1992 Toyota IMSA GTP Eagle MKIII

The Toyota Eagle made its racing debut in 1991 and would continue until 1993 with mild improvements and changes throughout the years. The cars were powered by a four-cylinder engine that displaced 1.4-liters. With the help of a Garret turbocharger, horsepower was rather impressive, ranking at 700 - 750 horsepower. During its racing career, the cars would rack up an impressive 21 wins.

The history of the All American Racers began with Goodyear's desire in the mid-1960s to outpace Firestone in the Indianapolis 500. Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby were tasked with building a car and an American team that could dominate racing on the international level. There have been several remarkable drivers throughout the years, but the last one to win behind the wheel of an American car was Jimmy Murphy in a Duesenberg at the 1921 French Grand Prix.

In 1966, the Southern California-based AAR team entered the Len Terry-designed Eagle Mark I (ironically, Terry and the Eagle MK Is engine were both British) in the Belgian Grand Prix. The Mark I was the first of many AARs to follow.

In the early 1980s, Gurney's team forged a relationship with Toyota to help them prepare and promote the Celica in the IMSA GT Championship. In 1987, the team won the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship. The following year, AAR moved into IMSA GTP racing. The Toyota Dome 88C chassis was approved by IMSA for competition in the GTP category, which allowed chassis designer Ron Hopkins and aerodynamics specialist Hiro Fujimori to work on a new car. The result of their collaboration was the Eagle HF89. The name was derived from Hopkins' and Fujimori's surnames and the year it made its debut. It was later to become known as the Eagle MK II.

The Eagle MK II was given an aluminum monocoque with a honeycomb center and wrapped in a carbon composite body. The 2,140cc GTO Celica-derived dual-overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine was turbocharged and mounted on a separate rear sub-frame. The engine was backed by a Hewland six-speed manual transmission. The suspension was a double-wishbone setup with outboard-mounted coil-springs over dampers.

Juan Manuel Fangio II was tasked with driving duties, but much of the season was plagued by engine reliability issues. During the off-season, several changes and modifications were made, including to the bodywork and improving engine cooling.

Fangio returned for the 1990 season where he earned the pole position spot at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. During the race, he held off Geoff Brabham's Nissan to take the first GTP win for Toyota. The rest of the season was rather successful, with victories at Sears Point, San Antonio, and Del Mar, finishing in 2nd place behind Brabham, overall.

Fangio won at Watkins Glen at the beginning of the 1991 season, before the new MK III racer was ready for him later in the season.

The Toyota Eagle GTP MKIII won 14 consecutive victories in IMSA between June of 1992 and October of 1993, including back-to-back victories at the Sebring 12 Hours and a victory at the 1993 Daytona 24 Hours. It won 21 of 27 races entered and earned dual Camel GT titles for drier Juan Fangio II and manufacturer Toyota in 1992 and 1993.

Representing the ultimate evolution of the Gurney/Toyota partnership, the MKIII was a finely tuned, highly sophisticated racer. Its aerodynamic shape had been designed by Fujimori and Dan Gurne, and many of the issues of the previous Toyota Eagle cars had been resolved, including the cooling issues via an air-intake in the nose, which doubled as a front wing, that fed air through large ducts to the side-mounted radiators. The air that flowed over the wing was sent into the wheel wheels where the effectiveness of the wing was amplified by the spinning wheels.

The Toyota supplied engine displaced just over 2.1 liters and had twin overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and a large turbocharger that helped in the production of over 750 horsepower. To cope with the power, the engine was backed by a March-sourced five-speed gearbox. Large ventilated disc brakes provided the stopping power. The chassis was an aluminum honeycomb monocoque with carbon-fiber composite and clothed with a body formed from Kevlar and carbon fiber. The lightweight construction resulted in an overall weight of 875 kg which satisfied the minimum weight required by racing regulations.

The MKIII made its racing debut at Laguna Seca in July of 1991 where Juan Manuel Fangio II was poised for victory until issues with a pit stop brought those dreams to an end. The team did not have to wait long, as a week later, the Toyota was driven to victory at Portland. For the final race of the season at Del Mar, Fangio was joined by a second MKIII driven by Rocky Moran. Moran failed to finish but Fangio claimed another victory.

For the 1992 season, Fangio drove the #99 car while P.J. Jones was given the #98 car. The MKII qualified on pole for the season opener at the Daytona 24 Hours but would finish fourth overall. At the Sebring 12 Hours, Fangio and co-driver Andy Wallace placed first overall. During the next eleven rounds of IMSA competition, the Toyota Eagle was virtually unchallenged as it claimed victory at each event.

Racing regulations for the following season were introduced to help level the playing field, adding higher minimum weight requirements, the use of steel brakes (replacing the previous carbon-ceramic discs), and updates to the restrictor. Even with these changes in place, the Toyota Eagle remained dominant, winning every race it contested, including Daytona and Sebring.

When new racing regulations were introduced for the 1994 season, they rendered the MKIII obsolete.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019