The simple fact of lining up at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is enough for a car to become immortal...but first you have to qualify! With a best lap of 136 kph average, the Mig would be unable to do so. 

The surprise appearance when the 1993 entry list for the 24 Hours of Le Mans was released: in addition to the presence of Peugeot, Toyota and Porsche, the list contains the name of a car completely unheard of and built in the country of Georgia by a company known for its jet airplanes: Mig. Against all expectations, the mysterious car shows up for the preliminary tests (precursor to the Test Day) on May 16. Knowledgeable onlookers will recognise the car instantly as the Centenari project developped in Monaco by Fulvio Ballabio, 5th place finisher at Le Mans in 1986.  The car appears to be completely original, with leather upholstery and ashtray included.

But it's a totally new version that appears at scrutineering in June. The twin-turbo V12 making 550 hp taken from the Lamborghini Countach was replaced with a "real" racing engine from Italian specialist Motori Moderni and makes 720 hp. The bare cockpit and stickers on the bodywork finish off the work. During the practice sessions, the car continues to create a buzz, to the point of being the main subject for a nightly news piece of television. But the adventure is already turning into a nightmare ! Although the Georgian GT can reach speeds of up to 350mph in a straight line, the corners are torturous on the car.  " The chassis is twisting everywhere and it's making the gears jump out,"  deplored one of the drivers, Philippe Renault. His teammate Gianpierro Consonni is unable to turn a lap faster than 5'59", compared to 3'25" of the polesitter (Peugeot 905) and even the 4'06" by the fastests GT (Porsche 911 SLM). It's even slower than the 4'53"88 realised by the road car in May !

The only car not to qualify in 1993, the Mig reappeared that same year at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga finishing 23rd, 93 laps behind the winner. In 1996, French constructor Mega bought the rights to the GT which would take on the name Monte-Carlo but would never make it into production.

Julien HERGAULT/ ACO - Translation by Rainier Ehrhardt / ACO