13 replies to this topic

[yuragagarin1961]

Hello all,

I am David, from Spain. I am new to this wonderful universe of 'Nostalgia Forum'.

Would like to learn about the SPICE-LAMBORGHINI WSPC C1, 1990 sportscar project.

Immense thanks for your kind help!

[johnny yuma]

Perhaps you have the year wrong,google reveals only the 1985/86 Spice Engineering/ Lambo Powered British hybrid which aimed at WSPC SEASON OF 1986 BUT money problems saw it miss the season and its only race result listed is Kyalami ,South Africa in 1986 where the apartheid regime offered inducements "for someone,anyone please compete here".Tiff Needall UK got a 5th and 7th against mainly Porsches. Google and read more.

BTW the Russian Cosmonaut was YURI Gagarin....? not Yura.

The Konrad/chrysler/LAMBORGHINI hybrid of 1991/92 is a different car,-wikipedia

[Kevan]

There was a possibility of Spice using the 3.5-litre Lambo F1 engine (same unit that Konrad would use) for 1991- as I recall, it hinged on a Japanese sponsorship deal that didn't arrive.

AFAIK they got as far as testing the Lamborghini engine in the SE90C over the winter of 1990/91 (Ive got a vague recollection of a picture or two in Autosport towards the end of the 1990 season) but when the Japanese money fell through, so did the engine deal and Spice went into liquidation shortly afterwards (their 1989/90 campaigns running under the new 3.5 litre C1 regs had been very underfunded- the second car of the 2-car entry in 1990 often only ran in qualifying)- They eventually continued under new ownership, but didn't field a works team in the WSPC again- the series of course being canned after '92 anyway.

If I remember correctly, the 1986 project, using a development of the stock-block V12 from the Countach, wasn't a works Spice Engineering entry but a project commissioned by the UK Lambo importer. As you said, it only raced in the non-championhip end-of-season races in South Africa due to lack of money, despite big claims at the start that it was a fully-funded project.

[yuragagarin1961]

The 1986 car you tell about was indeed powered by a common block V12 derived Countach unit and, yes, it run at Kyalami, was tested by Baldi, etc... That is right, but that's not 'my' car.

Back in 1990, Spice Engineering and Lamborghini Engineering agreed the supply of Lamborghini Engineering 3.5litre, V12, F1 derived powerplants to power Spice Engineering SE90 C1 car, but the project failed as well. This is the car I am interested in.

Konrad's KM011 was another subsequent story.

Yuri Gagarin was called "Yura" by his cosmonauts comrades Popovich, Leonov, etc...

[yuragagarin1961]

Thanks Kevan.

Would be very interested in that images or article/snippets from Autosport.

if I am not wrong, there was something about it on both 6th and 20th September 1990 issues.

[Alexey Rogachev]

Yuri Gagarin was called "Yura" by his cosmonauts comrades Popovich, Leonov, etc... [/B]

Quite right. "Yura" is an informal (diminutive) form of name "Yuri".

[Kevan]

Originally posted by yuragagarin1961
Thanks Kevan.

Would be very interested in that images or article/snippets from Autosport.

if I am not wrong, there was something about it on both 6th and 20th September 1990 issues.

I probably have those issues of Autosport, but I don't have easy access to them- they're probably stored in my parents' attic, 200 miles away from where I live now.

Those dates make sense- the 6th September issue would be the one reporting the WSPC race at Donington on 2nd Sept- I have a very vague memory that Donington may have been where the project was first publically announced.

From memory, the Japanese sponsor who were supposed to be funding the Lamborghini deal was 'ASK' which I think appeared on the cars for the first time at Donington (The Spice cars had carried a variety of different sponsors from race to race until 'ASK' appeared) and Montreal

http://www.racingspo...0-09-02-021.jpg
http://www.racingspo...0-09-23-022.jpg

I think the Spice-Lamborghini was a standard SE90C in the team's regular 1990 season red/white/yellow colours with 'ASK' logos. I don't remember whether there were any visible changes to the car for the Lamborghini installation

[yuragagarin1961]

Dear Kevan,

thanks for your comments and contribution. I have a couple of images of the car, but I do not see quite well how to post them here. It's not great stuff, but may you be interested. Forward me a line then, if you please, to:

drodriguezs@terra.es

thanks again, d.

[doc knutsen]

The Lamborghini-engined Spice was indeed shown in the paddock at Donington in September 1990, it was finished in a mainly dark blue and white livery if I remember correctly.
I remember thinking that it would be an uphill struggle for the Spice to be competitive with the 1991 3.5 liter cars, with everyone fielding carbon tubs and F1-derived aerodynamics. The Spice, basically the same car that appeared in C2 in 1988, was of a different generation as far as chassis construction and aerodynamics were concerned....and with Mosley and the FIA having stabbed C2 in the back, Spice would not have the money for a brand new car, it market having dried up.

[GMiranda]

Wasn't Spice almost broken by 1990?

[sabrejet]

Spice ran cars at Le Mans up to at least 1991 (in the 'Category 2' or whatever the 3.5-litre category was called) and in IMSA beyond that IIRC. I remember the Spice-Lamborghini from 1985/6.

[GMiranda]

Spice ran cars at Le Mans up to at least 1991 (in the 'Category 2' or whatever the 3.5-litre category was called) and in IMSA beyond that IIRC. I remember the Spice-Lamborghini from 1985/6.

 

Yes, I know they continued to race in IMSA, but I had the idea somebody bought the team or put some money to save them because the end of Group C2 and the cost of the brand new Spice C1 left the team financially bad.

[Catalina Park]

In the early 1990s there was an announcement from the New South Wales Government that Spice was going to build a factory to build F1 cars at the newly opened Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney.

[GMiranda]

In the early 1990s there was an announcement from the New South Wales Government that Spice was going to build a factory to build F1 cars at the newly opened Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney.

I think I read it somewhere too.