Motorsport Monday – 1999 Picchio SRP2

Few things make me happier than seeing Martini Racing stripes on a car. There were several versions, and all of them are awesome. That said, as I showed the other day with the 1977 Porsche 924 Martini Racing Championship Limited Edition, those stripes can show up on cars that don’t have much in the way of sporting credentials. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the example that sports some of the most famous stripes in German racing history. While not the top tier of prototype racing, the SRP2 class was still a formidable race class with sub-2,000 lb weight and 400 horsepower stuck to the ground with racing slicks and downforce. Although the chassis was built in Italy by Picchio, this SRP2 was powered my a race modified S50 M3 motor and ran with BMW Roundels adorning its nose and tail. Not as successful as the more powerful contemporaries like the Ferrari 333SP, it’s consequently not worth quite as much when they come to the market, as this one has today:

Year: 1999
Model: Picchio SRP2
Engine: 3.0 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: N/A
Price: $79,900

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1999 Picchio SRP2 on Race-Cars.com

Description

The Italian race car manufacturer Picchio produces racing cars and supplies research and technical assistance to racing teams and manufacturers worldwide. Picchio has raced in the Sports Racing World Cup, later known as the FIA Sports Car Championship, as well as in the U.S. Grand American Series, most recenty in the Daytona Prototype class. This Picchio, MB1, was constructed in 1999 and was sponsored by and wore the world famous Martini livery reminiscent of the great Sports Racing and Formula One cars of the 1960’s until the 1980’s. Gianni Giudice and Raffaele Raimondi first raced the Martini Picchio in the FIA Sports Car Championship at the 500km of Monza. The Picchio finished 4th in class and 9th overall, behind four Ferrari 333SP’s. At Spa the Picchio was unable to finish but at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Donington, the Picchio came 4th in class and 15th overall in front of 18,000 spectators. The Martini Picchio was running a close second at the Sports Racing World Cup at Brno when a wheel nut problem sidelined the car. In 2000 the Picchio was entered by GPM Racing with works support and driven by Mauro Prospero and Angelo Amadori. At the Aprimatic Trophy Race at Monza the car was able to achieve its first podium with a strong 3rd place finish. Other races entered that year include Catalunya, Spa, Donnington as well as Brno where it finished 7th. The car was then brought to the United States with its sister car to compete in the 2002 Grand American Road Racing Series with the very successful G & W Motorsports Team. The team was managed by the 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Price Cobb. Research to date indicates that this chassis, MB1, was used as the test and promotional car to help introduce the Picchio brand into the United States. The sister car, painted a bright yellow, achieved multiple podiums with drivers Darren Law and Andy Lally including 2nd place finishes at the Nextel 250 at Miami Homestead, the Yamaha Indy 400 at California Speedway and the United Auto 200 at Pheonix. The Picchio also finshed 6th in class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Picchio later became the first foreign manufacturer to be approved to construct cars for the Grand American Series new Daytona Prototype class. Because of its use as a test/ promotional car in the U.S. This Picchio has relatively little race time on its chassis/ engine/ gearbox. It was last exercised at the Italian Cars at Daytona event in November where it was easily the quickest car there running 1:57’s with a middle aged amateur driver on Hoosier grooved tires. The Martini Picchio is constructed of tubular steel with riveted and glued aluminum monocoques and the bodywork is fiberglass. The engine is a BMW M series 3 litre six cylinder built by Amaroli Racing Engine in Italy and produces about 420 horsepower and has very good compression and leakdown numbers. The gearbox is a five speed Hewland FT200 that was very recently completely refreshed including a new clutch assembly. The car comes with no spares but all parts are available in the U.S. at Shawn Bayliff Racing in North Carolina. The car retains its striking and original European Martini Racing livery. This Martini Picchio has demonstrated speed and success and was among the quickest of all the cars in its class in both Europe and the Untied States. The BMW powerplant ensures that running costs will be low and reliability will be high. The Picchio is a very special and fantastic looking and driving historic racing car that can be acquired for a fraction of the cost of similar historic endurance racing cars. It also happens to be among the few, if not THE last of the Martini sponsored cars. By having FIA international racing history, this would allow the car to be eligible for most historic racing series wordwide. This is an investment level car that will provide great ownership and driving pleasure at a very low entry price in addition to low running costs. $79,900 US DOLLARS car is located in Vero Beach, Florida. USA. International & Domestic shipping gladly arranged. Showroom Hours: M-F 8:30 am to 5:00pm

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History
Gianni Giudice and Raffaele Raimondi first raced the Martini Picchio in the FIA Sports Car Championship at the 500km of Monza. The Picchio finished 4th in class and 9th overall, behind four Ferrari 333SP’s. At Spa the Picchio was unable to finish but at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Donington, the Picchio came 4th in class and 15th overall in front of 18,000 spectators. The Martini Picchio was running a close second at the Sports Racing World Cup at Brno when a wheel nut problem sidelined the car. In 2000 the Picchio was entered by GPM Racing with works support and driven by Mauro Prospero and Angelo Amadori. At the Aprimatic Trophy Race at Monza the car was able to achieve its first podium with a strong 3rd place finish. Other races entered that year include Catalunya, Spa, Donnington as well as Brno where it finished 7th.

Performance Data

Class: FIA SRP 2

Engine

Engine Builder: Amadori Racing
Manufacturer: BMW
Type: 6 cylinder
Displacement: 3,000cc
Horsepower: 420

Fuel System

Fuel Cell

Transmission

Manfacturer: Hewland
Type: FT 200

Body

Construction: Fiberglass

Chassis

Type: Alloy skinned tube frame
Builder: Picchio
Front Suspension: inboard shocks
Rear Suspension: inboard shocks
Brakes: AP Racing
Wheels: Speedline Corse

Spares

none

While $80,000 may sound like an awful lot of money to spend on an old, outdated race car, in my opinion it’s a bit of a deal. I’ve been going to the track for years, and watched countless souls (myself included) spend lots of money to make their road cars into race cars. Let’s say you want to buy and track an older M3. Yes, the entry price will be lower, but soon you’ll be trailering it, putting a cage in, upgrading everything imaginable, and guess what? You’ll spend the same amount, if not more, and you’re car won’t be anywhere close to as fast as this thing car will be. Plus, you’ll have completely ruined a perfectly good road car. Why not be more environmentally friendly, and buy a used race car?

In all seriousness, yes, it will cost more to run a car like this, and no, it’s not for beginners. But, you could have one heck of a ride around the track at your local event and blow everyone’s doors off. If your budget was slightly higher, you could look into running it at vintage race events, because as an ex-FIA raced car, it’s sure to be eligible though it may not be competitive – you’d likely be running against some older Group C cars. Imagine the stories you’d have to tell your friends, though – “Yeah, Bob, so I was running door to door with one of the Rothman’s 962s when the Nissan R90Cs came ripping by both of us!” That sure beats most of my track stories.

The car looks to be in great condition and not used up with some recent servicing thrown in. The Speedline alloys are some of my favorites ever raced. And did I mention it has Martini Racing stripes? The cheapest way to build a great race car is to buy one that’s already done. I’d love to turn this down a notch by installing a stock S54, put some more affordable and harder wearing rubber on it, and still blow away everyone at the club track events while having it even a bit more cost effective. When that gets old, turn it back up to 10 with the racing motor and go to the vintage racing. In prototype terms, it doesn’t get much cheaper than this – and there are very few cars that you could buy for this amount that would be faster around a track!

-Carter