At the end of Group C’s 40th Anniversary Year here’s another offering to give a window on the wonderful world of one of the most iconic eras in global sportscar racing.
Here, over the next three days, we’ll list each of the constructors of either Group C1 and/or the junior C2 category from 1982-1993.
There will be more to come on this general theme in 2023 too!
So, with thanks to John Brooks, and to the contributors to the incomparable racingsportscars.com (including Mike de Winter, Bjoern Hehmann, Paul Kooyman, Jeremy Banks, Dan Morgan, Jeremy Jackson and Robert Vogel for today’s batch!). Here we go!
ADA – GB
Their C2 efforts between 1984 and 1989 saw a variety of chassis from the ex De Cadenet Lola based 01 of 1984 the Gebhardt-based 02 (below) and the March chassised 03 – the later cars scored their best results in the short-lived BRDC C2 Championship with wins and podium finishes.
Alba – Italy
Scored some notable class victories, particularly in the early years of the formulae in C junior (where the marque took back to-back Championships in 1983 and 84) and C2 and proved to be stalwarts in Camel Lights.
ALD – France
A long-lived, active 1985 , 1994 Group C brand but with remarkably little competitive success, the cars principally contested in C2 but made it into the top class at Le Mans in 1994 with an ‘LMP1’ entry that scored a dnf!
Alfa Romeo – Italy
The unraced but very pretty Alfa Romeo SE 048SP is chronicled in DSC’s Sportscars That Never Raced
Allard – GB
A close contender for Sportscars that never raced, the avant-garde Allard J2XC raced just once. Its story is told on DSC HERE
Argo – GB
Active in Group C and GTP from 1984 the UK concern build dozens of chassis for C1, and GTP but particularly in C2. The cars had some notable successes, in particular in IMSA Lites with Mazda rotary power in the hands of Jim Downing scoring multiple Championship wins.
Arundell – GB
The short-lived Arundell raced just a couple of times in 1984 with its eponymous owner and James Weaver before its career was ended in a shunt. The car was later rebuilt as the Bardon, see below.
Aston Martin – GB
Aston Martin’s one shot at Group C glory came in 1989 with the AMR1 (not to be confused with the later LMP2 AMR-One). The car was a capable beast, came close to a World Championship podium at Brands Hatch and came close too to a top ten finish at Le Mans. Development plans for a revised AMR 2 and AMR3 fell victim to the switch of Group C formula toward 3.5 litre V10s, Reeves Callaway-built Aston Martin V8s no longer fitted, programme done!
Bardon – GB
Rebuilt from the damaged Arundell C100, the Bardon was a one-off that saw C2 action throughout 1986 and 1987, including two starts at Le Mans.
British Barn – Japan
A rebadged and mildly re-engineered TOMS with Ford Cosworth for that contested the C1 class in the All-Japan Sportscar Championship from 1989
BRM – GB
Another one-off and ‘might-have-been (but wasn’t!). The BRM P351 story is told here on DSC
Brun Motorsport – Switzerland
The pretty C91, powered by a mighty Judd V10 was another one-off, the realities of the budgets for a global Championship including the development of a bespoke car simply not matching the budgetary commitment from the otherwise successful (in Porsche machinery) Brun outfit. The car competed in a handful of 1991 events before being parked.
Ceekar – GB
Another one-off – the Ceekar raced initially with a 4 cylinder Ford BDA, later with a DFV V8 with limited success but hung around until the 1988 season when the car was badly damaged in an accident.
Cheetah – Switzerland.
The Cheetah Motorsport outfit fielded a variety of Ford Cosworth and later Aston Martin-powered Group C cars for much of the 1980s with very limited success, the cars proving to be (at times) pretty, but (at more times) fragile.
Chevron – GB
Both the B62 of 1985 and 1986 and the B36-Talbot of 1987, (see below) a somewhat bizarrely rebodied closed top version of the long-lived and open-topped B36 have represented the Chevron marque in Group C2, sadly with not a lot of notable success, the B36 in particular not displaying any of the styling ‘tautness’ long associated with the company!
Cougar – France
Yves Courage would name his cars as Cougars for many years and saw some notable successes in the Group C era, an overall podium at Le Mans in 1987 for the C20-Porsche amongst them with a C2 win at Le Mans in 1989 and a C3 class in 1992.
Dahmen – Germany
Never raced at the World Championship level, the one-off Porsche-powered Dahmen raced from 1984-87 principally in DRM and Interseries.
