28.08.2019Schumacher's early days: The Sauber-Mercedes C9 from Norev

A modelcar, produced of diecast and exclusively brought to the trade in cooperation between ck-modelcars.de and Norev, leads us back to the early days of the career of Michael Schumacher and two of his colleagues: The limited to 777 units Sauber-Mercedes C9 in scale 1:18, where Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger have carried out test drives, on the initiative of the former team leader Jochen Neerpasch, in the French Le Castellet and in the Spanish Jerez. The first three of the then German Formula 3 Championship got along with the 530 kW / 720 hp car immediately and showed that they were suitable for performance and speeds of the Formula 1. Calmly, however, we look at the modelcars, which are led under the item number 183443.

They reproduce the car in look that matches the role model, which stands for the return into sport summit of Mercedes-Benz. The Sauber C9 - later Sauber-Mercedes C9 and named Mercedes-Benz C9 in 1990 - is a constructed racing car after the rules of the groupe C with aluminum-monocoque, which was used in the sports car world cup WSC and at the 24-Hours-Race in Le Mans from 1987 until April 1990. In the qualification for the 24-Hours-Race of Le Mans, the C9 reached a speed of 389 kilometers per hour on the Mulsanne; the second highest speed ever achieved on this straight. The race was won by Manuel Reuter, Jochen Maas and Stanley Dickens in 1989 after a raced distance of 5265,115 kilometers. Further C9 achieved the second and fith place at this race.

The 1989 used engine with the internal model series designation M119 was a V8 with four valve technology and two camshafts per cylinder bank. Its maximum torque of 810 Nm could be increased to 825 Nm, by which the power in the qualification was increased short term up to 590 kW / 800 hp. At this unique modelcar of a role model, which wrote motor sports histroy, unfortunately we can not see anything from the engine. But the diecast-miniatures convince with crafted by a fantastic workmanship and prototypical details in the form of correctly applied engraving, the faithfully designed suspension components, the carefully reconstructed rear wing and the perfect replica of the wheels, whose models have been virtually the stirrup holders for the seven-time world champion in Formula 1.

Here: Click to the Sauber-Mercedes C9 in 1:18