1988 Argo JM19C Group C2 Sportscar

Lot details
Registration No: N/A
Chassis No: N/A
Mot Expiry: N/A

The East Anglian marque Argo came about through the demise of another British specialist race car constructor, Modus. The key player at Wymondham in Lotus country was Swiss engineer Jo Marquart. A prolific designer of all types of competition car, JM had already driven his drawing board to great effect at McLaren, Huron, GRD and Modus, the demise of the Modus Group being responsible for Marquart changing marques to become the brains at Anglia Cars owned Argo, where he was joined by one time American driver John Peterson and engineer Nick Jordan.
From humble beginnings in a domestic garage, the Norfolk firm expanded to produce Marquart designed chassis for their own works team as well as for sale to the privateer market from the JM1 Formula 3 of 1977 (Swedish driver Stefan Johansson scoring the marque's first international race victory in the Anderstorp F3 race in 1977) to the 1989 JM18, again for the same single seater class. Argo chassis equipped customers were also competitive in both Formula Vee and Atlantic categories. Apart from Johansson, who went on to be a Ferrari F1 driver of course, other notable Argo drivers included David Kennedy, Roberto Guerrero, Thierry Tassin, David Sears, David Scott and Brett Riley. Argo sports-racers also proved popular with client teams, the JM16 and later JM19 chassis being highly successful in the USA where the marque won three IMSA Camel titles.
Offered is one such Marquart design, an Argo JM19C, chassis number 122 which was made in 1988 for first owners PC Automotive to compete in the C2 category of the World Sportscar Championship. It was originally fitted with the ubiquitous Ford Cosworth 3.3 DFL and, as presented today, still has all the necessary ancillaries to install such an engine again. The Hewland 5-speed transmission is still present. This Argo was extensively campaigned throughout the 1988 season, mainly being driven by Richard Piper and Martin Birrane, with Ianetta/Graham driving at Le Mans. The car's best result was a 4th in C2 at the 1000k of Nurburgring with 5th over the same distance at Spa, 6th at Silverstone, 7th at Brands Hatch and 13th in the end of year non-championship race at Kylami. After the one season in WSC, JM19C number 122 was stored until 2001 when a restoration was carried out which included removal and repainting of the carbon/kevlar bodywork in period-correct colour scheme. Currently, chassis, bodywork, paintwork, interior, electrical equipment and transmission are described as being in A1 condition.
Included among a number of spares with the car are a complete side-exit exhaust system, two sets of BBS wheels, one set of used brake discs, a rear wing as employed at Le Mans and alternative Hewland gear ratios. A letter of authenticity from 1988 season driver Richard Piper is on file and FIA papers have been applied for. According to the vendor, this car would be eligible to run in the thriving Group C/GTP Racing Club events (see www.groupc-gtpracing.com) and would also be welcome to take part in V de V and Interserie series events.
PLEASE NOTE: We have not had this vehicle running.