Built by Eggenberger Motorsport to compete in the European Touring Car Championship in the iconic Texaco colours, this legendary RS500 then went on to win the gruelling Spa 24-hour race 1989. But its incredible achievements on track only tell half the story of this car; the tale since it was retired from official works Group A duties is just as interesting (and, at times, just as bizarre) as any that retell its time from the paddocks in the late Eighties.
To help us untangle the tale we called on the help of RS500 guru and friend of the mag, Paul Linfoot. Paul’s the go-to man when it comes to anything RS500, and even more so when it comes this particular car… Because he now owns it.
But how and when Paul came to become personally involved with the car comes later in the story. For now, let’s start at the beginning.
Paul explains, “Eggenberger Motorsport built six official works cars that would run in the Texaco colours in 1987 and 1988. These has the chassis numbers 99261 to 99263 (the 1987 WTCC cars) and 99267 to 99269 (the 1988 ETCC cars).”
Anecdotally, Paul also explains the missing three chassis numbers ’64, ’65, and ’66 were: Grab Motorsport’s Speedware-livery car (that Klaus Ludwig won the championship in), a Ringshausen-prepared Texaco car, and the Ringshausen Lui-sponsored car – all competing in the DTM series in 1988.
“The story gets complicated if we start to factor them all in, though, so
