Description:

NOW AVAILABLE OPTIONAL BUICK V6  RACE ENGINE ! DOCUMENTED HISTORY FOR THE WORKS SPICE ENTRY IN IMSA. Spice Engineering SE88P-002. Spice Engineering USA raced two cars for the 1987 and 1988 IMSA Season. This Spice is one of those two. Late in 1986 American Don Bell purchased a Spice GTP Light from Spice Engineering. Campaigned for the 1987 and 1988 seasons in IMSA, this Spice was first raced at the 1987 24 Hours of Daytona by owner, Don Bell, Bob Earl and Jeff Kline as the works Spice entry #01, where it won the Camel Light Class and finished eleventh overall. 

Throughout the 1997 IMSA season this Spice was campaigned for all sixteen races, winning six times, Daytona, Road Atlanta, Riverside, Laguna Seca, Mid Ohio and  San Antonio.  Don Bell and Jeff Kline raced this Spice to two wins in 1988 at Mid Ohio and Portland. At the end of the 1988 season #01 was sold to Racecraft Engineering and continued to be campaigned by former owner, Don Bell and others.

Racecraft ran the car as #01 through the 1989 and 1990 IMSA seasons before selling the car to HDF (Hugh Fuller) .Fullers team raced the  Spice as #54 most of 1991 , during which time the original Pontiac four "Iron Duke" engine was replaced and raced with the Buick V6 power plant.

All toll, Spice SE88P 002 GTPL raced in 55 IMSA GTP/GTP Light races, winning eight, taking ten pole positions, twenty eight top five in Camel Light, ten top tens overall and one top five overall in IMSA

Note: This Spice is shown on the internet as chassis #SE86L PSGTP 003 when it was sold Don Bell in 1986. The internet records show the car listed at SE87P 001 GTPL in 1987 and in 1988 the same car is shown as SE88P 001.  We have the record of ownership from Don Bell through Racecraft Engineering and through Hugh Fuller, noting it being the same car.

It is our belief that during the ownership transfer from Don Bell to Racecraft, during that time that repairs and updates were made to the car, the original SE86L PSGTP 001 chassis plate was replaced with the chassis plate showing SE88P 002 GTPL (not the SE88P 001, as shown on the internet) . This was done to allow for the car to race a few more years in IMSA, which it did.

   The Spice was transfered to Miamian, Mario Alberti and he sold it in 1995. For twenty years the Spice was lost to South America. Don Giovanni Vitalli of Bogata, Columbia, owner of Don Giovanni Pasta owned and raced the car in South America, winning  several six hour endurances races. It was while in Columbia, the Chevrolet V8 replaced the Buick V6 engines in the Spice. 

Re-imported into the U. S. in the spring of 2015. The 6.2 liter Chevrolet competition engine was dissassembled, checked out, new standard bearings and gaskets install and re-assembled. The engine was as advertised coming out of Columbia, totally fresh. As is the Hewland FG, with C gearing. AP brakes, it's original Gotti Wheels (3 sets). A spare nose, tail and a spare rear wing, along with an assortment of gear sets and wind shields are also included with the sale of the car. The Spice was recently tested with excellent results.   THE LAST TWO PHOTOGRAPHS ARE OF THE SPICE WHEN NEW IN 1987 aWITH DON BELL AND UNDER THE CARE OF SPICE ENGINEERING AND (in silver) WITH RACE CRAFT ENGINEERING IN 1989. AN INTERESTING PARTIAL TRADE WOULD BE WELCOME.