Group C Sports Cars, the thunder of the '80s

From 19Bozzy92, it is the Porsche 956, the first ever, original Group C prototype that debuted in 1982. This particular car being focused on is a customer model that raced during the 1983 and ’84 seasons.

The 956 in this video is chassis 956-101 which is a very important Porsche: the first ever customer-delivered Porsche 956 Group C car. It was sold in 1983 to Kremer Racing and fielded in both the 1983 and 1984 World Endurance Championships. It also took part in two 24h Le Mans races, ending in 3rd position in the 1983 edition driven by Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Philippe Alliot with the blue Kenwood livery you see in this video.

The car has been restored in its 1983 Le Mans specs, featuring the low drag/long tail rear aero package typically used by Porsche and customer teams for the French race and its long straights. Even if you all know the typical big and tall rear wing which has always characterized both 956 and 962, that’s the short tail/high downforce version of both cars. The ‘Long Tail’ term, ‘Langheck’ in German, comes from the fact that the bodywork portion below the rear wing is way longer than the high downforce version, even if the lenght of the car is probably the same, since the short tail’s rear wing extends far behind the final rear portion of the body.

Since I’ve mentioned the 962, it’s always a bit difficult to understand if you have a 956 or a 962 in front of your eyes, due to the extreme similarity the two cars shares. The most recent 962s are quite easily distinguished, sometimes due to the headlights and generally by the wing (the one detached from the body, in particular, like at 4:24 of the white ‘Le Mans’ 962). The livery can also help too, but some older 962s may still feature the high downforce or the long tail setup and wing taken from the 956, making them looking exactly the same. Apart for what is the main reason the 962 exists: the longer wheelbase that was necessary for Porsche to comply with IMSA safety rules (in the 956 the driver’s feet were ahead of the front axle center line, being too dangerous for the driver in case of a crash). But if you don’t have both the 956 and the 962 close to each other, it’s still hard to spot those extra centimeters. The best method is to check the gap between the door and the front wheel arch, which translates into that blue space between the white square with the number and the actual wheel arch in this case. As you can spot, that blue area is really short on the 956, just the direction indicator light fit inside that space. On the 962 the area would have been of around 25/30cm wider and that’s very noticeable even from the grandstands because there’s a lot more space between the direction indicator light and the front wheel arches.

Here’s a couple of pictures to better visualize it (look at the direction indicator): – 956 (Long Tail):

https://artebellum-v2-mini.s3-eu-west…

-962C (Short Tail):

https://canepa.com/wp-content/uploads…

The Porsche 956 is powered by the Type 935/76 2.65-litre, twin-turbo flat-6 engine that was able to produce up to 630bhp at 8,200rpm in the 1984 956 ‘B’ evolution version.

Watch it in action around Monza Circuit during the 2020 Monza Historic by Peter Auto for the 2nd round of the Group C Racing series.

#Porsche956 #Porsche956LongTail #Porsche956LeMans

From 19Bozzy92, traveling back to the days before Group C, when Group 5 closed cockpit and Group 6 open cockpit sports cars ruled from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. This car, was one of the most significant. The 1976 Alfa Romeo 33 SC 12.

The Alfa 33 SC was built in 1976 in order to replace the succesful 1975 Alfa Romeo 33 TT. The main change was made on the chassis of the car because the one of the 33 TT (TT= Telaio Tubulare or Tubular Chassis) wasn’t able to harness the power of the evolving flat-12 engine. The 33 SC was built on a new monocoque type chassis (SC=scatolato or “Boxed”). In 1977, this wonderful car started in pole position and won every race it entered in the 3000cc Group 6 class of the World Sportscar Championship.

The engine is a 3.0-liter flat-12 with a max power output of 520 hp at 11,500 rpm and rev up to 12,000 rpm. A turbocharged version was also developed and constructed, displacing just over 2.1 litres, and that was able to produce 640 hp. Only two 33 SC Turbo were built and they only did two races.

Watch one of the few 3.0-litre powered car in action during the 2017 and 2018 Historic Minardi Day at Imola Circuit driven by the Italian hillclimb driver Max Comelli. As you may have noticed, the car has a very short gear ratio since it was and sometimes it’s still being used by Max in hillclimb races. In this case it was just a brief parade/free practice session.

#AlfaRomeo33 #AlfaRomeo33SC12 #AlfaRomeo

From 19Bozzy92.

Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification used from 1966 to 1982, redefined and applied to four distinct categories along those years. The first generation of Group 5 regulations defined a category for Special Touring Cars. Then, from 1970 to 1971, the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. For 1972, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to what had previously been known as the Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars category and had a 3-litre engine capacity limit. In its final iteration Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles and it was used from 1976 to 1982.

This 4th generation allowed extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4. The regulations required only the bonnet, roof, doors and rail panel were to be left unmodified and so the category was also mostly associated with the wide wheel arches and extravagant body style. These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then the World Endurance Championship in 1981 & 1982.

The Beta Montecarlo Turbo was Lancia weapon for this silhouette category. It was based on the production 1975 Lancia Beta Montecarlo but of course almost nothing has remained of the road-legal car. The Group 5 Beta was the result of the joint work of Abarth (for mechanics and engine), Pininfarina (for aerodynamics) and Dallara (for chassis and suspensions). In the first development phase, the Abarth mechanics tried to modified and install the four-cylinder boxer of the Lancia Gamma, even in the supercharged version, but it was almost immediately abandoned in favor of a new 1.4259-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine (equal to 1996.3 cm³ according to the 1.4x coefficient for supercharged engines) capable of delivering around 450 hp in race trim of its final 1981 evolution. Engine was linked to a five-speed manual gearbox and the total weight of the car was around 750 kg.

The car was very competitive and successful in its ‘less than 2.0 liters’ class and sometimes it was able to annoy upper-class race cars (Porsche 935 primarily). Lancia also tried to fight directly against Porsche and so for the 1981 season they developed a larger (1773 cc) and twin turbocharged engine. Unfortunately this version was never fully developed, with Lancia already looking ahead to the brand new ‘Group C’ regulations that would come into force in 1982. The larger engined Beta Montecarlo only managed to score points in just one occasion.

In this video you can see 3 different Betas. In particular:

– Martini Racing livery, but without any number. Chassis 1004. I recorded this car during the 2018 Motor Legend Festival at Imola Circuit, driven by Emanuele Pirro for some parade laps in specific and dedicated sessions. Back in the days the car obtained a victory at the Mugello 6 Hours driven by Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever and obtained other successes.

– Jolly Club (Italian flag) livery. Chassis 1006. Only saw this one briefly during the 2016 Imola Classic racing weekend. It was fielded by the Italian team in many events of the 1980 season.

– Martini Racing livery, No. 65. Chassis 1009. The one that you see the most in this video. I recorded it during various events in the last few years driven by historic racer Franco Meiners. It was one of the last Beta Montecarlo Turbos ever built and did both the 1981 and 1982 Le Mans 24h.

0:00 – 7:16 Autodromo di Imola

7:17 – 11:36 Circuit Paul Ricard

11:37 – 17:56 Autodromo Nazionale Monza

#LanciaBetaMontecarloTurbo #LanciaRacing #Group5

This car, of course, actually raced in the smaller displacement, smaller size Group C2 division.

From Belgian-Motorsport on YouTube.

Engine: Cosworth DFL 90° V8 / 3298 cc / 201.3 cu in

Power: 490 bhp / 366 kW @ 9500 rpm

Weight: 780 kg / 1,720 lbs

Event: Spa Classic

Race Series: Group c racing

Track: Spa-Francorchamps

Date: 17-18 may 2019

[quote: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com]

Established by Scottish businessman David Murray in 1951, Ecurie Ecosse was one of the leading privateer racing teams during the 1950s. Victories at Le Mans in 1956 and 1957 were the team’s biggest achievements. The original team ceased operation in 1971. A decade later the rights to the name were acquired by racer Hugh McCaig with an eye on taking the Scottish team back to Le Mans.

The new C285 debuted at the 1985 season opening Monza 1000 km, where it immediately impressed. Mike Wilds and Ray Mallock finished second in class in the race that was curtailed after a tree had fallen on the track. The Ecosse then managed to win the C2 class at Silverstone and scored two more class wins later in the year. At Le Mans, luck was not on Ecurie Ecosse’s side as an oil-pump failure prompted a retirement. In the World Championship, the team was beaten only by Spice Engineering. [/quote]

Filmed with Canon Legria HF G40 + DM-100 microphone

From Belgian-Motorsport on YouTube, another fantastic Porsche 962C from the halcyon days of the Group C (or if your prefer, in the United States, the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype era), racing at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, and Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, in 2018 and 2019.

Engine: 962/72 / Flat-6 / 2 KKK Turbos / 2994 cc / 182.7 cu in

Power: 780 bhp / 582 KW @ 8200 rpm

Torque: 710 Nm / 524 ft lbs @ 5000 rpm

Weight: 900 kg / 1,984 lbs

Filmed between 2018-2019 at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. Race series: Group C racing.

Filmed with Canon Legria HF G40 + DM-100 microphone

From 19Bozzy92.

The Lola T600 was the first closed cockpit prototype to incorporate ground-effect tunnels, the aerodynamic configuration that became standard in Formula 1 in those years, and it was developed following the new IMSA GTP rules introduced in 1981, superseding production-based ‘silhouette’ cars like the Porsche 935.

Starting from a new honeycomb aluminium chassis, it was fitted with a Chevrolet small block N/A V8 engine capable of more than 600hp on a car weighing around 850kg (without fuel and driver). The underbody and aero were developed by aerodynamicist Max Sardou. The car featured rear wheel covers and suspension components tucked out of the venture air stream to maximize down force. Since the car had no side skirts, as used on Formula 1 cars at the time, air was able to enter from the sides, and down force was actually increased as the car slid. The T600 immediately proved to be the one to beat in the IMSA championship.

The actual T600 you see in this video is chassis HU2 and it was purchased by Cooke Woods Racing. HU2 was also one of the only two chassis entered for the 1981 Le Mans 24h, but HU2 was pretty special since the team decided to put inside it a twin-turbo flat-6 engine for the French race. You can read a detailed story about this Lola T600 with the Porsche engine here: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/th… After Le Mans it was fitted with a Chevrolet V8 and entered it in several races in 1983.

Watch it in action around Monza Circuit, during the 2020 Monza Historic weekend, and at Circuit Paul Ricard during the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Dix Mille Tours by Peter Auto!

0:00 – 9:24 Monza Circuit

9:25 – 13:15 Circuit Paul Ricard

#Lola #LolaT600 #GTP

Not necessarily a Group C car or a Group 5 or 6 car. But, a car the embodies the spirit of the sports car racing of the mid to late 1970s and early 1980s. This is the Porsche 935 DP based on a 964 RSR, the 964 variant of the Porsche 911, in RSR, racing spec.

From Belgian-Motorsport on YouTube.

Engine: Boxer-6 NA / 3800 cc / 231.8 cu in

Power: 375 hp / 279.3 kw Weight: 1060 kg / 2336.8 lbs

Drivers: Dirk Towesten (GER) / Mike Towesten (GER)

Race series: PCHC

Date: 2017 Zolder, 2018 Hockenheimring

Filmed with Canon Legria HF G40 + DM-100 microphone

From Belgian-Motorsport on YouTube.

I’ve posted these clips of the 787B before, but they were part of other Mazda video’s. This video is focussed on the 787 & 787B.

Normally if “Le Mans classic” was held in july this year, there would’ve been some demo laps with the Mazda 787B. But as you know the event was postponed to 2021.

Engine: R26B 4-Rotor / 2616 cc / 159.6 cu in

Power: 700 bhp / 522 KW @ 9000 rpm

Torque: 608 Nm / 448 ft lbs @ 6500 rpm

Weight: 830 kg / 1829.8 lbs

Events: 2015 Goodwood FOS, 2013 24 hours of Le Mans

Filmed with Canon Legria HF M46 Canon EOS 7D

A GT sports car, but with a NASCAR motor. Once again, from 19Bozzy92 on YouTube, it is a 1970s (1976-’77) Chevrolet Monza.

The first time my friend Italiansupercarvideo and I saw and recorded this beast was during a rainy qualifying session at Imola Circuit back in 2018. After that, we managed to record it at two editions of the Dix Mille Tours at Circuit Paul Ricard but last weekend, our 4th time, we decided to try to ask to get some on board footage. The coincidence is that this time the Chevy Monza was in Monza, for the 2020 edition of the Monza Historic weekend by Peter Auto.

The car in this video, built and driven by Gilles Ceron of Vintage Garage, is a recreation of the Chevrolet Monza DeKon IMSA (chassis 1006) that took part at the 1976 Le Mans 24h driven by Michael Keyser and Eddie Wachs. Starting from the chassis of a rusty 1975 Chevrolet Monza, Gilles and the guys of his company modify it in order to be suitable to house all the necessary components and be approved to obtain the FIA and FFSA passport.

For the engine they went for a Chevrolet 5.7-litre V8 engine linked to a 5-speed transmission. In the past this engine had Hendrick Motorsport valve covers so it could be a Nascar Chevrolet SB2 engine, able to produce almost 800hp, but I’m not 100% sure about this. What I’m definitely sure is that it really sounds like a Nascar race car!

#ChevroletMonzaIMSA #MonzaIMSA #DeKonMonza

From 19Bozzy92 on YouTube.

This video is about a 1987 Porsche 962 (chassis 962-C04) which I recorded at Monza Circuit during the Monza Historic weekend by Peter Auto, racing in the Group C Racing championship. The 962 was Porsche’s replacement for the 956 and it was built and introduced in 1984 mainly to comply with IMSA’s GTP regulations. In fact the intention of Porsche with their 956 was to run the car in both the World Sportscar Championship and the North American IMSA GTP Championship but IMSA GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was banned in the US series on safety grounds as the driver’s feet were ahead of the front axle center line. The 962 was born starting from a 956 to which the wheelbase was extended in order to move the front wheels ahead of the pedal box. A new steel roll cage was also installed to improve safety.

The 962 quickly became successful through private owners so that they started to modify 962s to suit their purposes and one of the most common practices was to build the cars using stronger tubs. The 962 in this video features the modification of former Lola engineer Jim Chapman who built fresh tubs using aluminum sheets sandwiching a honeycomb structure along with a billet-aluminum rear bulkhead. This dramatically increased the structure’s stiffness, improving both safety and tunability. Many other teams and privateers started to built their own modified 962 chassis, so much so that 962 began to be renamed and differentiated from the original Porsche ones (the ‘C’ in the 962-C04 chassis name it means it’s a Chapman chassis).

Twin-turbo systems wern’t allowed in IMSA’s GTP class at the time and that’s another reason which banned the 956 from the US series. On the 962 the Type-935 2.65-litre twin-turbo flat-6 was replaced by a single-turbo flat-6 with a capacity that varied according to the year and rules (from 2.8 to 3.2-litre). 962-C04 here features a freshly rebuilt air-cooled turbocharged 3.2-liter flat-six making 590hp (after the recent restoration) but that was able to produce up to 700-750hp back in the days.

In 1985, the Group C variant of the 962, called 962C, would debut in the World Sportscar Championship, but ironically the car lost to an older 956. Under pressure from new cars from Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, in 1987 Porsche again brought in a new engine, a more durable and powerful 3.0 L unit which powered the car to an overall win at the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans and to many subsequent successes.

You can read a better and more detailed history of this car at this link: https://www.fantasyjunction.com/sold/…

0:00 – 1:49 Overview

1:50 – 3:01 Start Up & Pit Exit

3:02 – 11:16 In Action on Track

#Porsche962 #Porsche962IMSA #Porsche962GTP