Argo JM19 (Group C2)
The Argo JM19 was C2's plucky contender: Jo Marquart's customer prototype that took World Championship C2 race wins and Le Mans class podiums against Spice and Tiga — now a characterful entry to historic Group C grids.
History
Argo Cars — Huntingdon-based, founded by ex-McLaren/Huron designer Jo Marquart — built customer single-seaters and sports racers through the 1970s–80s, and the JM19 family (1985 onward, evolutions through JM19C) carried its Group C2 campaign: aluminium-honeycomb construction, typically Cosworth DFV/DFL or Zakspeed-adjacent turbo power by customer choice, and running costs pitched at the class's privateer heartland.
Results peaked mid-decade: C2 class victories in World Sportscar Championship rounds (1986's Silverstone-adjacent successes among them), Le Mans C2 podium finishes, and Interserie/national placings as customer teams campaigned the type across Europe and Japan into the class's twilight.
Historic Group C's revival returned the JM19 to purpose: Peter Auto's C2 division and Le Mans Classic welcome the type, where its DFV-commonality running gear (against rivals' odder engines) makes operation unusually rational for the era. Values sit at historic Group C's accessible floor — the informed buyer's route into the ground-effect endurance world without Spice-benchmark pricing.
Palmarès
World Sportscar Championship C2 class wins mid-1980s (Silverstone and continental rounds); Le Mans 24 Hours C2 podium finishes 1986–88 era; Interserie and Japanese sports-prototype placings — the compact record of C2's determined constructor-underdog.
What to check before you buy
Argo's production was small and the Group C registrars document the JM19s — verify chassis identity, evolution state (19/19B/19C) and period entry history there. Honeycomb tub condition needs specialist inspection (delamination, period crash repairs); engine specification varies by car's life (DFV/DFL most supportable — confirm what's actually installed and its rebuild status). Historic Group C eligibility with current papers is the value driver; the type's affordability makes complete, papered, Peter Auto-ready examples the only sensible buy over projects.
Did you know
- Jo Marquart's design CV ran from McLaren's Can-Am era through Huron to Argo — the JM19 carried genuine 60s-70s pedigree into C2's privateer war.
- Argo sold prototypes across three continents from a Huntingdonshire works smaller than most teams' truck fleets — cottage-industry endurance at its purest.
- JM19s ran Le Mans with budgets under the C1 factories' tyre bills — and finished, the class's entire point.
In the marketplace now
View all →No exact Argo JM19 (Group C2) listed right now — here is closely related machinery on the market.
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