Johan: To describe the C9 Sauber to me it's just a stunning looking car, awesome to drive.
And so exciting.
Everybody that's seen this car when it was in my garage at home and around, it was a wild thing.
It’s the only one around and it's nice to be different.
One of the main reasons I chose to build the car, was this was the return of Mercedes Benz
after having that huge accident in 1955.
They pulled out of motorsport. They came back in 1989 and they dominated completely with this car.
They won Le Mans, they won the World Sports car Championship.
Totally dominant and it was an unbelievable achievement for a manufacturer
to be out of motorsport for so long.
It's also got the most beautiful lines. It’s just a stunning looking car and it's got an intimidating look.
The silver work in those days, the Silver Arrows it's just got that intimidating look.
So I'm really, really totally passionate about the car.
I'm Johan Ackerman, I am the creator and the builder of the Sauber C9 Mercedes Tribute.
The stages of the build basically took a bit of planning, but I went the economical way using a light metal frame
covered with cardboard. Then using fiberglass on top of that giving me the final fiberglass body,
which is very strong. The chassis I designed myself.
Actually the biggest pain was the roof profile.
I must have cut the roof off probably about four times because it just was not right.
One of the more exciting features it's got head up display,
which gives you speed and temperature and rifts. The motor’s a 3.2 V6 which I’ve added two intervals.
Speed you're looking at 300 plus kilometers an hour, it ends up at around about 230 to 240 kilowatts.
In a car that only weighs just over 1000 kilograms. Which makes it really exciting to drive.
I tried to make it as, as as comfy as possible. The steering is nice, it's detachable,
it's got a dual exhaust system. Should you be driving on the freeway and you want the car nice and quiet,
you push this forward and that was push the exhaust gases through the silencer.
Which makes the car much quieter. Obviously for town use that makes it sound
more real and realistic and nice and loud.
Before I sold the car, I used to drive it regularly. I use that as often as possible.
Beautiful and then very enjoyable.
The new owner firstly didn't fit into the car. So I had to modify the chassis, drop the floor,
move the seat back, drop the seat down.
Mark: When I saw the car, I fell in love with it.
I bought the car without sitting in the car.
Only to find that these 100 kilograms of mass doesn't fit in a little supercar.
It's all about the speed and the handling. You know, that's why we like super cars.
Johan: Absolutely
Mark : And this one's got me.
I have six seven, cars I am a collector. But also I get tired of the same driving in the same old car etcetera.
And this is my latest, to the collection.
I love the lines of the car.
There's not another one in the country like this. And it's nice to be different. Especially when you enjoy
supercars, etcetera.
I'm a petrol head, I love speed, I love Le Mans. So I have one. So I'll use it taking it through to the big car shows.
People that also have a passion for speed and nice cars they can see it and drool over it.
Yeah, I'll keep it. I'll use it weekends, you know. Sunday morning drives with all the other super car clubs.
And come home, give it a spit and polish cover it and leave it for the next week or two.
That's my intention with this, to enjoy it.