1979 TOJ SC206 #32
Pilots: A. Cudini, H. Striebig, H. Kirschoffer
Team: BP Racing / Hubert Striebig
Race: DNF (S 2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1979
Spark - S4770 (resin)
Published 10/25/24
Up until the early 1970’s, Jörg Obermoser made a lot of money in the electrical industrial business. Moreover, he also was a saloon car pilot. With a lot of funds and a huge motorsport interest, he decided to build his own car. So, around 1972 he founded TOJ (Team Obermoser Jörg), with ex-GRD Swiss designer Jo Marquart. At first, TOJ cars were always a 2-liter-BMW-powered sports prototype, however later on they branched into F2 and F3. The first TOJ was the SC02 (“SC” for sports car) of 1974, a Group 6 car with a chassis by Marquart. TOJ mostly used BMW’s M12/7, yet some time later they also used Cosworth’s 3-liter DFV engine. And all their models were open-top spyders, with a fiberglass body. The design of their cars was constantly evolving and in 1977 they released the SC205. Shortly after, in 1978, TOJ debuted the SC206.
The SC206 was very similar to the SC205, though lower and narrower, with a smoother fiberglass body. With that, the car gained better aerodynamics. TOJ raced it as a works car, yet a few complete cars were sold to customers. Like its predecessors, the SC206 was a spyder, with an aluminum monocoque chassis, designed by former Porsche engineer Kurt Chabek. Powering the small car was BMW’s M12/7, an inline-4 displacing 1998 cm³ DOHC and 16 valves. With Bosch Kugelfischer Fuel Injection the engine delivered 216 kW (290 hp) through a Hewland FGA 5-speed manual transmission. The car was lightweight, weighing only 600 kg, and stopping duty was in the hands of Girling disk brakes. Interestingly, on the rear the brakes were inboard. All in all, in 1978 TOJ built a total of five cars.
One of TOJ’s customers was Hubert Striebeg, who bought a SC206 in 1979 and took it to La Sarthe. Unfortunately, a bad fuel pump eliminated his SC206 #32 on lap 121. He did try again in 1980, this time with a TOJ SM01, though unfortunately fared even worse. At Le Mans, TOJ cars only competed in 1979 and 1980. TOJ, as a manufacturer, persisted until 1982, with the SC390 being their last car. And shortly after releasing the SC390, TOJ closed shop. With that, you can easily say TOJ is an “obscure Le Mans character”. Or in other words, a perfect subject for the W-143 Garage 😁.
In scale, this TOJ SC206 looks fantastic, well, in a “generic-1970s-way”. Nonetheless, as usual, Spark did a great job in the model. Details in general are very nice and the paint job is beautiful. However, the cockpit is a bit plain – I always feel a bit underwhelmed by Spark’s cockpits in spyders. Spark’s cockpits are not bad, but they are not absurdly detailed like the exterior of their models. Even so, this is a fantastic oddball for those who like different and obscure stuff.