Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976, Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal
silhouetteA silhouette racing car is a race car which, although bearing a superficial resemblance to a production model, differs mechanically in fundamental ways. The purpose of silhouette cars is to provide a manufacturer with a tangible link to their consumer product offering so as to derive maximum...
formula based on homologated production vehicles.
1st Generation Group 5 – “Special Touring Cars" (1966 to 1969)
In 1966 the FIA introduced a number of new racing categories including one for highly modified touring cars, officially known as Group 5 Special Touring Cars. The regulations permitted vehicle modifications beyond those allowed in the concurrent Group 1 and Group 2 Touring Car categories . Group 5 regulations were adopted for the
British Touring Car ChampionshipThe British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
from 1966 and for the
European Touring Car ChampionshipThe European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organized by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
from 1968 .
The Special Touring Cars category was discontinued after the 1969 season.
2nd Generation Group 5 - “Sports Cars” (1970 to 1971)
For the 1970 season, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to the Sports Car class which had previously been known as
Group 4 Sports CarsThe Group 4 racing class referred to regulations for cars in sportscar racing, GT racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The Group 4 class was replaced by Group B for the 1983 season.-Production requirements:...
. The minimum production requirement remained at 25 and the engine capacity maximum at 5 litres as had applied in the superseded Group 4.
Group 5 Sports Cars contested the FIA’s
International Championship for MakesThe 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,...
in 1970 & 1971, alongside the 3 litre
Group 6 Prototype Sports CarsGroup 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two-Seater Racing Cars class from 1976 to 1982.-Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars :...
.
During 1970 the FIA decided to replace the existing Group 5 Sports Car category when the rules expired at the end of the 1971 season, so the big 917s and 512s would have to be retired at the end of that year. Surprisingly, Ferrari decided to give up any official effort with the 512 in order to prepare for the new 1972 season regulations. But many 512s were still raced by private teams, most of them converted to M specification. As a result of the rule change, sports car racing popularity suffered and did not recover until the following decade, with the advent of
Group CGroup 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....
which incidentally were forced out of competition in favour of the 3.5
atmo engine formula, reminiscent of events nineteen years previous.
Background to the 5 Litre Sports Car category
In an effort to reduce the speeds generated at
Le MansLe Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans....
and other fast circuits of the day by the unlimited capacity Group 6 Prototypes such as the 7 litre Fords, and to entice manufacturers of 3 litre Formula One engines into endurance racing, the Commission Sportive Internationale (then the independent competition arm of the FIA) announced that the new International Championship for Makes would be run for Group 6 Sports-Prototypes limited to 3 litre capacity for the four years from 1968 through 1971.
Well-aware that few manufacturers were ready to immediately take up the challenge, the CSI also allowed the participation of 5 litre Group 4 Sports Cars manufactured in quantities of at least 50 units. This targeted existing cars like the aging
Ford GT40The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 . It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari...
and the newer
Lola T70The Lola T70 was built for sports car racing, popular in the mid to late 1960s. Developed by Lola Cars in 1965 in Great Britain, the T70 was made for endurance racing. In 1966, the open-cockpit Mk II version with a Chevrolet V8 engine was an entry in the CanAm series, winning five of six races...
coupe.
In April 1968, the CSI announced that, as there were still too few entries in the 3 litres Group 6 Prototype category, the minimal production figure to compete in the Group 4 Sport category of the International Championship of Makes would be reduced from 50 to 25 starting in 1969 through to the planned end of the rules in 1971. This was mainly to allow the homologation in Group 4 of cars such as the Ferrari 275 LM and the
Lola T70The Lola T70 was built for sports car racing, popular in the mid to late 1960s. Developed by Lola Cars in 1965 in Great Britain, the T70 was made for endurance racing. In 1966, the open-cockpit Mk II version with a Chevrolet V8 engine was an entry in the CanAm series, winning five of six races...
which had not been manufactured in sufficient quantities to qualify (unless, in the case of the Lola T70, the open Can-Am cars were counted as well).
Starting in July 1968, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to take advantage of this rule. As they were rebuilding race cars with new chassis every race or two anyway, they decided to conceive, design and build 25 versions of a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory in the
24 Hours of Le MansThe 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, Sarthe, France...
. In only ten months the
Porsche 917The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 litres, the long-tailed version was capable of a 0- time of 2.7 seconds and a top speed of over .All of the 917 verisons in...
was developed, based upon the
Porsche 908The Porsche 908 was a racing car from Porsche, introduced in 1968 to continue the Porsche 906/Porsche 907/Porsche 910 series of models designed under Ferdinand Piech....
, with remarkable technology: Porsche’s first 12-cylinder engine, and many components made of titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys that had been developed for lightweight hillclimb racers. Other ways of weight reduction were rather simple, like a gear lever knob made of
BalsaBalsa is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to 30m tall. Balsa trees are native from southern Brazil and Bolivia north to southern Mexico however Ecuador has been the primary source of commercial Balsa. In recent years some Balsa has been plantation grown...
wood.
When Porsche was first visited by the CSI inspectors only three cars were completed, while 18 were being assembled and seven additional sets of parts were present. Porsche argued that if they assembled the cars they would then have to take them apart again to prepare the cars for racing. The inspectors refused the homologation and asked to see 25 assembled and working cars.
On April 20
Ferdinand PiëchFerdinand Karl Piëch is an Austrian automobile engineer and manager. He is a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, and son of Louise Piëch .Piëch was the winner of the award of Car Executive of the Century in 1999....
displayed 25 917s parked in front of the Porsche factory to the CSI inspectors. Piëch even offered the opportunity to drive one of the cars, which was declined.
During June 1969,
Enzo FerrariEnzo Anselmo "the Commendatore" Ferrari Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian race car driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari car manufacturer.- Life and career :Born in Modena, Enzo Ferrari grew up with...
sold half of his stock to
FIATFiat S.p.A., an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial and industrial group based in Turin in the Piedmont region. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli. Fiat has also...
, and used some of that money to do what
PorschePorsche SE is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury high performance automobiles, which is majority-owned by the Piëch and Porsche families. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG , often shortened to Porsche AG, is responsible and manufacturer of the Porsche automobile line...
did 6 months earlier with the 917, to build 25 cars powered by a 5 litre V12 in order to compete against them. With the financial help of Fiat, that risky investment was made, and surplus cars were intended to be sold to racing customers to compete for the 1970 season. Within 9 months Ferrari manufactured 25 512S cars.
Ferrari entries only consisted of the factory cars, tuned by SpA SEFAC and there were the private cars of
Scuderia Filipinetti, N.A.R.T., Écurie Francorchamps, Scuderia Picchio Rosso, Gelo Racing Team and
Escuderia Montjuich which not receive the same support from the factory. They were considered as field fillers, never as candidate for a win. At Porsche, however, JWA Gulf, KG Salzburg who were then replaced by
Martini RacingMartini Racing is the name under which various motor racing teams raced when sponsored by the Martini & Rossi distillery that produces Martini vermouth. Martini's sponsorship program began in 1968...
for the following season, received all direct factory support and the privateers like
AAW Shell Racing and
David PiperDavid Piper is a British former Formula One and sports car racing driver from England. He participated in 3 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 July 1959. He scored no championship points....
Racing received a much better support than Ferrari's clients.
The 917 instability problem was resolved with a revised rear hatch, which was called 917K (Kurzheck). There was a long tail version known as the 917LH (Langheck). Towards the end of the 1970 season,
FerrariFerrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1928 as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles in 1947 as Ferrari S.p.A....
entered some races with a new version of the 512, the 512M which had a revised bodywork
3rd Generation Group 5 – “Sports Cars” (1972 to 1975)
For 1972, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to what had previously been known as the Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars category. These cars, now officially Group 5 Sports Cars, were limited to a 3 litre engine capacity and were to be the main competitors in events counting towards the FIA's newly renamed
World Championship for MakesThe 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,...
from 1972 to 1975. Unlike the old Group 5, there was no minimum production requirement.
4th Generation Group 5 – “Special Production Cars” (1976 to 1982)
For the 1976 season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 "Special Production Car" category, allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4. These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then the
World Endurance ChampionshipThe 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,...
in 1981 & 1982. The FIA rules restricted the width of the car, therefore cars were built with standard body widths but wide mudguard extensions. The rules however did not mention headlight heights, therefore when Porsche originally were to enter the
935The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 turbo prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules. It was an evolution of the Porsche Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype which had scored 2nd overall in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans....
with the production headlight, they read the rules and discovered the loophole, therefore they raced the 935 with the trademarked flat nose. The category was also mostly associated with the wide boxy wheel arches and extravagant body style.
The category would be banished after 1982 in favour of the
Group BThe Group B referred to a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rally racing regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the quickest, most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built. However, a series of major accidents,...
regulation, but did continued to compete in
JSPCThe , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
, IMSA GTX category and other national sports car racing championships for a few more years. The only non-circuit events that used Group 5 cars were in the Giro D'Italia Automobilistico rally.
In
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the wide arch boxy with extended front spoiler body style is still favoured amongst
bōsōzokuis a Japanese subculture associated with motorcycle clubs and gangs.They were first seen in the 1950s as the Japanese automobile industry expanded rapidly. The first bōsōzoku were known as kaminari-zoku...
car drivers, impersonaters of the former and fans of the body style, who usually build a more over exaggerated body style.
1st Generation
- Abarth 1000 TC
Abarth is an Italian racing car maker founded by Italian-Austrian Karl Abarth in Turin in 1949.- History :In the 1960s, Abarth & C. S.r.l was quite successful in hillclimbing and sports car racing, mainly in classes from 850cc up to 2000cc, competing with Porsche 904 and Ferrari Dino...
- Alfa Romeo 1600 GTA
The Alfa Romeo GTA is a coupé automobile manufactured by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1965 to 1971. It was made for racing and road use....
- BMW 2002
- Ford Escort Twin Cam
- Mercedes Benz 300SEL
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 started out as a private venture in 1966 by company engineer Erich Waxenberger, which culminated in the world's first "Super Saloon" or Q-car.- Concept :...
- Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. The famous, distinctive, and durable design is notable for being rear engined like the Porsche-designed Volkswagen Beetle it had been based on. The car was also air-cooled until the introduction of the all-new Type 996 in 1998...
2nd Generation
- Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a racecar that gave Porsche its first overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. Powered by the Type 912 flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5 litres, the long-tailed version was capable of a 0- time of 2.7 seconds and a top speed of over .All of the 917 verisons in...
(includes the Kurzheck (K), Langheck (LH), widebody shortnose 917/20)
- Ferrari 512M/S
Ferrari 512 S was the designation of 25 five litre sports cars built until January 1970, related to the Ferrari P sports prototypes. The V12-powered cars were entered in the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season by the factory and private teams...
- Lola T70
The Lola T70 was built for sports car racing, popular in the mid to late 1960s. Developed by Lola Cars in 1965 in Great Britain, the T70 was made for endurance racing. In 1966, the open-cockpit Mk II version with a Chevrolet V8 engine was an entry in the CanAm series, winning five of six races...
- Ford GT40 Mk 1
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 . It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari...
3rd Generation
- Ferrari 312P
The Ferrari 312P was a sports prototype racing car launched by Italian carmaker Ferrari in 1969. It was part of the Ferrari P series of sports prototypes....
- Matra
Mécanique Avion TRAction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry which from 1994 was a subsidiary of Lagardère Group and which now operates under that name....
-SimcaSimca was a French automaker and marque, founded in 1934 by Henri Théodore Pigozzi . Simca was originally affiliated with Fiat, but later, after a period of independence, when Simca bought Ford's French branch, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group, in 1970 becoming a part of...
MS670
- Mirage
The Mirage race cars were built by J.W. Automotive at Slough in England to compete in international sports car races in the colours of the Gulf Oil Corporation....
M6
- Alfa Romeo T33TT/12
- Renault Alpine A442
The Renault Alpine A442 is a sports prototype racing car, designed and built by Alpine, but funded and powered by Alpine's owners Renault, specifically to contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Variants were entered for the event in 1976, 1977 and 1978. An A442B finally won the race on the third...
4th Generation
- Porsche 935
The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 turbo prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules. It was an evolution of the Porsche Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype which had scored 2nd overall in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans....
(includes the 935-77, 935-78 known as the Moby-DickMoby-Dick is a classic novel published in 1851 by American author Herman Melville. Originally misunderstood by contemporary audiences and critics, Moby-Dick is now often referred to as "The Great American Novel" and is considered one of the treasures of world literature...
and the customer KremerKremer Racing is a former motorsports team based out of Cologne, Germany founded by racing driver Erwin Kremer and his brother Manfred. They have competed internationally with Porsches for nearly all of their existence, and were even one of the factory-backed squads for many years...
K3 and K4 and the JLP variation)
- BMW 320i
BMW E21 is the body designation for the first BMW 3 Series compact executive car, produced by the German automaker BMW from 1975 to 1983. This series was the immediate successor to the BMW 2002 and was superseded by the BMW E30 platform....
- Toyota Celica Turbo A22 (1st generation)
- Toyota Celica Turbo A45 (2nd generation)
- Nissan Skyline RS Silhouette Formula
- Nissan Nichira Impul Silvia
The Nissan Silvia is the name given to the company's long-running line of sport coupes based on the Nissan S platform. Although recent models have shared this chassis with other vehicles produced by Nissan , the name Silvia is not interchangeable with the...
- Mazda RX-7 SA22
- Nissan Bluebird SSS Turbo
- BMW 3.0 CSL
The BMW New Six CS is the two-door sport coupé in BMW's New Six line, produced from 1968 to 1975 alongside the four-door BMW E3 sedan....
- BMW M1
The BMW M1 was a sports car that was produced by German automaker BMW from 1978 to 1981.In the late 1970s, Italian manufacturer Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to build a production racing car in sufficient quantity for homologation. The result was sold to the public, from 1978 to...
- Ferrari 512BB
- Lancia Stratos Turbo
The Lancia Stratos HF, widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is an automobile made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for High Fidelity.-History:...
- Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo
The Lancia Montecarlo is a mid-engined sports car which was produced by Lancia in Italy from 1975 to 1982.Cars from the first series, which were produced from 1975 to 1978, were known as Lancia Beta Montecarlos and those from the second series, produced from 1979 to 1982, simply as Lancia Montecarlos...
- Ferrari 512BB LM
- Ford Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three separate automobile models:* The Ford Consul Capri coupé, produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964* The Ford Capri coupé, produced by Ford Europe from 1969 to 1986...
- Ford Escort
Over the years, the name 'Ford Escort' has been used for several models.For more information, see:* Ford Escort Estate Car* Ford Escort * Ford Escort...
- Zakspeed Lotus Europa Gr.5
The Lotus Europa or Lotus Europe was a two door mid-engined GT coupé built by Lotus Cars from 1966 to 1975. In 2006 Lotus began production of a totally new, Lotus Elise-derived design, a mid-engined GT coupé named Europa S....
- Greenwood Wide-Body Corvette
1st Generation
- European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organized by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
(1968 to 1969)
- British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
(1966 to 1969)
2nd Generation
- International Championship for Makes
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,...
(1970 to 1971)
- Interserie
Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series....
4th Generation
- World Championship for Makes
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,...
(1976 to 1980)
- World Endurance 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,...
(1981 to 1982)
- Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft or simply DRM as it was known as, was a touring cars and Sportscar racing series...
- IMSA GTX
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...
- All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
- Formula Silhouette - part of the Fuji Grand Championship series
External links