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Group C (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Confederation of Australian Motor Sport
The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport , has been the governing body of Australian motorsport since 1953. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile ....
(CAMS) for use in Australian touring car racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with the FIA’s Group C
Group C
Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
sports car regulations, used from 1982 to 1992 for the World Endurance Championship / World Sports-Prototype Championship / World Sportscar Championship
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
and the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
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Group C Improved Production Touring Cars
Group C Improved Production Touring Car regulations were introduced by CAMS in 1965 to replace the Appendix JAppendix J Touring Cars
Appendix J Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for modified, production based sedans. It was the premier form of Touring car racing in Australia from 1960 to 1964....
rules which had been in force since 1960. The Australian Touring Car Championship
Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.-History:The...
was run to these new rules from 1965 to 1972, initially as a single race championship and from 1969 as a multi round series. Group E regulations defining rules for Series Production Touring Car
Group E Series Production Touring Cars
Group E Series Production Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for production based sedans competing with limited modifications. It was current from 1964 to 1972....
racing in Australia had previously been introduced with effect from 1 January 1964.
Group C Touring Cars
Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.-History:The...
and the Australian Manufacturers' Championship
Australian Manufacturers' Championship
The Australian Manufacturers' Championship is a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the winning car manufacturer in a series of races held throughout Australia...
, the later having previously been contested by Group E cars and run over numerous long distance events such as the Bathurst 500
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
. The new Group C classification had been brought about by the media-driven 'Supercar Scare' of 1972 which lead to Ford Australia
Ford Australia
Ford Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. At that time, Ford Canada was a separate company from Ford USA...
, General Motors Holden
Holden
GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
and Chrysler Australia
Chrysler Australia
Chrysler Australia is the importer of Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles for sale in the Australian marketplace. However, there had previously been a "Chrysler Australia Ltd" which had operated as a vehicle manufacturer in Australia from 1951 until 1980....
ceasing direct involvement with the manufacture of high performance production cars for Group E racing. Both Ford and Holden would continue support of touring car racing, although in Ford’s case that would be limited to a single season.
The ATCC had expanded to 11 rounds in 1976
1976 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1976 Australian Touring Car Championship was a series of motor races for Touring cars conforming to the Australia Group C touring car regulations. It was the 17th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. It began at Symmons Plains Raceway on 29 February and ended at Phillip Island...
and 1977
1977 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1977 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing championship open to Group C Touring Cars. It was the 18th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship and it began at Symmons Plains Raceway on 7 March and ended at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 20...
, but the 'Golden Era' often had a thin veneer as uncompetitive small engined cars bolsterred entries for many years. The low point saw just nine cars competing for the Symmons Plains round in 1980
1980 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 21st running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. Peter Brock won his third and final ATCC title, driving a Holden VB Commodore for the Holden Dealer Team.-Teams and drivers:...
. The final three seasons however were plagued by parity arguments and leading teams and drivers campaigning with officialdom over technical regulations that were increasingly losing touch with the original intent of the class. For the 1985 season CAMS replaced Group C with new regulations based on FIA Group A
Group A
In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...
rules which were then in use in the European Touring Car Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
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In addition to the Australian Touring Car Championship, Group C cars also contested the following national title series:
- Australian Manufacturers' ChampionshipAustralian Manufacturers' ChampionshipThe Australian Manufacturers' Championship is a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the winning car manufacturer in a series of races held throughout Australia...
, 1973 to 1975 - Australian Championship of MakesAustralian Manufacturers' ChampionshipThe Australian Manufacturers' Championship is a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the winning car manufacturer in a series of races held throughout Australia...
, 1976 to 1980 - Australian Endurance ChampionshipAustralian Manufacturers' ChampionshipThe Australian Manufacturers' Championship is a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the winning car manufacturer in a series of races held throughout Australia...
, 1981 (this was a manufacturers title) - Australian Endurance ChampionshipAustralian Endurance ChampionshipThe Australian Endurance Championship was first contested in 1981, as a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for car manufacturers. Replacing the Australian Championship of Makes , it was decided over a series of endurance races for touring cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations.In the...
, 1982 to 1984 (this was now a drivers title) - Australian Endurance Championship of MakesAustralian Manufacturers' ChampionshipThe Australian Manufacturers' Championship is a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the winning car manufacturer in a series of races held throughout Australia...
, 1982 to 1984
Class structure
The Bathurst 1000, as it became in 1973, would change several times, reflecting its roots as a race where four or five individual races held simultaneously with no outright winner promoted. The 1973 version began with cut-offs at 1300cc, 2000cc and 3000cc. For the 1977 race the under 1300cc class was abandoned and a 1600cc class was introduced for the 1979 race. After a one off cylinder based system used in 1981, the two smaller classes were removed leaving just under and over 3000c. The capacity based system was abandoned entirely for the final Group C Bathurst race in 1984.
Historic racing
Eastern Creek Raceway
Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsports circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek , New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. The largest museum of historic touring cars available to the public for tour is the National Motor Racing Museum
National Motor Racing Museum
The National Motor Racing Museum is located in the regional New South Wales city of Bathurst, approximately 200 km west of Sydney. The museum is situated adjacent to the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit at the end of Conrod Straight, close to the city.The museums purpose is to display and...
, sited on the outside of Murray's Corner at the Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Bathurst 12 Hour motor race, held each February, and the Bathurst 1000 motor race, held each October...
at Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
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