A rare chapter in BFGoodrich racing history is heading to auction, as chassis HU-2, the Mazda-powered Lola T616 that won its class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on BFGoodrich street tires, is set to be featured at Mecum’s 2026 Monterey Car Week auction. The car is expected to sell for around $300,000, about $100,000 more than its sister car, chassis HU-3.
How BFGoodrich Took Street Tires to Le Mans
In 1984, BFGoodrich set out to demonstrate the capabilities of its T/A radial tires by creating a two-car endurance racing team. The program competed in both the IMSA GT Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The effort grew from an earlier IMSA GTU program in which BFGoodrich tires and a Mazda RX-7 chassis had achieved success. However, the company believed those results were not attracting enough attention.
“The problem was, nobody really cared about any RX-7 doing well,” Chuck Patrick, then a BFG tire engineer, said in a 2005 Vintage Motorsport article about the project. “So the guys in marketing asked, ‘How do we demonstrate that we are really making a fine product?’”
BFGoodrich responded by moving into the FIA C2 class, then the second-tier prototype category in endurance racing. The company contracted racing driver Jim Busby to operate the team, and he selected the then-new Lola T616 chassis.
The Lola T616 Used a Mazda Rotary Engine
The Lola T616 was paired with the 1.3-liter 13B rotary engine from the RX-7. BFGoodrich’s street tires retained the same overall design as their retail counterparts but were reshaped to fit the 13×11-inch front and 13×14-inch rear wheels required by the regulations.
A 3,000-mile testing program was conducted to prepare the tires for competition. Both cars then contested major IMSA races in 1984, including Sebring and Daytona.
The cars were claimed to be the first to run street tires on Daytona’s high banking. Chassis HU-3 also won its class at that year’s Monza 1,000-kilometer race.
HU-2 Won Its Class at Le Mans
The biggest result came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. John Morton, John O’Steen and Yoshimi Katayama drove chassis HU-2 to victory in the C2 class and 10th overall.
The second car, HU-3, was driven by Busby, Rick Knoop and Boy Hayje. It finished third in class and 12th overall.
According to drivers quoted in the Vintage Motorsport article, the tires themselves may not have been the biggest performance factor. The Lola’s engine was less powerful and less fuel-efficient than much of the competition, apart from the factory Mazda 727Cs also competing that year.
The T616 therefore had to be driven relatively conservatively to conserve fuel. Its chassis had also been designed for a heavier, more powerful engine, factors that may have reduced the visible performance differences between its street tires and the purpose-built racing tires used by other competitors.
A Rare Piece of BFGoodrich Racing History
Team BFG’s C2-class victory marked the second consecutive Le Mans class win for a Mazda rotary-powered car. That result helped build momentum toward Mazda’s overall victory at Le Mans with the 787B in 1991.
Whether the 1984 victory actually translated into tire sales is difficult to determine, but the result created an unusual marketing story: BFGoodrich promoted its road tires by putting them through the demands of top-level endurance racing.
Both Lola T616 Cars Survived
Perhaps as notable as the Le Mans result is the fact that both cars from the BFGoodrich program still exist. The Lola T616s are not as widely known as period Group C cars such as the Porsche 956, but their history has been preserved.
Busby and Knoop acquired and restored HU-2 and HU-3 in the early 2000s. Since then, the two cars have made regular appearances in vintage racing.
Now, HU-2 is headed to Mecum’s 2026 Monterey Car Week auction alongside HU-3. The Le Mans class-winning car is expected to bring around $300,000, while its sibling is expected to command roughly $100,000 less.
