Essex Racing History: IMSA Championship-Winning Tiga 286 Car For Sale

An amazing piece of Essex company history has recently turned up for sale on the internet. Those who followed endurance racing during the 1980s may remember Essex Racing, which was the original parent company of Essex Parts Services. Essex Racing Services, Inc. was founded in 1981 and was very active in SCCA and IMSA competition, winning the Camel Light Championship in 1987, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1988, and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1990!

In addition to competing in road course events throughout the country, Essex Racing was also the importer for Tiga formula and prototype cars from the United Kingdom. The Tiga GT 286 chassis below was one of those brought over to the US market and was campaigned by Essex from 1987 to 1993, which included winning the 1989 IMSA C2 Championship with driver Tom Hessert Jr. at the wheel.

Here is chassis #322 in its current form after a restoration by the current owner, a car collector in Switzerland.

Below is a shot of the Essex Racing hauler with two Tiga cars at left, along with two of the later Spice chassis prototypes on the right side.

Here's an image from what looks to be pit lane at one of the races, with crew attending to the car and driver.

It might be hard to imagine now, but back then, Buick was heavily involved in motorsports. Their renowned 3-liter V6 engines provided ample power for the these lightweight prototypes, even without a turbocharger.

Below you can see part of the brake system on chassis #322, provided by none other than AP Racing!

If you'd like to see more of this unique car, or perhaps even purchase it for yourself, check out the vehicle listing on Racecarsdirect.com.