GRR

Video: How to restore a 1994 Penske PC-23 IndyCar

22nd January 2020
Laura Thomson

This 1994 Penske PC-23 IndyCar was a pioneer. With a unique Mono-Bump suspension system and a viscous coupling differential, not to mention a turbocharged 2.65-litre V8 engine, the ‘265 D’, it made in excess of 800 horsepower.

The floor generated huge downforce as well, which in turn meant it had more grip than pretty much everything else. And it was driveable, too – so driveable in fact that some drivers, including 1992 Formula 1 world champion and then IndyCar driver Nigel Mansell, became convinced that Penske were running traction control, or so says Patrick Morgan, who restored this PC-23 with his company Dawn Treader Performance.

Despite coming into Morgan’s hands in a sorry state – as a shell with extensive crash damage – the car’s history meant it demanded his attention. 

Briefly driven by Emerson Fittipaldi during the 1994 season, this was primarily a test car, used to fine-tune the next generation of onboard electronics. It was also the first IndyCar that racer Greg Moore drove, when he undertook a two-day test session with Penske Racing's CART team in November 1994. 

After 1994 it was sold to the Bettenhausen team and driven by Stefan Johanssen, and later crashed at the US 500 by Gary Bettenhausen. That was the final time it turned a wheel, which explained the crash damage that Patrick Morgan had to rectify. 

During the four-year restoration, as many components as possible were kept original, while others, such as the wishbones and the rear wings, had to be remade. The biggest challenge, Morgan explains in this beautifully shot video, was reconditioning the carbon-fibre, a lengthy process which involved stripping and re-skinning it. 

All the hard work was worth it, don’t you think?

  • IndyCar

  • IndyCar 1994

  • Video

Classic Car Insurance The Goodwood Way

ENQUIRE NOW
indycar-1994-indy-500-penske-pc-23-paul-tracy-restoration-video-motorsport-images-goodwood-22012020.jpg

Historic

Video: How to restore a 1994 Penske PC-23 IndyCar

22nd January 2020

indycar-2020-texas-scott-dixon-chris-owens-ims-photo-mi-main-goodwood-08062020.jpg

Modern

Scott Dixon wins as 2020 IndyCar season kicks off in Texas

08th June 2020

indycar-2021-long-beach-alex-palou-indycar-champion-barry-cantrell-mi-main-goodwood-27092021.jpg

Modern

Palou clinches IndyCar title as Herta wins at Long Beach

27th September 2021

romain-grosjean-indycar-onboard-laguna-seca-video-goodwood-29092021.jpg

Modern

Video: Intense Laguna Seca IndyCar visor-cam

29th September 2021

indycar-2019-texas-zack-veach-crash-suspension-video-main-goodwood-28102019.jpg

Modern

Video: The 10 wildest saves and close calls of IndyCar 2019

28th October 2019

indycar_sonoma_patricio_o_ward_01112018.jpg

Modern

Video: This is how tricky an IndyCar is to drive first time

01st November 2018

indycar_goodwood_27042017_01.jpg

Modern

Video: IndyCar on-board... Fernando, take note!

27th April 2017

2018_indycar_shakedown_road_america_goodwood_13102017_01.jpg

Modern

Video: What's it like to drive the 2018 IndyCar?

13th October 2017