Factory-backed racing cars in top-tier motorsports are often likened to laboratories on wheels, as many of the current generation of cars are designed to trial new technologies that filter down into future road cars.
They often need a team of engineers just to start them, so rarely appear in the classified ads.
But a US racing team has just placed the very first example of its groundbreaking racer up for sale, says the Motor 1 website – and it is one of the most peculiar vehicles to have ever graced a racetrack.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Called the DeltaWing, it was created by Ben Bowlby, the designer behind the ill-fated Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Le Mans car. The car has competed in various endurance events around the globe.
These include the 2012 Le Mans 24h, where the DeltaWing made its debut, although its race was cut short after it crashed on the 75th lap.
The model for sale is the 2013 spec, which features a closed cockpit rather than the open cockpit design of the 2012 car.
What makes it unusual is its chassis layout. The car’s two front wheels are positioned significantly closer together than those at the rear, resulting in a delta shape.
The vehicle is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo engine that produces just 300bhp, says Top Gear. To put that into perspective, top-tier Le Mans prototypes deliver close to 1,000bhp.
But the DeltaWing’s bizarre shape has a purpose - allowing it to move through the air more easily than a conventional racing car. That means it can reach higher speeds with less power, and also helps to save fuel, which is vital in endurance racing.
Unfortunately, the unique racing car saw little success on the racetrack, and the project was scrapped at the end of last year.
But if you’re looking for your own piece of motorsport history, take a look at the listing on DeltaWing. There’s a good chance the car won’t need a team of engineers to get it going.
It’s a standard classified advert, too, so it comes with a fixed price of $375,000 (£286,000).
