The Landar R8 was introduced in the USA through a publication in April 1971 in ‘Competition Press& Autoweek’magazine. Only sketches and a short description of the car were published. It seems that only the chassis was constructed; the bodywork as shown in the publication was never being developed.
Then the R8 project got sidelined, because Landar was active in bicycle constructions and that was booming during the oil crisis.
Landar boss Frank Aston eventually bought the chassis and hired former Broadspeed and Landar engineer Mike Kennedy to prepare a car using a Cosworth FVC engine. A suspension was designed and a Hewland FT200 gearbox got installed. The bodywork was crafted in North London at Grand Prix Metalcraft. It was made of hand formed aluminium; it looked a lot like a Chevron car.
In the workshop in Birmingham Aston finished the car and a first test run was done late 1974. He sold the car in march 1976 to the brothers Heinz and Peter Hardt from Bonn, Germany. They immediately entered the car in the Interserie at Kassel-Calden and finished 14th. The engine expired on the last lap, just when crossing the finish line. The brothers missed the Zolder race, but got time to update the engine to 1975 cc. In Hockenheim, they were 5th on the grid. However for a reason still unknown, the car did not make it to the start on Sunday.
After the season the R8 underwent performance and safety enhancements. That include a new roll bar hoop, front splitter, rear wheel arches, new driver’s seat, improved shift linkage, a gearbox mounted rear wing.
The next race for the Hardt brothers was at Avus in 1977 (P11) and at Wunstorf (P10). On the last race of the season, they finished fifth. That showed the progression.
In 1978 they did only 1 race and in 1979 they did more races of the Interserie championship. An eight place in Hockenheim was the best result.
In 1980, they did only 2 interserie races after which the bodywork was again modified. They now fitted the car with a fully integrated rear wing attached to the original aluminium tail section. The car appeared again at the interserie in 1981.
1979- Landar R8 1981-Landar R8
