Too Fast, Too Expensive: How Peugeot's V10 Prototype Won Le Mans and Killed the Championship

The Peugeot 905 with its screaming 3.5-liter V10 engine dominated the final years of Group C, winning Le Mans in 1992 and 1993 with a 1-2-3 podium sweep. Producing over 700 horsepower at 12,500 rpm, the 905 was essentially a Formula 1 car with a roof—and that was the problem. The escalating costs of developing F1-derived engines bankrupted privateers and forced manufacturers like Mercedes and Jaguar to withdraw. By 1992, the World Sportscar Championship collapsed entirely, killed by the very technology that made the Peugeot 905 so devastatingly fast and beautiful.