Lot 218: 1999 Marcos LM600 GT2 Competition

If you are ever lucky enough to meet Frank Costin you will have questions to ask of him because he is one of the most significant figures in the history of motor racing. He is the COS of Marcos, as his young brother, Mike, is the COS of Cosworth. One of those questions is, inevitably, why was the Marcos GT so ugly? Frank will chuckle and he will throw the question back at you. He will say, 'When I did the Vanwall everyone said it was ugly, but when it started to win everyone said how beautiful it was. It's amazing how perceptions change.' So beauty is in the eye of the beholder? 'Of course not, it all depends who's looking.' He is right. He has a habit of being right because he is guided by logic. 'I didn't want to make the Marcos from plywood,' he says, 'I fought against it but I kept returning to the same solution and finally I had to go with it. The answer was wood, which I like to call God's plastic. 'I devised what I think is the first true monocoque for a car - you've got to remember the roof is part of it - and I'll never forget Colin Chapman coming up to me at the Racing Car Show and demanding to know what I'd done. With other people at Lotus, for years I had been telling him to build a mid-engined monocoque car, but would he listen? I remember sitting down on the Marcos stand and explaining my thinking to him, and he took my drawing with him. The next thing I knew he'd come up with the Lotus 25!' The Marcos, the Wooden Wonder, worked and one played a major part in Jackie Stewart's early career. In fact the plywood monocoque was so good it stayed in production long after it was economically viable. Early Marcos' were bought for their ability, not their looks, and they were superb racing cars because they were light, rigid and strong.This monster was built over the winter of 1998 by Graham Nash Motorsport at a cost of over 125,000. It was built onto the last of the 4 chassis' developed for the 1995 Le Mans and benefited from the previous years experience of the LM600's and even gained a few upgrades including aerodynamic improvements, suspension, brakes and most importantly, an XTRAC 6 speed sequential gearbox. (25k new!) It then had a lot of race wins and success in the hands of Tommy Eurdos (Brazilian GT Master) and Andy Purvis in the British GT Championship during 1999/00/01. The car then became outclassed by more modern equipment. The GT2 class was then dropped by the British GT champs in 2003, but now, with the upsurge of interest in the Britcar Championship, it has a British Championship it can enter. (Subject to championship regs). The car was completely rebuilt at the end of 2004 for the last round of the Spanish GT championship, includeding engine, gearbox, wheel bearings, and drive shafts etc. This Marcos has only been driven for 2 hours after this work mainly due to a black flag for entering and leaving the pit lane to fast after minor repairs. It is therefore ready for a full seasons racing. This is a well known and loved behemoth; the noise from that engine can allegedly be recognised from miles away. In the right hands it could again be a winner on British tracks.SPARES PACKAGE10 wheels in total.Boxes of spare ratios.Body panels including nose (spares are also available from moulds).2 sets of stands.Set up sheets.