„Hundred years of the 24h of Le Mans“ in constant change

Porsche, Ferrari, Ford – in the exciting history of the 24h Le Mans race, renowned automobile brands competed and continue to compete against each other. At the "Grand Prix d’Endurance", careers began or ended. Here, destinies were taken in hand, promising start-ups were destroyed and little-known racing teams became world-famous overnight. In this superbowl of motorsport, the Kraichgau-based racing car constructor Gebhardt was also involved from 1982 onwards in the then newly founded Group C with his own designs. After the successful period, the racing cars were sold to customer teams. In 2019, Fritz Gebhardt set about collecting and restoring his Group C cars, which were scattered all over the world. He personally brought three of them to the museum with his team. "The fact that a racing team from the region also competed in the Le Mans 24h race is a super thing. I’m delighted that Gebhardt Motorsport has loaned us three historically valuable cars for our special exhibition," says museum president Hermann Layher.

The following vehicles are now on display in the special exhibition:

Gebhardt JC 843-Ford, built in 1984:
The Gebhardt JC 843 Ford is a further development of the Gebhardt JC sports car series, which was built in Sinsheim from 1983. The car was used in the Sports Car World Championship, the Interseries, the German Racing Championship and in the American IMSA series. Many international successes were achieved with the Gebhardt JC 843, including the group victory at Le Mans in 1986. The Ford Cosworth engine has a capacity of 3.3 litres and produces 500 hp. The first race after the restoration was last year at the KW Group C Supercup of the Bosch Hockenheim Historic.

Gebhardt JC 853-Ford, built in 1984:
This car is also a further development of the Gebhardt JC sports car series with a Ford Cosworth engine with 3.3 litres capacity and over 500 hp. Many international successes were achieved with it, notably the victory in Monza in 1986. This design also competed at Le Mans.

Gebhardt C88, built in 1987, chassis 872/1:
The Gebhardt C88 is equipped with a 2.1 litre five-cylinder Audi turbo engine, which produces just under 500 hp, depending on the boost pressure. It only has a two-valve system and has a rather unfavourable weight distribution: intake tract and exhaust system including turbocharger are installed on one side – an atypical racing engine. Similar to other models for these years of construction, the KKK turbocharger still has a rather large "turbo lag" when accelerating. Its inventor, Fritz Gebhardt, saved the car from an auction and brought it back to his "birth workshop", where he had it completely overhauled. In 2019, the car with the MOMO livery competed again in historic racing for the first time. At the Gulf Historic Dubai GP Revival, the Gebhardt C88 was driven by three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner. (3,600 characters)