1978 Mirage M9 #10
Pilots: V. Schuppan, J. Laffite, S. Posey
Team: Grand Touring Cars Inc.
Race: 10th overall (S +2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1978
Spark - S0311 (resin)
Published 08/10/24
After working for Aston Martin, John Wyer joined the Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) project in 1963. However, with the Ford GT having constant reliability issues, Ford handed FAV to Holman Moody and Carroll Shelby in 1965. In 1967, after two Le Mans wins, Ford closed FAV. With that, John Wyer and John Willment formed J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd (JWAE), with Gulf Oil sponsorship. That same year, JWAE developed the Mirage M1 for Le Mans, in essence a “lightweight GT40”. At test sessions the M1 did better than Ford’s GT40 Mk. IV, however both cars broke down in the race. In 1968 JWA took over Ford’s Slough factory and continued to build production GT40. Their efforts produced two more Le Mans wins, in 1968 and 1969. After 1967, the Mirage project was put on the back burner. They did, however, slowly evolve the car, from the M1 up to the M6.
Two Mirage M6 raced at La Sarthe in 1973, yet both cars DNF. The next evolution of the car came in 1974, now called Gulf GR7. In the following year, JWAE developed the Gulf Mirage GR8, that won Le Mans that year. In late 1975, Gulf terminated its participation in international motorsports. Right after that, American entrepreneur and former racing driver Harley Cluxton III purchased the Mirage team and associated manufacturing rights. He created a racing team, Grand Touring Cars Inc, and kept racing at Le Mans with two cars. With new sponsors and counsel of John Wyer, for 1978 they introduced the Mirage M9. Compared to the GR8 (“Mirage M8”), the M9 was also a spyder yet with a new long-tail body. And powering the new car was a Renault-Gordini 1996 cm³ turbo-charged V6. With a 6-speed manual transmission, the M9 was capable of 447 kW (600 hp).
Grand Touring Cars arrived at La Sarthe in 1978 with two cars. Mirage M9 #10 (#chassis #802) and M9 #11 (#801). Unhappily, car #11 abandoned with electrical problems and #10 only managed a 10th place. Both cars would race again in 1979, yet both DNF, and then Harley Cluxton pulled the plug. The Mirage cars have a rich history, from starting almost as a side project to Le Mans victory. And all that history caught my eye. Therefore, even though this M9 didn’t achieve much, I find it very interesting.
In model form it’s a duesy, with Spark nailing the looks and details. Besides, even though it has tobacco advertising, Spark does it right. I’m used to them sending the decals under the model, so that the owner can apply later. This time though, the tobacco livery was there yet incomplete – Gitanes was missing the “E”. Therefore, Spark sent the missing Es as decals – easy to apply and no risk of crooked or misplaced decal. Hard to not be a Spark fanboy with this level of commitment to historical accuracy…🤩 And as far as I am aware, only Spark makes it in 1:43, releasing it in late 2023. For those who like obscure Le Mans cars with interesting histories, the M9 checks all the boxes. And looks dang nice too.