Peter Sauber's involvement in motorsports as a racing driver and constructor began in his native Switzerland in 1970. His efforts over the next two decades developing his sports cars culminated in victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 and winning the World Sportscar Championship in 1989 and 1990. After reaching sportscar racing's peak, Sauber went on to establish his namesake Formula One team that debuted in 1993.

Introduced in 1987, the Sauber C9 sports prototype race car was built to comply with the FIA's Group C regulations. A dismal season in the 1987 World Sportscar Championship lead to a solid second place finish in the 1988 campaign behind Jaguar and ahead of Porsche, with victories in Spain, Czechoslovakia, Germany (Nürburgring 1000 Kilometres), Belgium (Spa 1000 Kilometres), and Australia. After two seasons of running and development, the C9 finally had both power and reliability in abundance, taking the 1989 World Sports Car Championship with seven victories in eight races.

By the late 1980s, the Group C sports prototypes were achieving stratospheric top speeds on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. In 1988, the Peugeot WM-P88 set an incredible top speed record of 252 miles per hour during the race. In the interest of safety, the race organizers decided to slow the cars down by incorporating two chicanes along the Mulsanne Straight beginning in 1990. The 57th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 would be the last to run without the chicanes.

Three C9 'Silver Arrows' were prepared and entered into the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans by Team Sauber Mercedes. On their way to starting the race in first, third, and twelfth positions, the C9 that started third achieved a top speed of 248 miles per hour during qualifying. The cars were powered by Mercedes Benz's M119 V8 engine which displaced 5 liters and featured twin turbochargers with adjustable boost pressure, dual overhead camshafts, and four valves per cylinder. The M119 V8 produced 720 horsepower in race trim and was capable of over 800 horsepower in qualifying trim when boost pressure was increased. The #63 C9 that started twelfth was piloted to overall victory by Germany's Jochen Mass and Manuel Reuter and Sweden's Stanley Dickens, completing 389 laps and covering a distance of 3271 miles at an average speed of 136.7 miles per hour. The #61 and #62 C9s finished the race in second and fifth places respectively. Reliability won the day for Sauber in a battle of attrition against their major rivals Jaguar (winner in 1988) and Porsche (winner in 1987). It was Peter Sauber's first victory at Le Mans in several attempts, and Mercedes Benz's first victory there since 1952.

Black print on a Silver 100% cotton ring-spun shirt.

Finished Measurements


SMLXL2XL 
Body Length2728293031
Body Length Tolerance11111
Body Width1820222426
Body Width Tolerance3/43/43/43/43/4