One of the attractions for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, in celebration of the event’s centenary, is a public auction, organised by RM Sothebys, of some very significant cars from the storied history of Le Mans, the auction itself will take place on the track on Friday 9 June.
The auction is billed as ” the most significant sale of sports competition cars ever offered” and will feature 24 sports racing cars all of which will boast significant race history at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The cars will be on display in the ‘Village’ with viewing open to the public.
Here’s another of the cars set to feature:
Chrysler Viper GTS-R C3
Developed in late-1988 at Chrysler’s Advanced Design Studios, the Dodge Viper was first revealed to the public in concept form at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in 1989.
Chrysler approved a racing programme in 1995. Based heavily on its road-going counterpart, the Chrysler Viper GTS-R was created by a select team of Chrysler factory engineers, working alongside expert Anglo-American suppliers including Caldwell Development, J&P Motorsport, Reynard Motorsport, Riley & Scott, and Roush Industries.
The first seven cars were constructed at Chrysler’s facility in Detroit, while the chassis numbered C8, C9 and C10 were delivered as rolling shells for completion at Oreca in France.
From 1998, cars were assembled and race prepared entirely at Oreca; Reynard fabricated each chassis in the UK and Chrysler shipped the remaining components from America. In total, 57 examples were built between 1996 and 2005. Four GTS-R cars were entered for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996, with three finishing the race,the highest placed 10th overall. Viper GTS-Rs would go on to take three category victories at Le Mans, with further overall wins at the Daytona, Nürburgring and Spa 24 Hours.
This Chrysler Viper GTS-R, chassis GTSR C3, was built at Chrysler’s Featherstone Road Engineering Center, and is understood to incorporate several mechanical upgrades developed for the 1997 cars. Chassis GTSR C3 made its racing debut at the 1997 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona with Viper Team Oreca. Finished in a white and blue livery and wearing #94, it was driven to 15th place overall by the driver roster of Olivier Beretta, Tommy Archer and Dominique Dupuy.
Its next appearance was at the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans with Viper Team Oreca; here it was raced in the GT2 class as #63, with driving duties shared between Justin Bell, John Morton, and Pierre Yver. Qualifying in 38th place, the team battled to 14th overall as the only Works entry to finish the race.
Prior to the start of the 1998 season, the car was sold by the Works team. That same year, it would be campaigned in the British GT Championship by privateer outfit Orion Motorsport, driven by Kurt Luby, Richard Dean, Julian Westwood, and Michael Vergers. The duo of Luby and Dean would take the GT2 class championship that season, beginning in chassis GTSR C3 and finishing in the C6 sister car.
The following year, this Viper GTS-R was successfully raced by Chamberlain Motorsport in the Spanish GT Championship, winning the first event, before arriving in the United States in the early-2000s, where it contested races at the 200 Miles of Phoenix on 21 April 2001 and the 250 Miles of Mid-Ohio on 10 June.
Later returning to Europe, the Viper made appearances at the Britcar 24 Hour at Silverstone in 2008, the 2013 Le Mans Classic, and was more recently campaigned in Peter Auto historic events by Pierre Alain France and Erwin France.
Now returned to its 1997 Works Viper Team Oreca livery, in February 2023 the car appeared as part of the Le Mans Centenary display at Rétromobile in Paris.
- Daytona Test – 12 January 1997 – #97 Société Viper Team Oréca – Dupuy/Beretta/Hanneman – First in class
- 24 Hours of Daytona – 1/2 February 1997 – #94 Société Viper Team Oréca – Beretta/Archer/Dupuy – 15th overall, 3rd in class
- Le Mans Prequalifying – 4 May 1997 – #63 Société Viper Team Oréca – Beretta/Dupuy/Bell – 4th fastest in class
- 24 Hours of Le Mans – 14/15 June 1997 – #63 Société Viper Team Oréca – Bell/Morton/Yver – 14th overall, 5th in class
- 4 Hours of Nürburgring – 29 June 1997 – #52 Société Viper Team Oréca – Bell/Duez – 18th overall, 2nd in class
- British GT Silverstone – 5 April 1998 – #51 Orion Motorsport – Luby/Dean – 6th overall, 2nd in class
- British GT Oulton Park – 4 May 1998 – #51 Oftedahl Motorsport – Luby/Dean – 6th overall, Class Winner
- Spanish GT Vila do Conde (Race 1) – 11 July 1999 – #10 Team Chrysler Viper – “Pérez-Sala/Amorim” Race Winner
- Spanish GT Vila do Conde (Race 2) – 11 July 1999 – #10 Team Chrysler Viper – “Pérez-Sala/Amorim” – Race Winner
- Spanish GT Jarama (Race 1) – 26 September 1999 – #10 Team Chrysler Viper – “Pérez-Sala/Amorim” – DSQ
- Spanish GT Jarama (Race 2) – 26 September 1999 – #10 Team Chrysler Viper – “Pérez-Sala/Amorim” – DSQ
- 200 Miles of Phoenix – 21 April 2001 – #56 Muzzy Racing – Marziale/Messley – 12th overall, Class Winner
- 250 Miles of Mid-Ohio – 10 June 2001 – #56 Muzzy Racing – Altenburg/Marziale – 32nd overall, 4th in class
- Britcar Snetterton – 17 August 2008 – #63 KTF Motorsport – Finneran/Stevens – 11th overall, Class Winner
- Britcar 24 Hours of Silverstone – 20/21 September 2008 – #5 KTF Group Ltd – Finneran/Stevens/Dwyer – 28th overall, 5th in class
Pics courtesy of RM Sothebys
Copyright LM period pics Girado Archive
Copyright 1998 British GT pic Racingsportscars/ David Smith
Contemporary pics Copyright Alex Penfold & Simon Clay
Car History compiled – Shawn Romig
