with.

Carroll Shelby taking the DBR1 to a historic victory, Le Mans 1959. Carroll Shelby taking the DBR1 to a historic victory, Le Mans 1959.

However, 1959 proved to be the high water mark for the team, as owner David Brown decided to abandon sportscar racing after a series of unsuccessful seasons with the experimental DP-series in 1963. In the years that followed, Aston Martin's racing heritage started to fade, and it instead became ingrained in the public consciousness for providing James Bond's favorite set of wheels.

However, the newfound fame was met with financial strife. The company saw a quick succession of new owners in the following decade, as recessions, emissions regulations and low funds made life difficult for the niche factory. As a result, motorsport wasn't much of a concern.

The Nimrod NRA/C2 brought the Aston Martin name back to Le Mans. The Nimrod NRA/C2 brought the Aston Martin name back to Le Mans.

Under the direction of Victor Gauntlett, Pace Petroleum and Tim Hearley of CH industries, this would change dramatically. The January 1981 takeover was timed rather perfectly, as the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile was about to revolutionize sportscar racing with a brand new set of regulations.

Motivated by the struggles of the 1970s, the FIA introduced Group C. In a bid to put more emphasis on fuel efficiency in the wake of the energy crises, the category introduced a five fuel stop limit for a standard 1000 kilometer racing distance.

An added bonus of this 600L limit was presumed reduction of influence for turbocharged cars. With efficiency being a concern, teams would no longer be able to simply turn up the boost and run away from the competition. Because of this, large naturally aspirated engines would theoretically have a fighting chance.

Though the company had no direct involvement with it, the Aston Martin name would be linked to the naturally aspirated side of the new rules. A 570-horsepower version of the 5.3L Tadek Marek V8 tuned by specialists Tickford would find its way into privately built prototypes from Nimrod, EMKA and Cheetah up to 1985.

EMKA C84/1 Aston Martin at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans. EMKA C84/1 Aston Martin at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Though the Nimrod and EMKA cars were generally underpowered, underfunded and unreliable, their presence in the World Sportscar Championship motivated Aston Martin's management to rekindle their relationship with endurance racing.

So in late 1987, a partnership was formed between Greek shipping tycoon Peter Livanos, Aston Martin restoration specialist Richard Williams, former racing driver and Ecurie Ecosse shareholder Ray Mallock, and Aston Martin chairman Victor Gauntlett. Together, they formed Proteus Technology Limited, or Protech for short.

Peter Livanos, a 12% stakeholder in Aston Martin, invested $26 million over a five year period. Ray Mallock became engineering director, and was responsible for running and developing the cars, using his experience with the Nimrod NRA/C2B and the C2-championship winning Ecurie Ecosse C286.

Richard Williams would take on a position as team manager, while Swedish-born Canadian ex-Brabham employee Max Boxstrom became head of design. Additionally, former Aston Martin Chief Racing Designer Ted Cutting was brought on in an advisory role, as he had been the one responsible for the Le Mans winning- DBR1/300.

With Ford Motor Company taking a 75% share in September of 1987, the project seemed to be under threat of cancellation, but the American giant allowed it under the conditions that regular production would not be affected, and Ford itself would not have to put any money in.

Reeves Callaway was brought on to get the project up to speed. Reeves Callaway was brought on to get the project up to speed.

Since Aston Martin as a whole had never even experimented with turbocharging, the core of the project remained the Tadek Marek V8 seen in the early years of Group C. However, the old 16-valve unit dated back to 1967, and was unable to produce the power needed to face cars like the Porsche 962C, Toyota 87C and Jaguar XJR-8.

With this in mind, Protech reached out to Reeves Callaway of Callaway Cars in Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA. Callaway had been hired to redesign the engine for the successor to the outdated V8 model, which was to be called Virage. His 32-valve cylinder head conversion was well-received, leading to a further contract for a Group C race engine.

In an effort to cover both IMSA GTP and Group C regulations, should Ford change its mind, a series of engines was considered. The choices were capacities of 5.0, 5.3, 6.0, 6.3 and 6.4L. Both the 5.0, 5.3 and 6.4 plans were scrapped, although a Tickford 16-Valve was used for testing purposes.

Eventually, the 6.0 version was chosen to kick off the project, under the designation RPD87. The all-alloy, 32-valve V8 weighed in at a respectable 226 kilograms (498 lbs), and developed 687 horsepower at 7750 rpm and 687 Nm (501 lb ft) of torque at 5500 rpm. This was an increase of some 352 horsepower over the standard unit, but by the standards of Group C was still not quite up to snuff.

With the name of the game in Group C being ground effect aerodynamics, the engine and its ancillaries, were mounted at a slight angle in order to clear the underbody venturi tunnels. Similarly, the rear suspension was configured to avoid messing up the airflow, as was the specially designed casing for Hewland VGC 5-speed manual transmission internals, courtesy of Max Boxstrom.

The chassis itself was made up of a carbon fiber-kevlar monocoque, designed by Boxstrom and fabricated by former Williams Grand Prix engineer Paul McBride at British composite company Courtaulds. Double wishbone suspension was mounted on all four corners, with the rear having its coilovers mounted inboard. Carbon fiber composites were used for the body as well, which were molded into some interesting shapes.

In contrast to most slab-sided Group C designs, the AMR1 sported a large air exhausts right behind the front wheels to relieve pressure from the wheel wells, and rather curvy, sloping sidepods. Interestingly, the radiators were located at the rear of the car, directly below the rear wing, which was in turn bolted directly to the transmission for added rigidity.

The weird location for the radiators allowed the nose to stay very flat, while the side vents below the doors were used to cool both the engine and the various oil coolers. Intakes beside the cockpit fed the radiators.

A second set on top of the rear arches supplied the 14-inch AP-Racing disc brakes with cool air. Finally, an airbox mounted on top of the cockpit supplied fresh air to the hungry V8. Wheels were 14 inch in the front and 15 in the rear, and were supplied by Max Boxstrom's Dymag business.

Production delays saw the car miss its proposed debut at the 1988 Spa Francorchamps 1000 Kilometers,. The first chassis wasn't completed until a full month after the race, when it was presented to Ford and Aston Martin management at the Newport Pagnell factory.

On 28 November 1988 the car saw its first test run, driven by Ray Mallock himself. This was the start of a particularly rigorous program, as the team had maintained they wouldn't run a car they didn't think would be competitive.

"When I shook down the first AMR1 at an airfield in April, I was asked to drive down a long straight, brake, turn round and drive back. at one point half way down the straight in top gear, the car took off as if someone had just switched on some sort of after-burner."

"When I got to the end of the runway, almost failing to stop in time, I turned round and found the entire rear body had come off. When I got to the pits, I suggested we run without the back cover, the car was so much quicker in a straight line." Costas Los

Sadly, the program lost momentum when driver David Leslie suffered a bad accident during testing at Donington Park. A suspected axle failure caused the car to lose a wheel, and the ensuing impact damaged the car's chassis tub enough to kill the car for good.

As AMR/01 was the sole car in running order at the time, this mean the team would miss the opening round of the 1989 World Sports Prototype Championship, the 480 kilometers of Suzuka. Adding insult to injury, the no-show resulted in a $250.000 fine from the FIA, as factory entries were required to attend every race.

David Leslie ahead of the Chamberlain Engineering of Nick Adams (GB) and Fermin Velez (ESP), Dijon 1989. David Leslie ahead of the Chamberlain Engineering of Nick Adams (GB) and Fermin Velez (ESP), Dijon 1989.

With 01 being destroyed, a newly built chassis, AMR1/02 made its World Championship debut at Dijon-Prenois. Driven by David Leslie and sportscar veteran Brian Redman, the car qualified a disappointing 24th overall.

A best time of 1:14.556 made the Aston a demoralizing 7.281 seconds slower than the pole-sitting Sauber C9 of former F1-drivers Jean Louis Schlesser (FRA) and Jochen Mass (GER). In remembrance of the recently deceased legendary John Wyer, who had run Aston Martin's Le Mans winning effort in 1959, the car ran with a black band its left hand side front fender.

With its development schedule having been interrupted by Leslie's crash, a number of flaws with the car hadn't yet been discovered. Chief among which was its weight. At 988 kg (2178 lbs), the AMR1 was 188 kg (414 lbs) above the minimum weight of 800 kg (1763 lbs).

As the V8 had to concede as much as 123 horsepower to its turbocharged rivals from Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Porsche, it wasn't much of a surprise it could only manage 17th place on race day. Typically, there was some over pressure in the oil tank as well, causing the car to blow smoke like only British sports cars can.

One of the AMR1's being loaded off the truck, Le Mans 1989. One of the AMR1's being loaded off the truck, Le Mans 1989.

Next up on Protech's schedule was the main event: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, there was a catch. A huge rift had arisen between the FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the governing body responsible for the race.

Disagreements over television rights, licensing fees, the general direction of the World Sports Prototype Championship as whole came to the point where it threatened the event's very existence.

The FIA wanted to turn the WSPC into a bite-sized, easily televised package similar to F1, with much shorter 360 kilometer races. Since a 24 hour race really didn't fit in this formula, the two organizations clashed, the FIA promptly responded by robbing the 24 Hours of Le Mans of its World Championship status.

Over at Aston Martin, the political chicanery wasn't very important. Victor Gauntlett made this clear in an interview, where he claimed he would much rather see his cars win the prestigious endurance race than the overall world championship title. As a result, two cars were sent over to La Sarthe, with AMR1/02 being joined by the newly built AMR1/03.

Chassis 02 recieved number 18, and took on Brian Redman, sportscar specialist Costas Los (GR) and Can Am/IMSA veteran Michael Roe (IRL). The sister car would run # 19, with Ray Mallock, David Leslie and touring car/sportscar racer David Sears (GB) taking driving duties.

Sadly, the team found the cars were ill-equipped to take on Circuit de La Sarthe, in particular its six kilometer (3.7 mile) Mulsanne straight. The AMR1's body turned out to develop a lot of downforce, as well as a hefty amount of drag. This resulted in a disappointing top speed of 341 kph (211 mph), instead of the expected 371 kph (230 mph).

Rock hard suspension caused skittish behavior and a lot of steering kickback, but an even bigger problem was the car's tendency to "porpoise". Named after the way a certain dolphin-like marine mammal swims at speed, porpoising occurs when the center of pressure underneath a ground effect car rapidly shifts from front to back.

This causes the car to violently rock back and forth, resembling the motion of quickly diving in and out of the water. Porpoising had been a problem in the ground effect era of Formula One, and had been one of the factors in the banishment of the technology in 1983.

The host of issues dropped the Protech Aston Martin squad right down the order, as they were losing masses of time on the track's long straights. The # 18 Los/Redman/Roe car was the fastest of the two, placing 32nd with a time of 3:34.080.

Mallock/Leslia/Sears weren't able to keep up, as the # 19 qualified 40th with a time of 3:40.110, dropping it behind several C2 cars. The objective quickly changed from being competitive to being reliable, as the fastest Aston was 19.040 seconds slower than the pole-sitting Sauber C9 of Jean-Louis Schlesser, Le Mans veteran Alain Cudini and former F1-driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille.

Both cars suffered suspensions failures during qualifying, and the team worked all night to engineer a solution. Eventually the full Aston Martin outfit was able to make the start, but trouble followed soon after.

With David Leslie driving, AMR1/03 developed a wiring fire, demanding a long stint in the pits. The car went back out again, but the jury-rigged electrics meant the car ran without a rev limiter. Sure enough, the engine over-revved, destroying one of its bearings.

Feeling the heat, the team instructed Los, Redman and Roe to nurse their car to the finish, as they weren't able to fight the top runners anyway. The three men duly obliged, and steadily moved up the order as other, faster cars dropped out. Caution over competition paid off, with the car finishing 11th overall and 9th in class.

With the next round of the WSPC just two weeks away, Protech decided to skip the race at Jarama to focus on much-needed further development. More long hours went into making the lighter AMR1/04 chassis, and the total reinvention of the suspension setup.

An added rear ant-roll bar, longer suspension travel, revised geometry and spring and roll rate improved handling and road holding massively. Additionally, the chassis lost its protruding side-exit exhausts, which were rerouted towards the back.

AMR1/04 gave the team a great result at Brands Hatch. AMR1/04 gave the team a great result at Brands Hatch.

Chassis 04 debuted at the fourth round of the World Championship, the 480 kilometer event at Brands Hatch. The undulating, tight track appeared to suit the high-downforce, redeveloped Aston a lot more, as it qualified 14th in the hands of David Leslie and Brian Redman. Chassis 03 was present as a T-car, but proved to be unnecessary.

Despite a gap of 5.034 seconds to pole, set by the new turbo V6 Jaguar XJR-11 of former F1 drivers Jan Lammers (NED) and Patrick Tambay (FRA), Aston Martin took home an encouraging result. Staying out of trouble, Leslie/Redman clinched a 4th place finish, though they were three full laps behind the winning Sauber of Mauro Baldi (ITA) and Kenny Acheson (GB).

Redman and Leslie kept their seats for the ADAC Trophy at the Nurburgring, hoping for another strong result. Qualifying wasn't too encouraging, as the longer straights of the GP-Strecke exposed the car's power deficit once again.

With a best time of 1:31.107, the pair didn't get higher up on the order than 21st, 7.982 seconds down on the Baldi/Acheson Sauber. However, the team was able to regain a lot of ground on race day, in a similar performance to the one seen at Brands. Eight place, three laps down on the Schlesser/Mass Sauber was the result.

The bearer of # 18 changed for the third time at Donington Park, as AMR1/05 made its debut. The car was the culmination of all the hard work and sleepless nights over the course of the season, with its weight being brought down to 906 kg (1997 lbs) from the original 988 kg (2178 lbs). Additionally, it possessed a 6.3L Version II-spec of the RDP87 V8, pushing 721 horsepower at 7750 rpm, and 719 Nm (530 lb ft) at 6750 rpm.

Though 05 was the lightest, most powerful, and best sorted AMR1 yet, it still had to concede to its older brother in qualifying. David Leslie and Michael Roe pushed into the top 10 for the first time with 04, while the newer car was 2.588 seconds and ten places down in 20th.

The gap to the front was still substantial, at 3.086 seconds to pole. However, performance during the race was once again solid, as both cars displayed their reliability and efficiency by climbing to 6th (# 19) and 7th (# 18) overall, two laps down on the winner.

Redman/Dickens heading out to Kemmel Straight, Spa 1989. Redman/Dickens heading out to Kemmel Straight, Spa 1989.

AMR1/05's strange lack of pace in qualifying continued at Spa Francorchamps, as Brian Redman and newcomer Stanley Dickens (SWE) were forced to start from 32nd on the grid. By contrast, Roe and Leslie were seven places up in 7th.

Roe/Leslie negotiating the old Bus Stop chicane, Spa 1989. Roe/Leslie negotiating the old Bus Stop chicane, Spa 1989.

The roles would be reversed when the lights went out on Sunday, as the # 19 car suffered the AMR1's first major reliability issues since Le Mans. An engine failure took Michael Roe and David Leslie out prematurely, leaving Redman and Dickens to defend the brand's honor. And so they did. A seventh place finish, three laps down was once again an encouraging result for Protech.

A much needed two week break was followed by the WSPC's season finale at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues. AMR1/04 was left behind, leaving 05 to take on the tricky high speed track. David Leslie partnered up with Brian Redman for the event, and the pair managed to qualify a respectable 15th.

The AMR1 mixing it up with the big boys, Mexico 1989. The AMR1 mixing it up with the big boys, Mexico 1989.

Since the track was at high altitude, the advantage was with the turbocharged cars more than ever, as they had less trouble in the thinner air. Against all odds, the Aston once again sneaked into the top 10, profiting from its consistency and reliability over outright speed. Another 7th place, three laps down as good as anything the team could have hoped for.

With the 1989 WSPC behind them, Protech could look back on a hugely stressful, but ultimately very rewarding season. Countless man hours had been spent correcting the car's initial safety, weight, power and handling issues, which were solved in a matter of weeks.

Though the cars weren't able to hang with the top factory teams, they often finished as best of the rest, giving promise for 1990. Sadly, it was not to be.

Scale model of the AMR2. Scale model of the AMR2.

Once again, the FIA was spoiling the party. As part of their plan to turn sportscar racing into a misguided Formula One clone, the traditional Group C cars were to be banned for 1990. The turbocharged, large naturally aspirated and rotary engines would be replaced by 3.5L naturally aspirated units across the board.

Furthermore, their spec was identical to the formula introduced in F1 for 1989. Protech had already been working on a low-drag AMR2 under the direction of Ray Mallock, since Max Boxstrom had left to concentrate on his wheel business, but they had no way of adhering to the new rules. Luckily, the lobbying power of Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Jaguar and Toyota pushed the introduction back to 1991.

Protech was hoping to acquire a supply of Ford-Cosworth HB V8 engines. Protech was hoping to acquire a supply of Ford-Cosworth HB V8 engines.

Racing a normal V8 in 1990 was seen as a waste of money however, so Victor Gauntlett and Richard Williams decided to ask Ford for help, going against the initial agreement. Through Cosworth, Ford had a readily available supply of F1-spec engines, but there were other suitors for the American giant. Around the same time, Ford was attempting to buy Jaguar, Aston Martin's greatest rival.

The purchase succeeded in February of 1990, and the odds were subsequently turned against Protech's favor. Jaguar's racing program was headed by accomplished team owner and driver Tom Walkinshaw, a man with a plethora of experience and successes. As two time WSC champion and one time Le Mans winner, TWR had a lot more bargaining chips than Protech.

Unsurprisingly, the limited supply of Ford-Cosworth HB V8 engines went to TWR, and Protech Aston Martin was left high and dry. With no hope of a competitive engine and increasing costs, the project was wound down. A single AMR2 chassis had already been fabricated, but the car was never finished.

Despite the messy end to their campaign, all four remaining AMR1's survive to this day. Chassis 02 has found a home at the Aston Martin Owner's Club's Aston Martin Heritage Trust in Drayton Saint Leonard, where it is on display alongside numerous classic vehicles.

Chassis 03, 04 and 05 have all transferred into private collections, with 04 even moving to America. AMR1/04 and AMR1/05 can be seen competing in vintage racing events. Even the unused AMR2 chassis is in circulation, as it said to have been finished with AMR1 spare parts and an AMR1 body, though it hasn't been seen for many years. With their distinctive, loud V8-bellow, the cars remain welcome guests at any sort of event.

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