AAR History - Continued
Hide TextA part from building chassis, the company has been involved in building motorcycle prototypes, constructed Plymouth Barracudas for the Trans-Am series and adapted Lola sports cars for the Can-Am Championship. In 1983, AAR entered into a long term relationship with Toyota who started their involvement in big league motor racing at around that time.
First the team entered the GTU category of IMSA Sports Car Championship progressing from there to the GTO class capturing the Drivers and Manufacturers Championship in 1987...
Subsequently, AAR designed and built the GTP Toyota Eagle, a car which would become legendary for its looks, speed, reliability and winning streaks: 17 consecutive victories during 1992 and 1993, two Drivers and two Manufacturers Championships, and wins in the endurance classics of Daytona and Sebring
Up to 1988, All American Racers had its own engine department. Engines developed and built included Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, Drake Offenhauser, Coventry Climax, Ford Cosworth, Toyota GTU and GTO and, on a trans-continental basis, work on the 12 cylinder Gurney-Weslake Grand Prix engine.
In 1996, after two years of preliminary development work, AAR re-entered the CART Indy Series. Some very difficult years in a highly competitive environment followed. The Toyota engine development took longer than anticipated by all parties involved and suffered many setbacks in terms of reliability and performance. AAR built various new Eagles for the Champcar circuit. It stayed loyal to Goodyear which in the end proved to be a mistake, as Goodyear did not put the resources into tire development to keep up with Firestone and withdrew from open wheel racing at the end of the 1999 season. At the same time Toyota withdrew their support for AAR, effectively ending a highly successful 17 year relationship, a major set back for the company at the time.
At the dawning of the new century AAR shut down its Champcar program due to inadequate funding, the Eagle no longer on the endangered species list, but now extinct. In the year 2000 AAR fielded a one car Atlantic Team with driver Alex Gurney (one pole, one podium). The team was dissolved at the end of the year, a poetic ending to AAR’s 35 year lasting racing involvement which started with a Gurney and ended with one. Many engineers, mechanics, designers and team managers who are working today in various racing series in the United States and Europe, went through the AAR "university" when they were youngsters starting out in their careers. Eagles are nowadays treasured and highly valued collector’s items and are found beautifully restored in private car collections as well as museums here and abroad.