Toyota 87C

The Toyota 87C, also known as the TOM'S 87C, was a Group C prototype sports car that Toyota designed, developed and built for the World Sportscar Championship in 1987 and 1988. It was built with the technicians at Dome and run by the TOM'S team, after Toyota decided in the winter of 1986 to 1987 to step up its commitment to sports car racing. The main innovation was a new 2.1 litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that delivered 620 horsepower and replaced the earlier production-based 4T GT unit. Masahiro Ohkuni developed three aluminium chassis with Dome, but the car lacked downforce and was too slow at Le Mans, where both cars retired in 1987. In Japan it did better, with Alan Jones, Geoff Lees and Masanori Sekiya winning at Fuji and Lees, Sekiya and Hitoshi Ogawa winning the Suzuka 1000 km. A chassis sold to a private team at the end of the year became the 88C.