Henk Bruekers in Belgium is the owner of T9400 HU23 and he tells us of its very interesting history:
"T9400 HU23, was sold to Dan Gurney's All American Racers on September 24th 1994. This chassis was the first chassis in which a Toyota engine was tested. The older '93 chassis, which AAR used, had a Judd engine.
Toyota's first Indy engine, the Phase 1, was a conventional (Japanese built) engine, and was tested in this Lola chassis during December and spring 1995. Juan Fangio II was the test driver of this chassis for AAR in 1994 and 1995. By that time the Mk-IV Eagle chassis was getting ready and the team could test if this Eagle chassis was as good as a Lola but in the end the Mk-IV never raced.
(Copyright unknown)
Meanwhile Toyota (TRD) developed a new engine, the Phase 2, which was a slim engine, to allow the maximum airstream under the car, and was a structural part with the chassis; this needed a new chassis and underfloor design. However when the engine was ready for testing, new chassis rules were made to slow the cars by blocking the airstream under the car. So in the end much time and money was wasted on an engine-design that had great potential, but suffered on reliability. TRD tried to make this engine better and stronger, so after the Phase 2 came the Phase 2.5, the engine that was used in 1996 in the Mk-V.
(Picture courtesy of Sean Kenealey)
The HU23 was used as a showcar from 1997 till 2010 by Castrol and Toyota; it has the Castrol Jockey livery that Juan Manuel Fangio II used in 1997 on his Mk-V. It still has the Phase 1 engine in the back."
