2000 Courage C52 Pilots: O. Grouillard, S. Bourdais, E. Clerico Team: Pescarolo Sport Race: 4th overall (LMP 900 class) at Le Mans in 2000 Altaya - PV32 (diecast)
Published 03/27/17
Frenchman Yves Courage started his racing career in the early 70s, in hillclimbing events. In addition to hillclimbing, in 1977 he raced for the first time in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (DNF, though). But at La Sarthe in 1981, piloting a Lola T298, he won the under 2 liter class in Group 6. As a result, he decided to found his own company and build prototype chassis. Courage CompĆ©tition’s first car, the Courage C01, debuted in 1982. Many new designs followed, using engines from Ford, Porsche and Nissan. And at the same time they sold their cars to privateer teams. For this reason, in 1994 Courage designed the C41. It counted on a carbon fiber and aluminum honeycomb monocoque chassis. In addition it had a rear shear plate designed to allow the use of different engines. Thus it would be an attractive alternative to privateer teams.
Development of the C41 continued throughout the 90s and in 2000 the final version came out, the C52. The C52 was basically the same C41 but with improved aerodynamics and powered by a Peugeot engine. The engine was the A32, a twin-turbo V6 expanded to 3200 cm3 that delivered 550 hp. In 2000 Henri Pescarolo had C52 #16 in the 24 Heures du Mans, managing a respectable 4th place finish. That, however, was the last race of the C52, substituted by the new C60 from 2000 onward.
In scale I guess the best way to describe the model is by saying it’s from Altaya š¤. Aerials and mirrors are really thick and all added-on parts don’t hide the fact that they are add-ons. However, the paint job is pretty nice and tires are marked. Nonetheless, it’s a crude model, no way to sugar coat that fact. Well, like all Altaya models, you get basic pw quality, so you just can’t expect much.