Collectibles

One of history's most controversial and outrageous sportscars is for sale

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Apologies for the imagery but it's an historical artifact from the original Schuppan 962CR brochure and remarkably, the silver car in the picture is actually the same 962CR prototype that is currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo, though these days it wears black.
The Porsche 956/962 family dominated global sports car racing for a decade, but the company's finest hour came at the 1983 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The three factory-prepared Porsche 956s had finished 1-2-3 in the 1982 race but once Porsche began selling the brutally-fast 956 to customer teams, the dominance became almost farcical. The 1983 results were immortalised when Porsche issued the above poster (on the left) and it became a staple of workshops and bedroom walls across the world. Vern Schuppan was one of the drivers in the winning Porsche 956 that day.
Porsche
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount. The car returned to Bingo in 2021 with a total 49,000 km (30,000 miles) on the odometer and was again sold for an undisclosed amount. Bingo's clientele is elite, and amongst a range of other bespoke services, it is the sole Japanese dealership for Bugatti Rimac and Koenigsegg.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
In both 2018 and again in 2021, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold this yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount. The yellow color scheme helps to show the sumptuous leather-clad interior of the 962CR, which nonetheless still shows its Le Mans Sports Car Racing heritage. There are a dozen detailed images of this car in the image gallery for this article.
Bingo Sports
In 2018, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold a yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount.
Bingo Sports
Apologies for the imagery but it's an historical artifact from the original Schuppan 962CR brochure and remarkably, the silver car in the picture is actually the same 962CR prototype that is currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo, though these days it wears black.
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The Schuppan 962CR (Chassis # AS 962CR P2) that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the two-inch-wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The extra two inches were added to allow for slightly more cabin room and only four of these chassis were ever produced.
Bingo Sports
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype. The image gallery for this article contains more than 30 detailed images of this car.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype.
London Concours
The engine in both the CR variants of the Schuppan 962 is an air-cooled, twin-turbo, twin cam, two valves per cylinder 3.4 liter flat six producing 600 hp
Tim Scott, Fluid Images - courtesy of London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The Best of Show Schuppan 962CR from the 2023 London Concours
London Concours
The second prototype Schuppan 962CR is a 30-year-old car that can run with the fastest of today's supercars. It weighs in at just 1050kg and delivers 600 horsepower.
Image: Ken Saito (@kenmsaito) courtesy of Bingo Sports
This specification comparison with the McLaren F1 helps to put the Schuppan 962CR in perspective. The reason for all the conjecture surrounding the new price of both vehicles in 1992 is that the GBP-USD, JPY-USD and JPY-GBP exchange rates fluctuated so wildly during that year. The price of the 962CR is known to have been ¥192 million because it was being sold out of Japan, but the final price depends on when it was paid. The same goes for the McLaren, which sold at GBP 540,000, and the current $20 million price of the F1 is a direct result of the suddenly sour financial climate at the time of its launch. By rights, the F1 would have sold many more units a year or two earlier. We quote all prices in USD where possible, converting pricing at the prevailing exchange rates on the day - this is not one of those occasions.
The Schuppan 962CR that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The bodywork designed by Mike Simcoe created a beautiful swan from the angular and visually awkward Porsche 962 duckling. It is little wonder he has since risen to global prominence.
Bingo Sports
View gallery - 57 images

Just as Duesenberg, Auburn and Cord were undeserving victims of the Great Depression, the Schuppan marque’s demise was wholly due to the economic upheavals of 1992 and no reflection on the delectable automobile the company produced. Indeed, that same global recession is one of the reasons why the McLaren F1 will now cost you US$20 million, and why Bugatti's second incarnation (Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.) struggled to reach its potential.

The fledgling Schuppan supercar company produced just a handful of lightning-quick, $1.5 million road cars before the company was forced to liquidate in 1994 after its Japanese backers pulled their funding when the Japanese asset price economic bubble burst. Now one of those six rare beasts is on the market in beautiful downtown Tokyo.

The Schuppan 962CR that is currently for sale is the second prototype and was the first car to be built on the wider Reynard carbon fiber chassis. The bodywork designed by Mike Simcoe created a beautiful swan from the angular and visually awkward Porsche 962 duckling. It is little wonder he has since risen to global prominence.
Bingo Sports

The Schuppan 962CR was based on the all-conquering Group C Porsche 962 Racing car, as were several other road car projects that precipitated new marques such as the Dauer 962LM and Koenig C62, and while all of them started out wishing to exploit the performance potential of the Porsche 962 on the road, the Schuppan 962CR produced the best road car of the bunch, by a fair margin.

Schuppan was the brainchild of Australian racing driver Vern Schuppan, an astute businessman and talented sports car driver whose career saw him journey far and wide, including a stint in Formula One and a win in the 1983 Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship, which would ultimately provide him with many of the contacts to create the Schuppan marque.

The Porsche 956/962 family dominated global sports car racing for a decade, but the company's finest hour came at the 1983 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The three factory-prepared Porsche 956s had finished 1-2-3 in the 1982 race but once Porsche began selling the brutally-fast 956 to customer teams, the dominance became almost farcical. The 1983 results were immortalised when Porsche issued the above poster (on the left) and it became a staple of workshops and bedroom walls across the world. Vern Schuppan was one of the drivers in the winning Porsche 956 that day.
Porsche

Schuppan was a much sought-after co-driver in endurance races because of his mechanical empathy and ability to run fast, clean and inch-perfect for long periods. Even though he lived in England for the majority of his racing career, he regularly returned to Australia to partner the leading touring car drivers in endurance races.

He was also a regular front-runner in endurance sports car races. In addition to winning the Le Mans 24 Hour in 1983 alongside Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert, he also clocked up two second places (1977 & 1982), third (1975), fifth (1976) and sixth (1984) in the endurance epic, driving alongside most of the big names at one time or another, and was a member of the Porsche factory team for many years.

The London Concours concluded on 9 June 2023 with the 17-person expert committee of judges awarding the Best of Show Award to this Schuppan 962CR, the sister car of the car currently for sale at Bingo Sports in Tokyo. The London Concours car was the first Schuppan 962 prototype and the Tokyo car was the second Schuppan 962 prototype. The image gallery for this article contains more than 30 detailed images of this car.
London Concours

The big difference with the Schuppan 962CR was that it aimed high, and rather than repurpose the 962 chassis and angular, cramped (for two people) Porsche 962 bodywork, it designed its own carbon monocoque (to be built by Reynard) and had a talented young designer named Mike Simcoe sculpt a quite elegant carbon-composite body, offering a stunning road car with 600 horsepower and an all-up weight of 1050kg.

In both 2018 and again in 2021, Bingo's Chiyoda City showroom in central Tokyo sold this yellow Schuppan 962CR for an undisclosed amount. The yellow color scheme helps to show the sumptuous leather-clad interior of the 962CR, which nonetheless still shows its Le Mans Sports Car Racing heritage. There are a dozen detailed images of this car in the image gallery for this article.
Bingo Sports

These days, Michael Simcoe's star has risen and the beauty he extracted from an ugly duckling with limited time and resources pointed to a bright future. Simco is now much better known as the Vice President of Global Design at General Motors, a position that was previously filled by such automotive tastemeisters as Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell.

The engine in both the CR variants of the Schuppan 962 is an air-cooled, twin-turbo, twin cam, two valves per cylinder 3.4 liter flat six producing 600 hp
Tim Scott, Fluid Images - courtesy of London Concours

Schuppan had become very well known and highly respected while winning the 1983 Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship and he was approached by a cashed up backer to produce 50 street-legal, pure Le Mans cars. That got the project underway and quite soon the car was being developed from the former Tiga Racing Car factory, using the Porsche 962 that had placed tenth at Le Mans in 1988 as the development mule.

What looked like a well-funded straightforward proposition of building 50 road-going racecars went pear-shaped as the world economic climate became volatile at this point, and the 50 Le Mans road cars soon became 25 GT-style cars, with the entire enterprise subjected to a fiscal hurricane that eventually led to the Japanese backers unable to meet their financial commitments and bankruptcy ensued for Schuppan's company with only a handful of cars produced.

This specification comparison with the McLaren F1 helps to put the Schuppan 962CR in perspective. The reason for all the conjecture surrounding the new price of both vehicles in 1992 is that the GBP-USD, JPY-USD and JPY-GBP exchange rates fluctuated so wildly during that year. The price of the 962CR is known to have been ¥192 million because it was being sold out of Japan, but the final price depends on when it was paid. The same goes for the McLaren, which sold at GBP 540,000, and the current $20 million price of the F1 is a direct result of the suddenly sour financial climate at the time of its launch. By rights, the F1 would have sold many more units a year or two earlier. We quote all prices in USD where possible, converting pricing at the prevailing exchange rates on the day - this is not one of those occasions.

Further Reading: If you are interested in obtaining further information on the Schuppan 962CR, might we suggest a look at the original brochure, and the most detailed and accurate information we have found can be obtained from this article from Trevor Crisp, who began work as part of the development team at Vern Schuppan Ltd (VSL) in January 1991 and witnessed the entire affair. Another excellent article on the subject is in Magneto Magazine by Nathan Chadwick. Nathan interviewed Vern Schuppan in the lead-up to the London Concours which is featured in our image gallery.

Where to buy: the prototype Schuppan 962CR is for sale at Bingo Sports, Japan's leading elite car dealership and auction house. While you're there, the cars in stock reads more like an automotive museum than an elite car dealership. In regards to the price, we have no perspective or valid reference points that we can use to even estimate what Bingo might be asking. In its day, it sold new at roughly double what it cost for a McLaren F1, and they now sell for $20 million, but we don't think Bingo are asking anything like eight figures. It is nonetheless a significant sportscar that sold new for $1.5 million 30 years ago and hence the price will have seven figures. Any ideas?

View gallery - 57 images
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2 comments
akarp
"the Schuppan marque’s demise was wholly due to the economic upheavals of 1992 and no reflection on the delectable automobile the company produced."

LOL, love the contradiction in this logic.
P51d007
My dad was a car salesman when I was about 5-6 years old in the 60's. Grew up riding around in just about any new Ford you can think of.
LOTS of rides in 60's Mustang's, including Shelby's.
But, I never understood the crazyness of spending that much money on "rare" cars.
Hey, if you got it, I guess so, but I doubt even if I could afford it, I'd want to spend that amount. I'd be too scared to drive it, considering how
people drive these days.