Sauber-Mercedes – C 9 Group racing sports car (1989)

The late 1980s were dominated by Mercedes-Benz’s return to the race track: Group C racing cars were the first to bear the star. The Sauber Mercedes C 9, which have been used mainly in dark blue livery since 1987, also undergo a visual change for the 1989 season: from now on they were painted in silver to clearly identify them as Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows.

In 1989 alone, the new racing cars came out top in eight of their nine races. One of those was the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 10 and 11 June 1989: Mercedes-Benz drivers Jochen Mass/Manuel Reuter/Stanley Dickens and Mauro Baldi/Kenny Acheson/Gianfranco Brancatelli raced to a one-two finish in the two C 9 Silver Arrows – 37 years after the outstanding success with the first Silver Arrows, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing car (W 194), achieved after the Second World War. At the end of the season, Jean-Louis Schlesser won the Sportscar World Championship in the C 9.