Although not ready for the start of the 1989 season, the C3 made its début at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix in the hands of Roberto Moreno and Pierre-Henri Raphanel.

Following a fallout between Enzo Coloni and Subaru, the C3C was developed, once again using the Cosworth DFR; although Gachot was usually able to pre-qualify this version, he never managed to qualify for a race.

[3] However, the car arrived late, and was quite underdeveloped; in particular, it was lacking in straight line speed, which was most noticeable at Monza and Spa-Francorchamps.

[3] This engine, which was of Subaru's typical boxer format, was developed by Motori Moderni, and had originally been intended for Minardi.

[3] The C3 was updated to the C3B specification in order to accommodate the new engine, and was actually quite a major change; for example, the airbox was removed, and replaced by two sidepod-mounted air ducts, which led to the sidepods being taller and longer.

[3] However, after Arrows' Eddie Cheever wiped out the C3 on Saturday, the updated front wing was destroyed, and Moreno struggled until electrical gremlins forced him to retire on lap 11.

[8] By the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix, however, things had improved marginally; Gachot pre-qualified a Coloni for the first time in a year, but was still 30th and last in qualifying proper.

[11] From then onwards, Gachot would regularly pre-qualify his C3C, but never once managed to get through qualifying proper, and Coloni finished the season without ever actually competing in a race.