The Aston Martin AMR1 Harks Back to An Era That’ll Never Come Back

Now that we've cleared that up for the young'uns, Group C is the product of an era we’ll never quite get to relive ever again. The Stefan Bellof-driven Porsche 956 that holds the all-time record on the Nurburgring Nordschleife? Yeah, that’s the sweetheart of the Group C. In stark contrast to the Porsche 956, the hideously underrated Aston Martin AMR1 didn’t win a single race.

Very few were ever made by Aston Martin in collaboration with Proteus Technologies for the 1989 World Sports Prototype Championship and 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pictured AMR1 is chassis AMR1/05, considered to be the lightest AMR1 of them all. In race specification, regulations permitted a minimum weight of 800 kilograms (1,763 lbs) for Group 3 racing cars. AMR1/05, however, weighs something like 920 kilograms (2,028 lbs).

For the well-heeled car collectors among us, AMR1/05 would be a Christmas present unlike any other. Unfortunately for them lot, the current owner decided to part ways with the old-school racing car in February, at the Silverstone Auctions Stoneleigh Park sale. If it’s the estimate you’re interested in, prepare £500,000 to £550,000 for the opportunity of getting your hands on this bad boy. Converted to U.S. dollars, that's roughly $685,000.

The AMR1 Group C sports prototype in animated by a 6.0-liter V8 that produces 723 horsepower and 563 lb-ft of torque thanks to a pair of Callaway-developed four-valve cylinder heads. Mated with a Hewland five-speed manual box and boasting F1-type front and rear suspension, this is a seriously fast machine with a thundering burble to die for. To better understand how breathtaking the AMR1 is compared to sports prototype racers of the modern era, just crank up the volume and press play.