What's the most useless, money off the window, project

"El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First!" (lightningzone) 01/04/2015 at 12:38 • Filed to: None

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...in the recent history of motorsports? I'd have to say that Peugeot wins this, with the Le Mans project.

Don't get me wrong, I love how their cars looked, and the fact that they went up against Audi, when no one was crazy enough to do it, and I love how they got a Sony sponsorship, even if Toyota failed to do so.

But let's get serious, they spent F1 levels of cash, with little return, in a time when the company's bank accounts were starting too look as good as rotten croissants.

They failed to return to America(a move that could have saved their ass, when the Euro car market went down).

And nothing really filtered down to production cars, from that racing project, and their only sports car, is a FWD coupe on hatchback bones.

Quite puny, if you look at Audi's RS line, R8, and AWD TT or most Porsches. Even Toyota is kicking some ass in the war against beige, and gave us this enthusiast's sweetheart, with it, only being the beginning.

So, got something better?

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 12:43

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I'd probably say Aston Martin's LMP1 project over Peugeot. At least Peugeot was competitive...they had the outright pace over Audi but couldn't bring it home.

Aston Martin's, however, was a complete disaster. You can also put Cadillac LMP in there, but I think Aston was the bigger failure.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 01/04/2015 at 12:52

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That wasn't a real Aston, it was a Lola that used a mildly modified engine from the DBR9 GT1, car. They only called it an Aston for marketing reasons, and Aston spent a lot less money on the whole project than Peugeot, did.

daender > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 12:56

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Another nail in the coffin for Lotus...

TheHondaBro > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 12:57

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Toyota's first shot at WEC competitions. The TS010 and TS020 were very expensive and very fast, but they never won, which prompted them to take a hiatus from the WEC.

PushToStart > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 13:01

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Maybe not the worst, but I think Marussia F1 team deserves mention. They spent astronomical amounts of money running a largely unsponsored team in probably the most expensive form of motorsport to promote a brand comprised solely off of what is essentially vaporware. Obviously you have to "spend money to make money" (I assume their goal was to eventually attract more sponsors) but they should've gotten the hint that shit wasn't working out a lot quicker than they did.

ACESandEIGHTS > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 13:04

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Isn't ALL of motorsport (with the exception of the wildly profitable NASCAR cartel) very high-stakes, low return?

The trick is to convince manufacturers that it's still a good image thing. Puegeot was once a solid rally competitor. Surely the returns were more apparent investing in a small car sport. Yet the WRC finds it impossible to attract a full field of builders.

I'm agreeing with you though. Le Mans (good God it's so obscure I wanted to smash my phone as it auto-corrected the name six times) is not well known internationally, no matter how many Newmans and Dempseys and whoever else get into it.

I used to think they were the superior product to F1 but, come on, is anything superior?

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 13:14

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Good points. How about Toyota F1? Spent ungodly amounts of money for a handful of 2nd place finishes and then pulled out entirely.

Forgetful > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 01/04/2015 at 13:17

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Peugeot did bring it home in 2009.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > ACESandEIGHTS 01/04/2015 at 13:23

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Nope, some use motorsports as R&D, and try to filter as much as possible, down to street cars. Even if the FRS/86 has nothing, really, in common with the TS040, they both contribute to Toyota's performance image, and maybe the next 86 will get small supercapacitors or something, or the next Supra will get them, idk. Peugeot did nothing. Like Mitsubishi and Subaru, they had great wins in WRC and Pikes Peak, but where's their WRX?

And I never said Le Mans is small stuff. In fact, I'd prefer a WEC race to a F1 race, any day. To be honest, things can only get better for WEC, with new names, joining in every category.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 01/04/2015 at 13:26

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Well, some of that money went into making TMG, a top tech facility, and TMG is proving to be very useful in the WEC campaign.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 13:40

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Peugeot at least won Le Mans, which was their goal. They had no real interest to returning to America as it would have been a larger waste of money than anything. The TT is just a coupe based on a small FWD hatchback and most TT's are still FWD. Peugeot's cookware still sells strong and they still make cars that sell.

If anything could be considered a flop it's VW in the US.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/04/2015 at 14:18

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Pyrrhic victory, much? Now the French and Chinese own chunks of the company and Peugeot family lost control of the company. Now those poor bastards are back and selling grinders(good ones, as I own a couple of their grinders, too), but it's nowhere as exciting as selling cars.

And America still can't buy French cars. Maybe Nissan could buy the stake, the French government still owns in Renault, and start selling Renaults over here.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/04/2015 at 14:20

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And who buys any Audi without AWD? That's a waste of a new car, if you ask me.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > daender 01/04/2015 at 14:27

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That's not a real Lotus, that's a Kodewa. I'm surprised Colin Kolles didn't manage to sell at least a few of those, as that was the initial goal. Ligier on the other hand? Those guys sold a lot.

Tareim - V8 powered > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 14:35

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I'd imagine that Peugeot's time in Le Mans wasn't a complete waste, they probably made some good advancements with their diesel engines

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 17:50

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Peugeot didn't spend F1 money by far. Audi today doesn't spend top F1 money yet, and Audi had at least twice the budget of Peugeot back in the day.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Tareim - V8 powered 01/04/2015 at 18:15

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Well, too bad that France wants to overtax and ultimately completely ban diesels.

NJAnon > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 18:27

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There have been some underhanded "marketing pitches" that have been done where a company foots the $$ for a project and the staff thats supposed to produce a vehicle(s) never shows up, stealing the $$.

Chris > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 19:39

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The 2009 Honda F1 project...after years back in F1 of not much success, they finally build a competitive car...only to sell it to Ross Brawn who wins the championship with it with a Mercedes engine.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Chris 01/04/2015 at 20:24

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Poor Honda really seems to be in F1 at the wrong times, lately. Now they can't improve the engine! until the end of the season because they're the rookies.

Viggen > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 01/04/2015 at 21:11

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Not that Aston. The AMR-One. At least the Lolas were popular among fans for their scream and good looks. The AMR-One was a disaster on all levels. Combined, both cars only ran six laps at the 2011 Le Mans.

No wonder they chose to give the V8 Vantage some real factory love after that fail.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Viggen 01/04/2015 at 21:42

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The Vanquish would make a more spectacular GTE car, with the V12 and stuff.