When Sports Cars Were Real
© Janos Wimpffen

Janos explains how GT cars have fitted into Sebring’s history.

As you recall from our last episode, the distinction between sports-racing and production based (i.e., GT) sports cars was not clearly delineated at Sebring prior to 1957. The class awards both before then and well into the 1960s were quite complex. There were displacement divisions roughly every 1000 cc, so that several classes were home to only one or another model. Once the GT / Prototype distinction was made in 1957 the number of classes was effectively doubled as there were awards in each displacement category within the two type of cars. Did you follow all that? - there will be a quiz.

In reality, people tended to lump the cars into larger sets of big bore, middle bore, and small bore groups, making our review more manageable. Although GTs were not a distinct category before 1957, one can easily spot them down the order. The Jaguar XK120 was the road going version of the famed C-type and the 3.4 liter six was popular at Sebring during the early 50s. The Anglo-American hybrid, Allard, while low in production numbers, certainly is comparable to later GTs. An Oldsmobile powered J2 won the largest displacement class in 1954. The Austin-Healey 100 was a common model found among the medium sized cars of that era.

One would expect that since the Corvette’s introduction more or less coincided with the rise of Sebring, that early years would have seen many Chevrolets. However, the first true American production sports car to run at the 12 Hours was a 1955 Thunderbird. Remember, that it was touted to be the Corvette’s marketing and track competitor until Ford changed course. Four very stock Corvettes did run in 1956, beginning an association with the race that continues today. There have been 210 Corvettes of various descriptions on the starting grid through 2002.

A John Fitch entered Corvette was the first GT car home in 1957 when the field was initially split between the different types of cars. Washington dentist Dick Thompson and Gaston Andrey were the drivers. During those years there was sometimes the odd gull-winged Mercedes 300SL or two in the lineup, but the late ‘50s are better remembered for the appearances of the revered Ferrari 250 GT, both in long and short wheelbase form. Indeed a three-liter Ferrari defeated the Corvettes in 1958. This would not be an unusual occurrence as the large American cars had a habit of running out of brakes. Of course, there did remain the minor displacement class awards, so that Ferrari may have won GT overall, but it was running in the three liter group while the Corvettes were in the five-liter gang.

During the late 50s and early 60s there were a few other semi-large engine cars that made forays at Sebring, but with little success. These included big Healeys such as the 3000 and the Aston Martin DB4GT. It was definitely an era of the Ferrari in GT racing. A beautiful California Spyder won in 1960 and a SWB co-driven by one of the finest women drivers of that or any era, Denise McCluggage, won in 1961. The most sought after of Ferraris, the GTO, not only won GT in 1962, but finished second overall in the hands of Olivier Gendebien and Phil Hill. High placings by GTs were the norm in the early 1960s as the FIA championship emphasized the production cars.

The Jaguar E-type was another GT commonly seen during the period, but it never enjoyed the success of the others. A GTO won again in 1963, at fourth overall with Roger Penske and Augie Pabst as drivers. This was also the time when the Shelby Cobra began to appear. The further expression of that car, the Daytona Coupe, won GT in 1964 and 1965. The designer of that car, Pete Brock, will be wandering the pits this weekend, snapping photos and writing away.

What a comparison of eras! I write this piece concomitantly with summarizing this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, a desultory affair indeed. Imagine what it was like to see a field full of Ferrari GTOs, Corvette Sting Rays, Shelby Cobras, Jaguar E-types - and these were merely the supporting cast to the even more illustrious Prototypes!

Things in GT began to wind down a bit in the latter half of the decade when the main championship reverted to Prototypes. Corvettes, Sting Rays and then Mako Sharks, ruled the roost among the large-bore cars in terms of sheer numbers, while interesting new models began to appear such as the Shelby GT350, Camaro, AMX, and the Ferrari 365GTBs.

Everything changed in 1973 when the 12 Hours became part of the IMSA GT series. The GT cars would now be competing for the overall victory. Many of the international entries were gone, although by the late 1960s most of the GT cars had already been coming solely from American teams.

The most potent versions of the Porsche 911 became dominant during this period, although they carried much smaller motors than the V8s. Corvettes remained numerically superior among the American iron, otherwise composed of Camaros and Mustangs with the odd Shelby tossed in. IMSA’s class system of GT + / GT – usually made its break at 2500cc, resulting in the three-liter Porsches being in the same class with the American cars. Some interesting variations appeared during the mid-1970s, including the wild Greenwood built Corvettes and the DeKon constructed Chevrolet Monza. It was also the era of the Italian-American cross breed, the De Tomaso Pantera. However, they were few in number and never made a particularly significant impact upon the results.

GTs were again relegated to second-tier status beginning in 1978 with the advent of the premier GTX class and later with the GTP, i.e., Grand Touring Prototype, category. The true GT cars continued to be split into a GTO and GTU class, but the distinction didn’t always break at 2.5-liter point. Cars were placed up or down based on performance characteristics. As a rule the Porsche RSRs and Corvettes remained in the upper division.

Porsches were dominant in the results and in numbers during the 1978-1980 period. There were a handful of Monzas, Mustangs, Panteras, Ferrari Daytonas, Pontiac Firebirds, and BMW 3.5s to be found plus a growing number of Camaros. Bob Tullius and Bill Adam pulled off an upset win in 1980 with a Group 44 Triumph TR8. Porsches returned to their winning ways for 1981 and 1982. Larger displacement and turbo 911s as well as Camaros were the mainstay of the GTO class. There were also smatterings of Datsun / Nissan Z-cars and highly developed Mazda RX-7s. There were fewer Corvettes than before, replaced by the car perhaps most emblematic of the disco era, the BMW M1.

One of the great upsets in Sebring history came in 1983 when Wayne Baker won overall in his GT class Porsche 934. Otherwise, the remainder of the 1980s was marked by a growing convergence between the GT rules and those found in the sprint-based Trans-Am series. Previously, all of the entries had been of unibody construction but now tubeframes became the order and by decade’s end nearly all of the GTOs were faux production cars. The late 1980s saw constant battles between the Ford bodied products of Roush Racing and Protofab Camaros, with Rocketsports Oldsmobiles also getting into the act. The honor roll of class winners includes names quite familiar to current sports car fans; Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Willy T. Ribbs, Scott Pruett, Bruce Jenner, Tommy Riggins, Dorsey Schroeder, Calvin Fish, Robby Gordon, Lyn St. James, George Robinson, Darrin Brassfield, Irv Hoerr, and Paul Gentilozzi.

Nearly all of the GTO field until the early 90s was composed of American V8s with the occasional Ferrari 512BB or Toyota Celica for variety. The class was renamed GTS, Grand Touring Supreme, in 1992, with deference to the premium gasoline brand of series sponsor Exxon. Oldsmobile Cutlass bodied tubeframes formed the largest group of entries, but the 1993-1995 editions of Sebring saw a three-peat of victories by the Nissan 300ZX, all with drivers John Morton / Johnny O’Connell / Steve Millen. They took the overall victory in 1994. It was the debut year of the WSC and all of the new sports-racers hit problems.

Oldsmobile products continued to be popular through 1998, but the turbocharged Porsche 911 GT2 began to be frequently seen as well as the occasional Dodge Viper. The class system was rearranged in 1995 to three categories, GTS-1, 2, and 3. The top class contained the faster turbo Porsches, Oldsmobiles, Camaros, and the resurgent Mustangs. More sedate versions of these were in GTS-2. For 1999, the organizers reverted to the two-class GTS and GT rules in place today.

A Konrad entered 911 GT2 (Hans Stuck / Bill Adam) won in 1996 with George Robinson’s Aurora taking GTS-1 the following year. That was also the year that a novelty was introduced, the first Panoz. Andy Wallace, David Brabham, and Doc Bundy brought one to class victory in 1998, a year that saw oddities such as a Mosler and a Vector. Sebring of 1999 marked the beginning of the current run of ALMS championship events and GTS during that period was remembered for the dominance of the Team Oreca Vipers. However, the 12 Hours of 1999 was won by Martin Snow’s 911 GT2. Viper’s lone Sebring victory was in 2000 and the Saleen S7R won at the car’s 12 Hours debut at the race the following year. It all came full circle in 2002 when Ron Fellows led the no. 3 Corvette across the finish line. It commemorated the great American sports car’s first victory at Sebring in 1957, the year that the GT class was inaugurated.