1984 BMW E24 635 Group A homage

Superbly engineered and correctly presented homage to a Berger/ Marlboro FIA Group 'A', 635.

Built by Geoff Steel Racing over winter 2015/2016 for the Peter Auto Heritage Touring Car series

Original E24 shell from Italian 635. Stripped and dipped

Rebuilt full-race engine-310bhp, 5-speed box, T45 cage, 100-litre fuel cell, FIA safety equipment

Supplied fully homologated, with FIA papers, ready to race.

Silverstone Auctions are delighted to offer this BMW/Marlboro 635 E24 homage to a Group A car. It's based on an original 12-valve (M30B35) engined E24 635CSi purchased from Southern Italy as a road legal car in very good condition and the conversion to a full-blown racer was entrusted to Geoff Steel Racing over the winter of 2015/16 with the brief that the new owners wanted to recreate the famous Marlboro/BMW 'Group A' Touring Car as driven by Gerhard Berger in 1985 and use it to compete in the Peter Auto Heritage Touring Car series.

Whilst an Italian road car may be a strange place to begin if you want to race an Historic Touring Car, there is an argument to be made that this is the best place to start. It's not an original competition car so you don't have to worry about originality and can actually get on with driving the thing, it will be fully FIA compliant and can be raced almost anywhere, and it's built to a spec and finish that authentically replicates the original Marlboro cars enabling you to enjoy the full Gerhard Berger experience without worrying about damaging something of national significance. In addition, as every bit of the car will be freshly restored, inspected, and maintained it ought to be reliable.

The car was completely stripped and the bodyshell was dipped to remove any remaining organic matter. After preparation, it was fitted with a T45 FIA specification full cage and the car was painted white ready to accept the decals and graphics appropriate to the correct 'Marlboro' finish. It was then built up by GSR in the normal way and fitted with a fully rebuilt 310bhp engine, a rebuilt FIA Group A specification gearbox, a new FIA specification 100-litre capacity fuel cell, and all the appropriate safety equipment to comply with FIA requirements and the current race regs. The car currently weighs 1200kgs and is said to have passed the full Historic Technical Passport check first time and the papers issued.

Geoff Steel Racing also ran the car with a number of top ten finishes in the European Group A season, including an impressive 2nd at Spa in 2016 and 2nd at the Algarve Classic in 2017, standing 3rd in Group A going into the final round. This year, the car was competitive at Donnington in the Motor Racing Legends Touring Car Challenge and it's worth mentioning that it is eligible for the Motor Racing Legends round at Silverstone during the Classic weekend.

This classic BMW is a delightfully accurate recreation of a famous racer but is also a really well-engineered Touring Car and would undoubtedly be a contender in the right hands.