1989 Toyota Eagle GTP Mk II

The All American Racers teams returned to building their own single-seater chassis for CART IndyCar competition in 1996 using new Toyota engines. The new chassis, along with new and untested equipment, was not a success and the team never won a race. On occasions, they placed in the top-ten position.

The team's relationship with Toyota stretched father back to the early 1980s when they were contracted by Toyota to enter the IMSA GT Championship using highly-modified Toyota Celicas. Within a few years, the team moved to the GTP category with a modified Toyota 88C Group C car and the Eagle HF89 purpose-built for IMSA competition. The team's greatest success in GTP competition was with the Eagle MKIII which won 21 of the 27 races in which it was entered.

The GTP (Grand Touring Prototypes) IMSA class was for full prototypes and was similar to the FIA Group C cars which had been introduced to the World Endurance Championship in 1982. The primary difference between the two categories was the lack of fuel consumption restraints on GTP. The Porsche 962 dominated the series from 1985 to 1987, with Nissan taking the crown in 1988 before facing pressure from Porsche, Toyota and Jaguar over the following three years. Toyota's all-encompassing control of the series in 1992 and 1993 has been blamed for the demise of the class.

The All American Racers had claimed the driver's and constructors' championships in the GTO division in 1987 with the Toyota Celica and Chris Cord, followed by a third place in the division the following year. The AAR team moved to the IMSA GTP division for 1989 using two cars, one of which was the TOM's Toyota 88C car powered by a turbocharged, 2.1-liter inline-4 cylinder engine. The 88C was the successor to the Toyota 87C and the predecessor to the Toyota 88C-V. The 88C sports prototype competed in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, the World Sports-Prototype Championship, and the North American Camel GT Championship. The 88C was designed and built by Dome while the Eagle HF89 and its evolution, the Eagle HF90 were built and entered by Dan Gurney's All American Racers team, for the IMSA GT Championship. Both the 88C and the HF89 were powered by the same turbocharged inline-4 offering approximately 600 horsepower.

The HF89 made its debut at the 1989 IMSA Miami GTP race while the 88C-based car made its debut at the 1989 Daytona 24 Hours race. Both cars would not finish their respective races and retired early. For much of the season, the team concentrated its efforts on the 88C, and its best result was a second at San Antonio driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II. The best finish of the HF89 was a fourth at Del Mar. For the following season, the team's efforts were concentrated on the HF90 and the latter Mk.III.

Engineer Ron Hopkins and aerodynamicist Hiro Fujimori had been tasked by AAR to design the GTP entry. It was given the name HF89 using the initials of Hopkins and Fujimori along with the year of its competition entry. It was also known as the GTP MK II as it was Toyota and AAR's second GTP design.

The sleek and aerodynamic design made use of ground-effect technology and was built around a lightweight aluminum monocoque, with a honeycomb core for added rigidity. The rear-mounted engine and gearbox were housed in a separate rear subframe. The suspension was comprised of double wishbones with unique positioning of the springs and dampers to accommodate the ground-effects tunnels. An evolution of the engine used in the Celica GTO powered AAR's new prototype. It displaced 2,140cc and featured four valves per cylinder, twin overhead camshafts, and backed by a Hewland five-speed gearbox.

The HF90 that followed for the 1990 season was given additional cooling and revised bodywork. By the early part of the season, many of the reliability issues with the previous HF89 had been resolved, and the team's efforts were rewarded at Heartland Topeka (round 4) when Fangio drove the HF90 (MKII) to its inaugural victory. Fangio scored three more victories before the season concluded, earning Toyota a podium finish (3rd) in the manufacturer's standings.

AAR and Toyota raced the MKII into the 1991 season before switching to the GTP MK III late in the season.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2022