Best 80's Touring Car??

[Mike_Wooshy]

I'm gonna say the skyline GTR due to it being the last grp a car before they abolished it the group.

[Peter Mallett]

Not sure that was homologated as a Touring Car in the UK or anywhere for that matter. Certainly it was a GT.

[Mike_Wooshy]

aaa okay i thourght it was .... but no worries .

[Frank de Jong]

The Skyline was homologated in Group A - it even had some sort of ETCC program in 1988. Later "Godzilla" versions raced in Group A too, winning Spa for instance - and a lot of races in Australia.
Much later (late 90's), the Skyline raced as a GT500 in Japan. So you're both right...

[Adam43]

If there is a man that knows it'd be you!

I too liked the XJS. Although at the moment I am researchign the 1982 TWR racer - the black, red and white Motul machine. Although this version tended to win or break! I suppose it was the first year of one of Tom's three year plans. Does anyone have any pictures of this car?

Talking of Tom and his tactics. In that year's 24hours at Spa he entered a Capri as an extra car. It was never intended to race, rather just allow them to have more garage space!

[Peter Mallett]

Thanks Frank. Interesting.

[Mike_Wooshy]

Originally Posted by Frank de Jong

The Skyline was homologated in Group A - it even had some sort of ETCC program in 1988. Later "Godzilla" versions raced in Group A too, winning Spa for instance - and a lot of races in Australia.
Much later (late 90's), the Skyline raced as a GT500 in Japan. So you're both right...

i knew it raced in the JGTC up untill last year when the fairlady 350z taken it over .... and knew it wont down under alot but didnt think it won at spa ... thanks

[Frank de Jong]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

If there is a man that knows it'd be you!

I too liked the XJS. Although at the moment I am researchign the 1982 TWR racer - the black, red and white Motul machine. Although this version tended to win or break! I suppose it was the first year of one of Tom's three year plans. Does anyone have any pictures of this car?

The next update of my site (due this or next weekend I hope) will include a few '82 Jag pictures

[Adam43]

Excellent. *rubs hands in anticipation*

[stuart05]

Originally Posted by Frank de Jong

The Skyline was homologated in Group A - it even had some sort of ETCC program in 1988. Later "Godzilla" versions raced in Group A too, winning Spa for instance - and a lot of races in Australia.
Much later (late 90's), the Skyline raced as a GT500 in Japan. So you're both right...

Best Skyline moment of the 80's has to be Glenn Seton in the 1987 Bathurst 1000km on slicks in the pouring rain. The in-car shots of him trying to get the thing across the top of the Mountain are amazing!
Win Percy and (I think) Alan Grice ran in the 1 hour BTCC race at Donington in 1988 as well as the TT and a handful of other ETCC races that year.

[krt917]

Interesting thread - loads of great saloons during the eighties. The most unlikely was probably the Volva Turbo, the best looking either the TWR XJS or BMW 635. The most exciting was the RS500, but the best was probably the M3. Punched above its weight during a period when the heavy metal really was heavy!

[gfm]

Can you guys remind me what year it was that Tom Walkinshaws Jags went to the old Nurburgring and removed the BMW's works trousers in a 6 hour European? Or am I dreaming? I can't get a handle on it. XK saloons or XJSs? Bloody nose for the krauts though.
I went on Rickman Kawasaki to watch.
80? 84 -85?

[Peter Mallett]

Wasn't it '83?

[Frank de Jong]

1982, with the XJS

[Anuauto]

As far as I recall, the Skyline was homologated in Group A but specifically banned from racing in the category in ETCC etc. Illogical perhaps but.....

[racer69]

Wasn't the Nissan Skyline GTR-R32 not officially homologated for Group A until 1990, or at least late in 1989?

By then the ETCC was gone, and countries were either switching to a new class or still in the decision process.

The Skyline GTR didn't appear until halfway through 1990 for the factory team in the ATCC, Mark Skaife led at Mallala with ease on debut until it retired. Version's of this car would presumebly have raced in Japan earlier in 1990, leading me to believe that it may have been homologated either late in 1989 or on January 1, 1990.

I recall reading somewhere that Allan Grice was involved in the early testing and development of the GTR in 1988 when he was still a factory Nissan driver.

It would have been interesting to see how one of the factory GTRs raced in the Australian Touring Car Championship would have gone in the DTM in 1991, when the DTM was at it's peak as was the Nissan GTR (before Australian rule-makers choked it in 1992)

[GTRMagic]

Allan Grice drove a Nissan Motorsport Europe HR31 GTS-R coupe in Group A competition with Win Percy (working under Allan Heaphy of 00 fame)...

The R32 GT-R Skyline was in development in Japan in 1989, but I didnt think Mr Grice was involved anywhere... with Freddo Gibson's factory team here making most of the running, localising that car with Holinger gearbox, local wheels, suspension bits, turbochargers etc etc..

I remember being at Bathurst in 1989 and seeing the beautiful R32 GT-R road car... metallic burgundy... awesome car... which was made into one of the local GT-R race cars at some stage..

But this would make it a 1990s car, not 1980s...

[Mackmot]

Ive done some work on Mike Newman's 635CSi recently and that thing is awesome. It's certainly my favourite of the era.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Allan Grice drove a Nissan Motorsport Europe HR31 GTS-R coupe in Group A competition with Win Percy (working under Allan Heaphy of 00 fame)...

The R32 GT-R Skyline was in development in Japan in 1989, but I didnt think Mr Grice was involved anywhere... with Freddo Gibson's factory team here making most of the running, localising that car with Holinger gearbox, local wheels, suspension bits, turbochargers etc etc..

I remember being at Bathurst in 1989 and seeing the beautiful R32 GT-R road car... metallic burgundy... awesome car... which was made into one of the local GT-R race cars at some stage..

But this would make it a 1990s car, not 1980s...

I think Grice's connection with the GTR is mentioned in a 'Fast thats Past' piece in MRA a while back. I'll have to have a dig for the article though.

The HR31/GTS-R came along too late. It was never going to be a Sierra beater. Grice performed some magic with it in Europe in 1988 (especially at Zolder, the on-board stuff with him battling the Wolf and Egeenberger Sierra's is top viewing), and constant development and handling work saw Jim Richards win two rounds and set-up a championship win in the 1990 ATCC (The GTR finsihed the job for him).

Imagine if Nissan had managed to get the HR31 right for 1987. After seeing what Seton did with the old DR30 in that years ATCC......

It's a pity the Jag's development ended after 1984. It would have been interesting to see how the V12 cat (with continued development) would have handled the Sierra's.

[Gabrio]

Ford Sierra RS500 in black and red livery, with red glowing discs and flames coming out of the exhaust pipes

[P.Cummins]

My favourite BTCC cars of the 1980's were:

Ford Sierra- Tim Harvey (Dont drink and Drive)
VW Golf MK1- Jeremy Rossiter
BMW M3- Frank Sytner

All I can really think of. There are a lot more better ones but I cant think right now.

[jminsh]

[QUOTE=P.Cummins]My favourite BTCC cars of the 1980's were:

VW Golf MK1- Jeremy Rossiter


I'm not convinced he drove a Mk1 in the Btcc he did drive an Astra for Vauxhall and a mk2 Golf GTI 16V in prod saloons 86 - 87 ish

[P.Cummins]

Sorry that was meant to be Astra. I was talking to me da about golfs when I posted that and didnt notice

[johnh875]

A minor technicality but the 4wd Skyline GT-R, nicknamed “Godzilla” here in Australia, didn’t race in the eighties. Group A and the preceding formulae were so much more interesting and entertaining than the categories that have replaced them where you now have a field of virtually identical cardboard cutouts.

A couple of questions spring to mind – did GM/Opel ever field a Group A contender in Europe? If not, why not?

Also, I wonder if there was consideration given to revising the equivalency factor applied to turbocharged engines? Surely that would have been the proper way of dealing with the dominance of the Sierras (& later the Skylines).

[Frank de Jong]

GM and Opel did race Group A cars in Europe: some Holden outings in the ETCC/WTCC; Kadetts and Omega's in the Group A based DTM. All entries without much success here - but fully within the pattern of Opel's touring car history...
The promising Commodore in the 60's and 70's had no succes at all, Kadetts were mostly beaten by Ford and BMW with the exception of Mander's hillclimb car.
I almost forget Opel in the new DTM 2000 - a promising first year but little else.

Don't misunderstand me - I always had sympathy for them and they had some very good-looking cars. It's just a story of missed opportunities and bad luck.