Glickenhaus Wants to Win Le Mans With This New Car

For Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus (SCG), racing at Le Mans has been part of the plan since it began its campaign at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2011. But while its SCG 003 is a triple N24 finisher that’s also spawned an “absurdly great” track-focused road car, SCG founder Jim Glickenhaus never had the budget, nor the FIA’s approval to make the move into LMP1. However, the rules are changing for 2020/2021, and SCG has come up with a plan in light of those developments.

This post was originally published on 7/26/2018 and has been updated with new info on 11/5/2018.

SCG is a tiny company that always seems to have one too many projects on its workbench. But don’t forget, the SCG 003C went from a 35th-place finish at the Nurburgring 24 to coming home 19th in just three years, while the SCG 003S is road-legal all around the world, and it’s being built in numbers as we speak.

SCG’s “volume” car, the 004, and its Baja-conquering brother, the 005 Boot is scheduled for next year, while its recently announced 1960s throwback sports car, the front-engined 006 is paired with the LMP1-style racing car, the 007 for 2020/2021. The question is: can all this be done, given SCG’s limited resources and rather tight timing?

Well, Jim Glickenhaus certainly believes so. Announcing the SCG 007, he said:

While that sounds like a nearly impossible task, one thing is for sure. SCG’s dedication, plus the SCG 003’s build quality and performance, have told us a a great deal about how seriously we should take this upstart. And the answer is very seriously.

Update 11/5/2018:

A month following the FIA revealing the technical details of its 2020/2021 regulations, Glickenhaus confirmed to RACER the 007 will be built to the sanctioning body’s standards.

“We already know enough from the information so far released though to know that this is well within our design and engineering capabilities,” Glickenhaus told RACER. He also confirmed the 007 can be converted to road specification, possibly with just an engine and tire swap.

“I know there will be those that will say that’s impractical… but I believe that this is a key part of the appeal to this, and I believe too that this may be the last time that a car capable of competing at this level will be capable of simple conversion to a road-legal vehicle,” Glickenhaus added. “We’re looking at GM power for the engine, and that is likely to need an engine swap for road legality — the differences in mapping and fuel management would make the race engine impractical. Beyond that though it may be as simple as a change in wheels and tires!”

Though it may sound absurd to drive a car from the factory to the race in a pro-level championship, Glickenhaus seems undeterred. “We’re not afraid of the competition and while I’m sure there will be those that will say we’re out of our depth, we’re not without some success in racing,” he told RACER. “I look forward to lining up with some very big names indeed, and I hope the fact that we are stepping up encourages others to do the same.”


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