[Jesper OH]

To the best of my reckoning 18 race meetings were held for Group A touring cars in Australia during 1985. 10 rounds for the Australian Touring Car Championship, including one also counting towards the Better Brakes AMSCAR series, 5 rounds for the Australian Endurance Championship, again including one round also counting towards the AMSCAR series, two stand alone AMSCAR races and finally the Adelaide Grand Prix support race.
Here is my summary of the competing drivers and teams and their cars, based on the results provided by William Dale Jr. and the notes from the annuals Australian Motor Racing Year and for Bathurst. The run down is based on class, then the team (names taken from the Bathurst entry list provided in the 1985 annual), with what ever I can piece together. I guess this is what I'd like to do on the BTCC and Japanese Group A threads as well, but the information are just so much better for the time being, that Australia is the choice. Comments and corrections requested!

Class A, 0-2000 cc

Ken Harrison
Ford Escort Mk. II/RS2000 or Mexico?
Driver and entrant Ken Harrison had been around a long time by 1985, having competed at Bathurst since the 1960s. His Ford Escort was a former Group C car, said to be a Mexico. I have always assumed it was an RS2000, as a Mexico to me means a 1601 cc Escort. The car was numbered 34 for its ATCC effort and by Sandown 64 in yellow/blue colours. This car is likely still around by 2011, as it was for sale a few years ago. From his ATCC appearences at Adelaide and Calder, I guess Ken Harrison was based in either South Australia or Victoria. Ian Wells joined him for the Castrol 500 at Sandown, repeating their '84 partnership at the race.

John White
Isuzu Gemini ZZ
No known base for this driver and team, except being Australian. Isuzu Gemini ZZ based on the Opel Kadett C-type – the last of the RWD variant, dispanded as an Opel in November 1979. 4 door sedan with 1816 cc engine. Raced at the Sandown 500 with Les Szreniawski as #88. No info about drivers and team including residence at the time.
This is likely the same entry that appeared at the Surfers Paradise round of the Endurance Championship, but this is guess work. This is also likely the ”Marlboro” car of 1987, so named by me because of it's white/red colour scheme and to differentiate this car from the red/yellow Gemspares Gemini of Daryl Hendrick during that particular season. I don't know the former life of this car, but Isuzu/Holden Geminis were regular class cars during the latter part of the Group C era, but more standard versions were used in a one make series in Australia around this time.

Bob Holden Motors Manly Vale
Toyota Corolla Sprinter GT
Team presumably based in the northern Sydney suburb Manly Vale, presumably at Bob Holdens car dealership. The Toyota Corolla Sprinter AE86 debuted at the 1984 Bathurst, based on an ex-Brian Hilton rally car. A 3-door coupé numbered 13 for most races, but appeared with 57 for the later endurance races, as always in white/red colour scheme. The team made an appearence for all 18 races during the season and to my knowledge never won! Holden himself made 17 starts with Mike/Michael Quinn doing the driving at the Lakeside ATCC round. Quinn - with Bob Holden the owner of a previous Formula Ford driven by Quinn - as the driving partner for the minor endurance events, but replaced at the major Sandown and Bathurst races by New Zealander Glenn Clark. For the latter race the car sported sponsorship from Redbook Carpets, Feltex, Castrol, Dunlop, J.B.I.(?) as visible trade names.

David Ratcliff
Toyota Corolla Levin GT
By 2011 a Ratcliff Transport Spares – the later entrant name of the team – is situated in Silverwater in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. By 1985 newcomer to touring cars, Ratcliff imported a Corolla Levin from Japan, with Bob Holden building the majority of the car and Davids brother Stuart Ratcliff finishing it at the Ratcliff Transport Spares facility. With Don Smith – presumably having given up on the Ford Mustang – the team and car seems to have made their debut at the Castrol 500 at Sandown, then contesting the Bathurst and Surfers Paradise endoros.

Toyota Team Australia
Toyota Corolla GT/Toyota Corolla Sprinter GT
Based at the Toyota import facility in Melbourne, Victoria, managed by Tony Niovanni. Their Sprinter (3 door coupé) was the car build by the team and debuted at the 1984 Bathurst 1000. This was the car for lead driver John Smith, untill a new TRD build 2 door Corolla arrived for round 4 of the ATCC in Adelaide. This left the old car in charge of Drew Price. These two drivers were put together in the new car for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, where the old car was handled by Ray Cutchie and John Faulkner. In their 10 ATCC races, 5 AEC races and the Adelaide GP support race the team had an unbeaten record of 16 class victories.

Jagparts Racing
Triumph Dolomite Sprint
Car, based on a former Group C car, presumably owned by usual driver Martin Power. I believe this is also the car driven by Lorraine Orchard and Paul Taylor at the Sandown 500, where Power moved over to the fellow Jagparts Gerald Kay Holden Commodore. Car believed to still be around.

Mike Minear
Volvo 360 GLT
Car used for a number of records trials set at Surfers Paradise in 1984. Converted to Group A for 1985 making 10 appearences over the season with Mike Minear driving. Paul Elliot partnered him for the Sandown 500, both having been part of the '84 record run at Surfers.