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Originally Posted by Jesper OH
It has been around the block that Dick Johnson was looking into produce a prototype Falcon for eventual Group A homologation around the Australian switch to the international class in 1985. As apparently no V8 was in production at the time, a six-cylinder Turbo version was considered, but never came of the ground. Much later – probably 1991/1992 – Dick Johnson was looking into the possibilities of the yet to be homologated Ford Escort RS Cosworth, in a way of beating “Godzilla”, but with the advent of the new 5 liter V8 supercars for 1993 it came to nothing.
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Ford Australia, with Johnson's help, got as far as building prototypes of the XF Turbo. However, for reasons previously stated in the other thread, they did not proceed.
In regards to Johnson investigating the possibilities of racing a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, this was reported in Auto Action not long after the car was announced. I think Johnson always planned to be racing a Falcon V8 again after the Sierra - but as the competitiveness of any Falcon was going to be down to the exact rules that CAMS chose for its Group A replacement, the Escort was being considered as an alternative. Of course CAMS went down the V8 Supercar path, and the Falcon was one of only two cars that could be competitive in the new catagory.
What always surprised me is that none of the Australian teams investigated the possibility of running a Sapphire RS Cosworth 4WD. This car was homologated in late 1990 (?) for rallying.
I can only guess that the reason the Sapphire 4WD was never raced in Group A circuit racing was that I doubt it could use exactly the same engine as the RS500. I believe the engines would have been subtely different to each other to suit the demands of greater low down torque in rallying. I guessing the Sapphire had a different turbo and other changes. I know the factory rally Sapphires had a lot less horsepower than the RS500 track cars.
However, I wonder if CAMS would have entertained a compromise and allowed the RS500's engine to be used in the Sapphire 4WD? Since the Sapphire would have weighed less than the GT-R and had similar power, the GT-R would have faced serious competition.
I know the Sapphire 4WD was raced in Group N circuit racing, particularly in Britain.
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Originally Posted by Jesper OH
Just checked up on the homologation of the Group A Holden Commodore VK V8 #A5282, which brought another surprise. Despite a lot of running with the Commodore during the 1985 Australia Group A season, the car was only homologated by FIA on January 1986! I have read a few passages were homologation problems were hinted at during ‘85, but nothing like the car wasn’t even properly homologated. Can anyone explain this?
Jesper
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I can answer this one. When Group A raced was first introduced to Australia none of the local manufacturers had suitable cars that could homologated - mainly because they didn't build them in the required numbers. So, for the first two years of Group A racing in Australia, CAMS allowed the local homologation of Australian produced cars if just 1,000 cars had been built. This was to allow the local manufacturers enough time to build the 5,000 cars necessary for FIA homologation.
This was how the VK was homologated for the 1985 season. Holden had built less than 5,000 Commodore VK V8s by January 1985 (the VK was introduced in mid 1984), so it couldn't be homologated by the FIA. More than 1,000 had been built however, so it was homologated by CAMS under the special dispensation given to allow Australian manufacters to compete - however it could only race in Australia and New Zealand under this dispensation.
The 1985 car was based on the Commodore SL and initially it had a 5,044cc (308 cu in) V8 which placed it in the over 5,000cc class and meant it had to race at 1,400kg. With that much weight and only just over 300 bhp and a 4-speed gearbox to start with, its surprising that the Mobil Holden Dealer Team ever got it close to the ATCC front runners at all.
By August 1985, CAMS allowed local homologation of a small bore 4,980 cc (304 cu in) version of the Holden V8 engine and a 5-speed gearbox. This was just in time for Bathurst. The car immediately dropped down to 1,325 kg as it was now in the under 5,00cc class. I don't think they got much more power out of it at this stage, but somehow Brock nearly pulled off a podium and even a possible win at the 1985 Bathurst 1000.
By the end of 1985 Holden had produced more than 5,000 Commodore VK saloons fitted with the 4,980 cc V8 engine. It had also built 500 evolution Commodore VK Group A road cars, which had stronger roller rockers in the engine and much more power, plus the necessary front and rear wings for more downforce. The racing versions now had over 400 bhp.
The Commodore VK Group A made its debut at a round of the New Zealand Touring Car Championship held to support the 1986 New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe. Graeme Bowkett's HDT built Sleepyhead backed car was upgraded to the evolution specs in time for the race, and grabbed pole position ahead of David Oxton in the ex-Rouse Sierra XR4Ti and then went on to win. Denny Hulme also ran the gold AC&B Commodore VK in evolution spec in the same race. Of course, later in the month, Brock & Moffat won the Wellington street race and John Harvey and Neal Lowe won the Pukekohe 500.
It is worth noting that if Ford Australia was only considering building 1,000 Falcon XF Turbos - so if the Falcon Turbo had eventuated it would have been homologated under the CAMS dispensation.
Also, at one stage Nissan Australia was apparantly giving consideration to homologating the locally built Nissan Pulsar ET Turbo (which used the 1.5 litre turbo engine from the EXA Turbo) under the same CAMS dispensation. If the Pulsar ET had been homolagated, I expect it would have given some competition to the Alfa GTV6s in the 2,500cc class.