Group Cs being built into other cars

[Dan Rear]

We've had various posts about old Group 6 Sports racers being modified into GTs/Superloons, eg the De Cad into the DFVW.

Were any Group C racers ever treated in the same way ? I can't think of any, but I'm sure some must have been modified over the years.

[simon drabble]

I know of a Gp C which was turned into a Thundersports car, a Grid, it is still in the Thundersports configuration (ie open sports) although currently dismantled

[jminsh]

I don't know if this counts but Supervan had a Ford C100 chassis and runing gear underneath .

[Jesper OH]

Sometime during the 1980's a Tiga chassis was build into a Skoda Silhouette car in Britain. Around 1990, that very same chassis was rebuild into a C2-Tiga for no less a race than Le Mans.

Can't remember the name of the driver/owner (I think it was the same owner, both in Skoda an Tiga C2-configuration).

Jesper

[Jeremy Jackson]

That was Alistair Fenwick. Roy Baker's Tiga GC286-336, updated to 289 spec and re-numbered 368. I don't know that his Skoda was built on that particular Tiga though, as Roy Baker raced the car in 1989 after it's rebuild, when Fenwick drove his Rover engined Skoda-Tiga aswell, and Fenwick raced 368 at LM in 1990.

[Nordic]

The WSC Porsche that Joest used to good effect at Le Mans started life as a Grp C TWR jag.

[stuart05]

There was an advert in Autosport recently for a "Can-Am" Porsche 962.

[Adam43]

Originally posted by Nordic
The WSC Porsche that Joest used to good effect at Le Mans started life as a Grp C TWR jag.

A few others had their tops chopped off to continue in sportscar racing (amongst other alterations).

[gert]

Some of the Porsche 962's were converted to road (non-racing) versions.

OTOMH: At least one of the FromA-cars, one of the Thompson-built Brun cars, some of the cars owned by Schuppan...

[paulzinho]

Wasn't the Dauer Porsche a converted Group C car, or at least a convert for purposes of satisying entry rules.

[gert]

Originally posted by paulzinho
Wasn't the Dauer Porsche a converted Group C car, or at least a convert for purposes of satisying entry rules.

I think they were.
IIRC 3 of the 962-Porsches were converted into Dauer Porsches.

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by paulzinho
Wasn't the Dauer Porsche a converted Group C car, or at least a convert for purposes of satisying entry rules.

Bending them, you mean......

[driftwood]

the Fenwick skoda Tiga racer was i beleive first used on the hills with Mike Kerr & Mobil sponsorship then raced by Fenwick in Coombe gt series then sold to i think George douglas for coombe then sold to Erling jensen raced as skoda then
converted to esprit V8 for coombe series
it was in an accident and never saw the light of day again as a GT car
i believe the chassis has been rebuilt for use again as a c2 car but not running yet

don wood also had tiga c2 based ferrari p4 replica with dfz fitted
that car was shunted in 90-91 Brighton speed trials and never saw the light of day again but the chasis is now rebuilt and racing as a C2 tiga again
most 2 seater GT special saloon cars of the 80`s where S2000 based cars as theGp 6 2 litre sports chassis where now being re converted to historic race cars
the single seater GT cars where F2 based chevrons 1 march 822 esprit and 1 or 2 march f3 based cars with 2 f5000 cars making up 2 or 3 cars

Super van 2 was in deed C100
clocked over 170 mph at silverstone -driver noted it was unstable at this speed !!
super van 3 was HB engined f1 brabham based machine
there is no truth in the rumour that mclaren turned andrea de cesaris cars into reliant robins even though he gave them plenty of inspiration
Frank Carson inspired the wheelie popping JCB

Porsche 962 road cars
Schuppan made 3 or 4 road cars aimed at the japanese market just as the world recession came into effect & ending his business

Dauer raced 1 at le mans and sold a few as customer road cars as they where a cheap car then to work from as Gp c was finished
Spice and porsches had the roof chops for usa races to compete against the puprose built Riley Scot & matrix race cars and 1 Jag was chopped for interserie now re fitted as a Group C car

[Jeremy Jackson]

The Mike Kerr / Alistair Fenwick Skoda was built on the orignal Tiga GC83, I think, later raced by Tim Lee-Davey, chassis 250.

The Matrix WSC car was a converted Nissan NPT90 GTP chassis. The car is back as a Nissan and runs in Historic Group C with Nick/Chris Randall.

Dauer raced 2 at LM 94, with a third as a spare. Origjnal chassis were 169, 173 & 176, becoming chassis GT001, 002 & 003 respectively.

[gert]

And the Schuppan Team converted 962-123 to Schuppan Porsche 962CR (the road model)

[Dan Rear]

Jeremy, didn't the Tiga GC83, -250, go to France after TLD ? Can't remember the drivers/team offhand, or was it Vetir Racing or somesuch... Did it come back here then for Fenwick ?? It certainly had a very full and interesting history.

[Jeremy Jackson]

Yes, Vetir raced it 1987-88.

It obviously wasn't 250, but I saw Kerr's car at an Autosport show and I think it was said to be this chassis. But since you mention it, the timing would be wrong, because Kerr was using it in 1987-88.

Shouldn't always believe what you hear... So which Tiga was under there?

[Dan Rear]

Jeremy, I suspect a S2000 tub, or maybe one of the 'TS' Thundersports ones ???

[Jeremy Jackson]

Dan,

Yes, possibly, but I'm still thinking it was reported as a Group C chassis. But again, probably an error, if Kerr was using it in 1987, there weren't too many redundant Group C Tigas at that point.

Can't remember when Kerr first used it in 1987, but 250 may have had a new tub in May-June, as it was badly damaged when it tripped Oscar Larrauri up at the Silverstone 1000ks. The car was rebuilt just in time for LM in June. That accident happened in front of me, and I can vouch for the fact that it was pretty badly damaged.

So maybe there was a spare, damaged tub lying around?

[driftwood]

trust me it was c2 tub ive seen it bent after esprit body car shunted
then when it was repaired
i have an inkling it went to usa:confused:

[Garry Holmes]

Didn't Rob Birley have a 962 engined Sierra for Thundersaloons ? I never saw it race but I did read an article in Autosport.

[KA]

That car's been mentioned on here a few times recently- try this thread for more details, and a pic or two:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...n&pagenumber=2

[KA]

Originally posted by Jeremy Jackson
The Matrix WSC car was a converted Nissan NPT90 GTP chassis. The car is back as a Nissan and runs in Historic Group C with Nick/Chris Randall.

How many Nissans got the 'Matrix' treatment to run as a WSC? There was a piece on Dailysportscar a couple of weeks back on the Randall car, which included photos of it in it's Matrix guise, during it's abortive attempt to qualify for Le Mans in 97 (Robin Donovan/Bernard de Dryver/Tim Richardson). Is this the same chassis that Robin Smith campaigned intermittently in ISRS/SRWS/FIASCC races around 1999/2000, or a different one- the DSC piece makes no mention of this, which is what made me wonder about more than one car being converted?

[Jeremy Jackson]

yes, I saw the dsc article; According to John Starkey's book, a couple more unused NPT90 chassis (08 & 09) were sold to Matrix Motors, and one of these would be the 1997 LM chassis.
Randall's chassis is quoted as /14, "Spider for UK series".

[Jeremy Jackson]

Having said that, Starkey's books have been known to have inconsistencies & errors, his 930-935 book a case in point. To illustrate this, Chris Randall offered his chassis for sale at some point a while back, quoting it as chasiss 15... and as Randall is quoted in the dsc article as saying this is the 97 LM chassis, I would guess chasis 08 or 09 may still have become actual built-up race cars, and one may have gone to Robin Smith...

Smith also entered a Ferrari-engined ex-Nissan, called a X-250, in a couple of races, Sebring 97, and the Donington ISRS in 1998. I saw it it's garage at the Donington event, but it didn't move much further over the weekend. So I would think he had perhaps the 2 ex Matrix cars.