AAR TOYOTA EAGLE Mk III GTP
In a modern motorsports world of media reporters persistently touting the “never-to-be-matched-again” exploits of “the great racecars” and “the famed racing drivers” – one competition car and its small team of designers, builders, mechanics and drivers – is rarely mentioned. Yet standing quietly amid the clamor of legendary Formula 1 champions and illustrious Indy legends is a racecar and a team that dominated the highest level of USA road racing for three consecutive years during a period of peak technology and dynamic innovation. Indelibly etched into the auto racing record of believe-it-or-nots, this car reigned supreme – and then disappeared. Yet it still holds records that stand to this day. Its name: the AAR Toyota Eagle Mark III GTP.
Otherwise known as “The Gurney Toyota Eagle GTP,” it was a car expressly developed to contest the USA IMSA GTP Championship – which in its day was arguably the pinnacle of world motor racing for closed-cockpit long distance racecars. GTP – Grand Touring Prototype – followed the core concept of international Formula 1. The cars were designed and built to a “formula” – in this case a “prototype” formula consisting of guidelines such as dimensions, weight, engine capacity and other key criteria. But the recipes to success or failure within the Prototype parameters varied widely.
GTP Prototypes were born of the collaborative creative minds of hallmark designers, aerodynamicists, fabricators and engine builders of each team in a “sky is the limit” pursuit within defined parameters. And due to the heightened levels of the required disciplines, GTP cars produced by the “works” teams of major automobile factories ultimately dominated the ranks of these extraordinary high-performance racecars. Soaring above all of the finest and fastest GTP cars were the AAR Gurney Toyota Eagle GTPs. The cars were designed and built by Dan Gurney and his stable of veterans at Gurney’s firm, All American Racers (AAR), in coordination with Toyota Racing Development (TRD). They incorporated stunning 2.1 litre single-turbo racing engines developed and supplied by Toyota Japan, in coordination with the USA’s Toyota Racing Development. The cars dominated decisively for three intensively waged IMSA seasons, until the rival factory competitors departed in 1993, due to repeated trounces from the Gurney Toyota Eagle GTP cars on the USA national stage from 1991 through 1992, before their complete dominance in 1993.
In late 2002 a call came unexpectedly to Tom Malloy. “I didn’t know it at the time,” Tom clarifies; “but the #98 Gurney Eagle GTP had been available for sale and 5-6 financially qualified buyers had decided against taking it, possibly due to its price.” Dan Gurney’s company, AAR, was selling their GTP jewel and Malloy was on a short list of collectors who were notified. “I wanted the car,” he states categorically. Negotiations with the legendary Dan Gurney himself went forward and Tom ultimately purchased the #98 Gurney Toyota AAR Eagle GTP in early 2003. He intended to race it, and to do so the 4-cylinder 2.1 litre turbocharged engine would have to sing. But after purchasing the car Tom learned that the Gurney technical crew was having difficulties making the Toyota factory 503B race engine run properly. He reflects; “come to find out that the original Toyota factory software for the ECU had been removed from the car by Toyota after its last 1993 IMSA race season.” It was Toyota proprietary technology. Problem: by 2003 AAR was having difficulties getting the 1993 Toyota factory ECU software, and the 503B race engine would not run without it. The car needed its original Toyota factory computer brain or a facsimile solution.
Serendipity intervened while at a race at California’s Willow Springs Raceway. When a vintage racer approached Tom Malloy in the paddock and asked how progress was going with the Gurney GTP car, Tom replied, “having a tough time.” Tom remembers: “he knew who I was and he knew I had the car, but I didn’t know him.” “I can help you,” the man persisted; “I have connections all the way to Toyota Japan.” The man was Chuck Wade, contracted manager of Toyota Motorsports USA and key liaison to both Toyota Japan and TRD, Toyota Racing Development USA. As it turned out Wade had a motive (later revealed): Toyota Japan needed a fully functioning AAR Toyota Gurney Eagle GTP car to display and run at a renowned event “across the pond,” just months away. Toyota was committed to an on-track race demonstration of their storied Gurney Toyota AAR Eagle GTP Mk III at the June 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed in Sussex, England. To accomplish this, they needed a fully operable, currently race-ready example of their ’91-’93 IMSA multi-championship-winning car. Toyota’s point man in the USA, Chuck Wade, knew where to find such a car: Tom Malloy. Conversations ensued between Wade and Malloy.
“I then got a call from TRD,” Tom recollects, “Toyota wanted to rent my AAR Gurney Eagle Toyota GTP car for the Goodwood Festival of Speed event and they would help us prepare it.” Tom consented to this unusual adventure – and before he knew it his facility was raining with Toyota racing specialists, dispatched to assist in getting the GTP car and engine into perfect tune for the international Goodwood event. These included TRD’s Larry Slutter, Bruce Nogrady and Toyota’s “Shaggy,” three top Toyota racing technologists.
At the time, Tom’s #98 Toyota Gurney GTP car remained in a prolonged restoration/preparation process at the AAR facility and the project’s key man, Gary Martin wasn’t fully convinced of the “Toyota-taking-the-car-to-Goodwood” story. Martin, who had been chief mechanic during the GTP car’s IMSA championship years, called his Toyota contacts and received eye-opening confirmation; this car was in fact going to Goodwood and Toyota would be doing whatever was necessary to get it there.
Topping the list of challenging tasks was a solution for the original 1993 factory engine ECU. Race technologists from Toyota Racing Development were able to reproduce programming for the original ECU and the car was track tested at Auto Club Speedway in winter 2005. However full satisfaction with the engine’s performance was not achieved, especially due to the revitalized ECU’s dependence on the car’s extremely high octane, highly toxic ELF 1993 fuel blend, which consisted of 82% Toluene. Toyota decided to prepare a fresh 503B engine and loan it to Tom Malloy to be certain that the best-possible, most dependable version of their engine would be used for the Goodwood very special occasion. And importantly, it was decided that the ECU and original software would be replaced with a modern Motec high performance engine management system, which also would allow circa-2005 conventional “C16” race fuel to be used. Up to this point the Gurney Toyota AAR Eagle GTP Mk III still remained under preparation at the AAR Gurney facility, however it was then moved to Tom Malloy’s race facility, where Malloy’s Marc Hart, support crew and TRD specialists completed the car and engine preparation for shipment to Goodwood. “The Eagle GTP engine actually is more drivable today than it was in its championship years,” Tom elaborates; “it has a wider and more manageable power band.”
The small 2.1 litre “stock block” Toyota 4-cylinder 503B engine was originally fitted with a Garrett AiResearch turbocharger and developed to produce over 750 horsepower for racing, with the capability of 950+ horsepower for qualifying in its championship years. This engine caused a gnarly characteristic in the car’s behavior. Its extremely high horsepower peaked in an explosive burst within a narrow power band of barely 3,000 rpm. In practice, this meant that a driver who had a 10,000 rpm rev spectrum to work with must race the car and manage its power within a range from roughly 7,500 rpm to 10,000 rpm. In that scenario the engine’s 750+ horsepower exploded in a burst and had to be very carefully managed by the driver in the most demanding of competition environments!
Although Toyota engineers were able to tame the grenade-like power band of the Toyota GTP engine significantly, the car was still a tiger. “It knocks you back in a big way,” Tom confirms; “and the aerodynamics allow you to go so fast into corners that the stress on your body is huge,” he exclaims. Bottom line – the Gurney Toyota Eagle GTP requires uncommon skill to drive and manage.
In a successful outing before an international crowd of thousands at the June 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, the #98 Toyota GTP car was driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II, its 1993 IMSA championship driver. It was a memorable and spectacular display for the ages. Then, in August of that same year Toyota featured the Malloy-owned AAR Gurney Eagle GTP car at California’s annual Rolex Monterey Historics Automobile Races at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. Here, the #98 was track demonstrated at racing speeds, once again by ’93 IMSA champion Juan Manuel Fangio. Yet another fantastic event, and this time on American soil. As luck would have it, just two years later when Toyota was featured at the Rolex Monterey Historics at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway, then-Toyota factory Formula 1 driver Timo Glock drove the Malloy-owned AAR Toyota Gurney Eagle GTP car in front of thousands of spectators at the Monterey Historics and on worldwide television!
