1997 Sard MC8-R

The Sard MC8-R was a modified and lengthened version of the Toyota MR2 (SW20) built for GT racing by Toyota's SARD (Sigma Advanced Research Development) works team. SARD heavily modified the front half of the MR2s chassis and completely replaced the rear with a custom setup in order to fit a twin-turbo version of the 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE V8 producing 600 bhp (447 kW). This is the first car which only used the frontal chassis of production and was effectively a purpose-built semi-sports-prototype that successfully got GT1 homologation. The MC8-R lacked pace and was very unreliable which made it often finish at the bottom of the race. Competitors such as the McLaren F1 GTR and Ferrari F40 LM outperformed it along with the GT1 Toyota Supra that was also constructed under Toyota Team SARD.