The Sauber C7 was a

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with '' Group A'' for touring cars and '' Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top t ...

prototype

race car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

built by Swiss manufacturer

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it ...

for competition in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

. Meant to replace Sauber's previous effort, the SHS C6, the C7 would continue Sauber's initial failed development of the BMW ''M88'' 3.5L I6 engine in the SHS C6. Debuting at the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans, the fourth round of the

, the Sauber C7 finished an impressive 9th, behind eight

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car ...

s. The C7 would appear again at Fuji, where it would finish 10th overall. However, development of the C7, of which only one chassis existed, came to a halt after the brief 1983 season. Sauber would begin a brief hiatus from sports car racing, forcing the team to sell their lone C7 chassis to El Salvador outfit Fomfor Racing, who took the car to the United States to participate in the 1984

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dir ...

Camel GT championship. The team retained the economical BMW M88 motor for the first five races of the season, with a best result of 7th at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

before the team dropped out of the championship. They would make one final appearance at the series finale at Daytona, except now using a Chevrolet 6.0L V8 in place of the BMW motor, where the team would finish 11th overall. Fomfor Racing attempted to continue into 1985, appearing for only two races, in Miami for IMSA where they did not finish and

Mosport Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi- track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a a ...

for the

7th overall. However, the team would fold soon after, thus bringing the C7's career to a quick end after only just over a full season of use. Sauber would return to sportscar development after a year off with their partnership with

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarter ...

and the

Sauber C8 The Sauber C8 was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1985 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the first in a partnership between Sauber and Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes decided not to put forth the money for a full effort on their own until they h ...

, which carried over a large number of design traits from the C7.

References

Group C cars 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars {{Motorsport-stub Sauber Motorsport