One already restored

This BMW M3 Sport Evo that ran at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year was indistinguishable from the car that crossed the line to win the 1992 Spa 24 Hours with Steve Soper, Christian Danner and Jean-Michel Martin. The 2.5-litre ex-DTM racer had not run in anger since the Bigazzi-run entry, with Soper at the wheel, overhauled Eric van de Poele’s Schnitzer car in the closing stages, and has now undergone a sympathetic restoration at leading BMW racing specialist Amspeed in Brackley.

“The car went straight into a museum in Macau and our brief was keep the originality rather than making it race-ready,” says Amspeed boss Arran Moulton-Smith. “We tried to keep as many original parts as possible. For example, we just re-foamed the fuel tank rather than just putting a new one in, which you’d do if you were going to race it.

“The interior hasn’t been repainted and we’ve gone through the wiring rather than fitting a new loom. We’ve tried to keep the mess, if you like, replacing bits of tatty old tape with the modern equivalent. It’s all part of the car’s history.” 

The bodywork had been repainted, which meant Amspeed had to recreate the Bastos colour scheme in which it won Spa. 

“There weren’t many images of the car, but we managed to get it bang-on,” says Moulton-Smith. “We used Andy Bell at SDS Racegraphics, who is one of the best for livery restoration.

“It was a cool project.”

Amspeed, Brackley, Northamptonshire. Tel: 01280 701230 amspeedracing.co.uk