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- Racing Car Diecast Museum
- 1F Le Mans 24 Hours
- 1989 Sauber C9 - Mercedes #63 (LM24)
1989 Sauber C9 - Mercedes #63 (LM24)
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Mercedes-Benz Collector Set (2021)
Series: 1989 Le Mans 24 Hours
Class: C1
Team: Team Sauber Mercedes
Drivers: Stanley Dickens, Jochen Mass, Manuel Reuter
Result: 1st overall, 1st in C1
This is the first release of the Sauber C9 casting by Hot Wheels. It is based on the #63 entry from the 1989 Le Mans 24 Hours. For 1989, the Sauber Mercedes team made some changes to the car. The most notable change would be the livery. They replaced the AEG livery with a plain silver paint scheme, not too different from their cars from the past. I believe they also made some updates to the engine of the car. I am not too sure if they changed other things but whatever they did, it certainly worked as I have mentioned before, the car not only won Le Mans, it also won all but one race in the world championship. In Le Mans, the C9 actually achieved one of the highest recorded top speed in the history of the race. It is part of the reason why the chicanes were added to the Hunaudieres Straight in 1990 onwards. Funnily enough, the Sauber Mercedes cars actually didn't lead the race for most of the time. If I remember correctly, it was mostly the Joest Porsches and the Jaguars that fought for the lead while the Sauber Mercedes cars were running steadily most of the time. This turned out to be a great strategy as most of their rivals would encounter issues which eventually allowed them to win the race several laps ahead of the 3rd place Joest Porsche.
