For the 1989 season, rather than relying again on chassis built by March, Nissan had developed the R89C model in conjunction with Lola Cars. The car featured a kevlar and carbon-fibre based monocoque chassis fitted with Nissan's new twin-turbo VRH35 3.5L V8 DOHC engine which was mounted in a stressed installation for better chassis rigidity, delivering up to 950bhp.Despite Nissan's efforts, the 1989 World Sportscar Championship season was rather unsuccessful for Nissan, as their cars lacked reliability and speed. The beautiful R89C was only able to score points in three races and finished the season in fifth place in the championship for teams.
Slot.it's version raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990. The suspension and aerodynamics were modified, as was the twin car entered by Courage Competition. It was painted in the distinctive silver-grey livery of its main sponsor Men's Tenoras which is a Japanese clothing company. This was the sole Nissan R89C using Yokohama tyres.
The car numbered 85 was driven in the LeMans 24 Hours by A. Olofsson, T. Wada and M. Sandro Sala. The team suffered an engine failure in the race which resulted in a DNF.
Photos provided by Slot.it.
