1984 March 84G.03 "Kreepy Krauly"
1984 March 84G.03 "Kreepy Krauly"
Design by Adrian Newey
Chassis no. 84G.01
2,650cc Twin Turbocharged "Wet" Porsche SOHC Flat 6-Cylinder Engine
Electronic Fuel Injection
650bhp at 8,000rpm
5-Speed Porsche Type 956 Transaxle with Limited Slip Differential
4-Wheel Independent Suspension
4-Wheel Ventilated Disc Brakes
*Extensive period and current MSA GTP racing history include 5th place in the 1984 IMSA GT Championship as well as racing at Daytona, Le Mans, Nürburgring, Spa
*Recently renewed FIA Historic Technical Passport
*Nearly $85,000 in race preparation invoices from 2019
*Eligible for countless historic race events world wide
THE 1984 KREEPY KRAULY MARCH 84G/PORSCHE
March Engineering's foray into North American motorsport began with a collaboration with BMW in 1981, developing an aluminum monocoque for the M1/C. That car's best finish was a fourth, but March was confident of the chassis' technical direction and it was updated for 1982 by noted designer Adrian Newey. Subsequent revisions to the chassis, including the 8G-1 Kreepy Krauly that won the 24 hours of Daytona in 1984, took the March to a final iteration, the 86G, before it was rendered non-competitive, primarily by Porsche's turbocharged onslaught.
The G-chassis March is considered to be one of the most balanced cars of its time. Driver Costas Los said it was much easier to drive than Porsche's 962, especially in the wet. The chassis also could accommodate a variety of powertrains, however the Kreepy's Porsche flat six with its twin-turbo "wet" 3.3 -liter F6 Porsche engine was the most competitive. The 84G could rush from 0 to 60 mph in just over 3 seconds, reach a top speed in excess of 200 mph, and was acclaimed as the best GTP car around, in its era!
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
March 84G.03 left the factory on December 16, 1983, for delivery to South Africa's Kreepy Krauly motorsport team. Powered by a single-turbo Porsche flat six, its first outing was scheduled to be in early April, for a 500-kilometer Camel GT race at Road Atlanta, with Sarel van der Merwe and Tony Martin at the controls. Tagged number 00, it never made the start; on its fourth lap of practice the car caught fire, and while van der Merwe escaped injury, the car was badly damaged. It was returned to the factory for a rebuild that included a new tub and a new, just introduced, 2.7 liter twin turbo "wet" Porsche engine. It came back to the team without a number plate, so team manager Ken Howe assigned it a new one – 84G.01 – mistakenly, as the number had already been taken, leading to confusion in the narrative of this car's history.
Meanwhile, the team soldiered on with its 83G.04, earning a sixth at Riverside, a third at Monterey, a DNF at Charlotte, a win at Lime Rock and a fifth at Mid-Ohio. The anticipated replacement March, an 84G, finally was ready to run at Portland in July, where it took pole, showing why the car was considered a premier GTP machine of its time. However, once again a fiery fate brought 84G.03's race to an early end, though this time without major damage.
Missing the Sears Point race while it was being repaired, the car next ran in a 500-miler at Road America, and van der Merwe and fellow South African Ian Scheckter responded with a strong fourth on the grid and finish in the same position. Another 500-mile race followed at Pocono, and the car improved its qualifying spot to third but again finished fourth. The car's excellent qualifying performance continued with a fifth at the Michigan 500, though the result was a DNF. Closing out the 1984 season was the Eastern 3 Hours at Daytona, and again the South African driving tandem showed competitive speed, qualifying second behind the Holbert Racing Porsche 962 before retiring with a wheel hub issue to finish sixth. Helped by nine top six finishes and its wins at the Daytona 24 and Lime Rock in the former Al Holbert March, 83G.04, the team finished its star-crossed season in fifth place, behind two March 83Gs and two Porsche 935/962 efforts.
The collaboration between Kreepy Krauly and Sarel van der Merwe ended early in 1985 after he qualified this car second at the Sunbank 24 at Daytona. Again, though, the 84G was struck by back luck and ended up well back with a tire issue. Sarel, intimately acquainted with the emerging dominance of other GTP efforts from other manufacturers, moved on to find success with the Corvette GTP.
Meanwhile, the 84G's last race under Kreepy Krauly ownership was Le Mans. After modifications to comply with FIA regulations, it could do no better than run mid-pack in both qualifying and the race, outclassed in a field packed with newer, faster machinery.
Still, there was a place in racing for such an accomplished chassis, and the car was sold to privateer Costas Los and run by Great Britain's Cosmic Racing. Now wearing #34, the March ran in Europe and the U.S., driven by Los and Christian Danner, joined later by Tiff Needell and others. Cosmic's first race, at Hockenheim, ended with DNF after gridding in 16th place, and the remainder of the season followed that pattern–mechanical woes interspersed with a few top tens. The car did attract plenty of attention, though, for its striking Metaxa paint scheme.
After being retired from professional racing at the end of 1986, 84G.03 passed through several sets of careful hands, ultimately purchased by its current owner in January 2018. Benefitting from an expert mechanical race preparation rebuild by the 901 Shop in Southeast Florida in 2019 with receipts totaling nearly $85,000 as well as an additional $20,000 in receipts from Amalfi Racing, this Kreepy Krauly's performance is the antithesis of its name.
It has been repainted and currently wears the livery of the 00 that had been destroyed at Road Atlanta. It comes with a recently renewed full FIA Historic Technical passport and complete records of the restoration. Most recently, March 84G.03 has been shown at the 2018 Rennsport reunion, raced at the 2019 Monterey Motorsports Reunion and both the 2019 and 2020 Heritage event at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona—colloquially called the 24 Minutes of Daytona—in January of this year as well as other significant historic meetings and is ready to provide a skilled driver with many laps of enjoyable, competitive motoring.
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1984 March 84G.03 "Kreepy Krauly"
Design by Adrian Newey
Chassis no. 84G.01
2,650cc Twin Turbocharged "Wet" Porsche SOHC Flat 6-Cylinder Engine
Electronic Fuel Injection
650bhp at 8,000rpm
5-Speed Porsche Type 956 Transaxle with Limited Slip Differential
4-Wheel Independent Suspension
4-Wheel Ventilated Disc Brakes
*Extensive period and current MSA GTP racing history include 5th place in the 1984 IMSA GT Championship as well as racing at Daytona, Le Mans, Nürburgring, Spa
*Recently renewed FIA Historic Technical Passport
*Nearly $85,000 in race preparation invoices from 2019
*Eligible for countless historic race events world wide
THE 1984 KREEPY KRAULY MARCH 84G/PORSCHE
March Engineering's foray into North American motorsport began with a collaboration with BMW in 1981, developing an aluminum monocoque for the M1/C. That car's best finish was a fourth, but March was confident of the chassis' technical direction and it was updated for 1982 by noted designer Adrian Newey. Subsequent revisions to the chassis, including the 8G-1 Kreepy Krauly that won the 24 hours of Daytona in 1984, took the March to a final iteration, the 86G, before it was rendered non-competitive, primarily by Porsche's turbocharged onslaught.
The G-chassis March is considered to be one of the most balanced cars of its time. Driver Costas Los said it was much easier to drive than Porsche's 962, especially in the wet. The chassis also could accommodate a variety of powertrains, however the Kreepy's Porsche flat six with its twin-turbo "wet" 3.3 -liter F6 Porsche engine was the most competitive. The 84G could rush from 0 to 60 mph in just over 3 seconds, reach a top speed in excess of 200 mph, and was acclaimed as the best GTP car around, in its era!
THE MOTORCAR OFFERED
March 84G.03 left the factory on December 16, 1983, for delivery to South Africa's Kreepy Krauly motorsport team. Powered by a single-turbo Porsche flat six, its first outing was scheduled to be in early April, for a 500-kilometer Camel GT race at Road Atlanta, with Sarel van der Merwe and Tony Martin at the controls. Tagged number 00, it never made the start; on its fourth lap of practice the car caught fire, and while van der Merwe escaped injury, the car was badly damaged. It was returned to the factory for a rebuild that included a new tub and a new, just introduced, 2.7 liter twin turbo "wet" Porsche engine. It came back to the team without a number plate, so team manager Ken Howe assigned it a new one – 84G.01 – mistakenly, as the number had already been taken, leading to confusion in the narrative of this car's history.
Meanwhile, the team soldiered on with its 83G.04, earning a sixth at Riverside, a third at Monterey, a DNF at Charlotte, a win at Lime Rock and a fifth at Mid-Ohio. The anticipated replacement March, an 84G, finally was ready to run at Portland in July, where it took pole, showing why the car was considered a premier GTP machine of its time. However, once again a fiery fate brought 84G.03's race to an early end, though this time without major damage.
Missing the Sears Point race while it was being repaired, the car next ran in a 500-miler at Road America, and van der Merwe and fellow South African Ian Scheckter responded with a strong fourth on the grid and finish in the same position. Another 500-mile race followed at Pocono, and the car improved its qualifying spot to third but again finished fourth. The car's excellent qualifying performance continued with a fifth at the Michigan 500, though the result was a DNF. Closing out the 1984 season was the Eastern 3 Hours at Daytona, and again the South African driving tandem showed competitive speed, qualifying second behind the Holbert Racing Porsche 962 before retiring with a wheel hub issue to finish sixth. Helped by nine top six finishes and its wins at the Daytona 24 and Lime Rock in the former Al Holbert March, 83G.04, the team finished its star-crossed season in fifth place, behind two March 83Gs and two Porsche 935/962 efforts.
The collaboration between Kreepy Krauly and Sarel van der Merwe ended early in 1985 after he qualified this car second at the Sunbank 24 at Daytona. Again, though, the 84G was struck by back luck and ended up well back with a tire issue. Sarel, intimately acquainted with the emerging dominance of other GTP efforts from other manufacturers, moved on to find success with the Corvette GTP.
Meanwhile, the 84G's last race under Kreepy Krauly ownership was Le Mans. After modifications to comply with FIA regulations, it could do no better than run mid-pack in both qualifying and the race, outclassed in a field packed with newer, faster machinery.
Still, there was a place in racing for such an accomplished chassis, and the car was sold to privateer Costas Los and run by Great Britain's Cosmic Racing. Now wearing #34, the March ran in Europe and the U.S., driven by Los and Christian Danner, joined later by Tiff Needell and others. Cosmic's first race, at Hockenheim, ended with DNF after gridding in 16th place, and the remainder of the season followed that pattern–mechanical woes interspersed with a few top tens. The car did attract plenty of attention, though, for its striking Metaxa paint scheme.
After being retired from professional racing at the end of 1986, 84G.03 passed through several sets of careful hands, ultimately purchased by its current owner in January 2018. Benefitting from an expert mechanical race preparation rebuild by the 901 Shop in Southeast Florida in 2019 with receipts totaling nearly $85,000 as well as an additional $20,000 in receipts from Amalfi Racing, this Kreepy Krauly's performance is the antithesis of its name.
It has been repainted and currently wears the livery of the 00 that had been destroyed at Road Atlanta. It comes with a recently renewed full FIA Historic Technical passport and complete records of the restoration. Most recently, March 84G.03 has been shown at the 2018 Rennsport reunion, raced at the 2019 Monterey Motorsports Reunion and both the 2019 and 2020 Heritage event at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona—colloquially called the 24 Minutes of Daytona—in January of this year as well as other significant historic meetings and is ready to provide a skilled driver with many laps of enjoyable, competitive motoring.
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