This race-derived version of the Toyota MR2 is so unique that nobody has heard of it.
Many car companies like Toyota wanted to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as it’s one of the most prestige and grueling races ever. During the 90s GT1 class, a rule stated that you cannot compete in the category without a homologated, street-legal version of the race car. SARD (Sigma Advanced Research Development) spearheaded the production of the MC8, a souped-up version of the legendary Toyota MR2. The MC8 was the road-going version of the MC8-R race car driven in the GT1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
SARD was Toyota’s works team that has an extensive record of building championship-winning race cars like the DENSO SARD Supra HV-R. Many will agree there’s no one more qualified to build the MC8 Road Car than SARD. You should know that you only needed to make a single homologated car to compete in the GT1 class. That means can never find this one-off unique JDM car anywhere else unless you visit its current owner in Japan.
Toyota’s SARD Built The MC8-R For The 24 Hrs Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is an intense endurance race around the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. As the name suggests, teams and drivers have to keep driving for 24 hours straight while only having three drivers to swap throughout the entire race. Before a team can enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there were a set of rules they needed to follow, one of which is to build a homologated car. Instead of using the powerful, championship-winning Supra for the Le Mans race, Toyota wanted to use a different car this time and ended up choosing the Toyota MR2.
Many will think that the MR2 isn’t a worthy contender for the 24-hour endurance because it’s not an extremely powerful car, to begin with. That’s why Toyota worked with SARD to create a new version of the Toyota MR2 to meet homologation requirements. SARD named the road-going version the MC8, while the race car version got the name MC8-R.
Unfortunately, the MC8-R never got to shine in the GT1 class because of the heavy competition. The car raced against other powerful cars like the McLaren F1, 911 GT1, and Viper GTS-R. Plus, the MC8-R had its fair share of reliability issues. Even the engine caught fire at one point during a race. You can say that MC8-R had a bad track record because it retired at the 14th lap in the 1995 Le Mans race. The 1996 Le Mans race finally became the MC8-R’s last and humiliating race, finishing second to the last overall.
This Lengthened Toyota MR2 Uses A 600 Horsepower V8 Engine
While the MC8-R may not have given Toyota a championship, its road car counterpart certainly captured the attention of many because of its interesting supercar look. The only discernable part of the MC8 that gives it away are the taillights. SARD modified everything else on the car that keeps up with the appearance and performance of other homologated cars in the GT1 class.
One interesting feature of the MC8 is the 4.0-liter Toyota 1UZ-FE V8 engine from a Lexus LS 400 (XF10). Many will agree the NA 2.2L 5S-FE engine from the original Toyota MR2 won’t even come close to other Le Mans race cars.
So SARD definitely made a good move to install a more powerful engine on the MC8-R and MC8 road car. The only disadvantage of the MC8 road car was that SARD had to detune the engine down between 300–350 horsepower for road legal purposes. On the other hand, the MC8-R managed to achieve 600 horsepower thanks to its twin-turbo setup.
Apart from the V8 engine, SARD also lengthened the wheelbase to keep the car stable at high speeds, on uneven surfaces, and on low-grip roads. To top it off, SARD replaced the pop-up headlights with enclosed headlights and added a larger rear spoiler. At one point, pictures surfaced online which showed the MC8 with fog lamps until 2018, when it reappeared after many years with a different front bumper without the fog lamps.
The SARD MC8 Is As Rare As The Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 LM Road Car
Race teams in the GT1 class only needed to build a few homologated cars since regulations only required them to make one road legal car. That’s why not a lot of people have heard about these types of cars, and this includes the Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 LM Road Car. However, SARD actually made a second MC8 with several noticeable improvements to its outer appearance.
The first 1995 MC8 looked more like a sports car and had a black-and-white paint scheme, similar to a Honda NSX-R. Later on, SARD built a second MC8 in 1997, kept the same internals, and modified 90% of the body, making it look more like a prototype supercar. Some changes you’ll notice on the second MC8 include the large front fender grilles, an aggressive front bumper, and wider, boxier fenders. They also removed the large rear wing, painted the entire car black, and added a hood scoop similar to a Ford GT40. Sadly, several people have spotted this black MC8 in a car graveyard with all of its wheels and half of the rear side removed.
After several years of disappearing from the face of the earth, an Instagram user by the handle of mc8_channel currently possesses the 1995 white MC8. As seen from their Instagram posts, the owner currently resides in Western Japan and drives the MC8 around in different notable spots like the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
