Description:

To be sold by Silverstone Auctions at the ‘Silverstone Classic' on the 27th July 2017 in The Wing building, Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN. For further details please contact Harry Whale on 01926 691 141.

Year of Manufacture: 1991

Estimate (£): 140,000 - 180,000

(+buyer’s premium of 15% including VAT @ 20%)

In 1991 the British Touring Car Championship regulations changed from multi- class, 'Group A' regs to the new 2-litre formula in the hope of building up the grids and providing closer racing. It was very successful, attracting many more manufacturers and providing the competitors and viewers with some of the closest racing the series had seen in many years.

In order to comply many of the BMW teams altered their existing Group A cars with ballast and a reduction in engine capacity to two litre. This was not the case for Vic Lee Motorsport as they completely re-engineered the most successful touring car of the Group A period to fully take advantage of the new 2-litre formula regulations. The Vic Lee built BMW E30 M3s boasted a range of modifications that, in today's parlance, involved 'thinking outside of the box'.  For example: the fuel tank was relocated to optimise the car's centre of gravity, a flat floor section was used as was a side exit exhaust. Although utilising BMW Motorsport's latest rear suspension components, front uprights and in-car adjustable anti-roll bars, the VLM cars also benefited from a host of geometric alterations (thanks to engineer David Potter) and also utilised a Hollinger 6-speed dog engagement gearbox, all adding up to produce the most competitive BMW and the 'car of the season' with Tim Harvey’s teammate, the legendary Will Hoy winning the 1991 championship.

We are excited to offer this ex-Tim Harvey, Labatt’s sponsored, 1991 BMW E30 M3 - one of the five built by Vic Lee Motorsport for the '91 British Touring Car Championship. Tim took this car to one outright win in the series finale at Silverstone, and two podiums, en route to claiming 8th place in the championship by season end.

We’re informed that this wonderful piece of 90's Touring Car history has retained its original livery throughout its existence and has been part of private collections since 1992. More recently it has been persuaded from retirement, race prepared, and has been doing battle in the HSCC Super Touring Car Challenge running alongside other BMW M3s whilst mixing it with later generation machinery. This iconic E30 M3 offers a gateway into numerous historic championships and as demand rapidly increases for genuine examples of these dynamic machines, finding a competitive car with this level of provenance will become increasingly difficult. Genuine period Group 'A' BMW M3's are now becoming recognised as an excellent investment, particularly as the FIA has now recognised the period and created a class in which the M3 is fiercely competitive.