In the early 1980's the North American prototype scene was in the second (and arcane) generation of Can-Am. The cars were essentally full-bodied indycars, and not sports car based at all. There was no manufacturer involvement, and the series was in decline. IMSA had been running a production based GTX class, which was ruled by turbo Porsches.
While Europe's 'Group C' regulations were being written, IMSA was also in need on updating the regulations of its GTX class. While the concept of limiting fuel and racing by consumption may have worked in Europe, where high prices and efficient cars were and are part of everyday life, such an intrusion would not be acceptable by gas-guzzling Americans. The IMSA GTP formula allowed virtually any engines and homologated cars by power-to-weight ratio. It was NOT the same as the GTP class that had been run by Rondeau at Le Mans. The IMSA organization was very astute at attracting manufacturers and teams, and the series grew steadily throughout the 80's.
This new specification began in 1982. The Lola T-600 and the March 82G were the first pure prototypes to run in this class.
I spent most of this era watching cars at Watkins Glen and Pocono raceway.
International Motor Sports Association 1982 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 2 | Porsche Kremer K3 'Coca-Cola' Bob Akin  Craig Siebert Derek Bell  | 5 GTP | TrueScale | TSM09433 | |
| 23 | Ferrari 512 BB/LM 'Budweiser' Bob Wollek  Edgar Dören  Randy Lanier | 6 GTP | Brumm | 213B |  |
Porsche developed an IMSA version of the 956 dubbed the 962. While the cars were visually similar, there were signifigant differences in driver position and aerodynamics. This car was then developed for group C to make the 962C.
For an excellent refence on the history of the 962 (past and present) check out 962.com
While the 962 was a great car "out-of-the-box", many teams took to making big changes in bodywork for aerodynamic advantages. This escalated to the point where some race shops were producing "bolt hole identical" emulations of 962 chassis, but with structural improvements. This means that many of the later versions of 962-based cars would be difficult to model, as they would require their own individual die-cast moulds.
International Motor Sports Association 1985 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962 'Valvoline' A. J. Foyt Bob Wollek Al Unser Thierry Boutsen  | 8 GTP | Spark | S0947 |  |
| 4 | Porsche 962 'Coca-Cola' Hans-Joachim Stuck Bob Akin Paul Miller Walter Brun  | 5 GTP | Vitesse (Promo) | N/A |  |
| TrueScale | TSM09432 |  | |||
| 5 | Porsche Fabcar 935/84 'Polo' Jim Mullen Kees Nierop  Al Unser | 7 GTP | TrueScale | TSM104305 |  |
International Motor Sports Association 1986 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962 'Lowenbrau' Al Holbert Derek Bell Al Unser, Jr. | 14 GTP | Spark | ||
| Sebring 12 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962 'Coke' Bob Akin Hans-Joachim Stuck Jo Gartner  | 5 GTP | TrueScale | TSM09431 | |
International Motor Sports Association 1987 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962 'Lowenbrau' Chip Robinson Derek Bell Al Unser, Jr. Al Holbert | 14 GTP | Vitesse Super Models | SM32 |  |
| Spark | S0949 | ||||
Jaguar was a steady participant for the entire era, and funded two semi-works teams. In the US, the Group 44 cars were run by Bob Tullius. In Europe they were run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). Both teams occasionally crossed the Atlantic for the 24-hour enduros. These beautiful cars along with the Jaguar name helped create a classy, professional atmosphere. Walkinshaw went on to be involved with Bennetton F1 during the Schumacher years, and then acquired Footwork-Arrows F1.
The Vitesse group did some lame versions of the Le Mans cars, and then reissued them with drmatically better detail. All of these were TWR-run cars, so diecast versions of the Group 44 cars are on the top of many collectors' "wish lists".Jaguar page
Ironically, a leftover car from this team was reworked by Reinhold Joest into a back-to-back LeMans winning Joest-Porsche WSC95 .
International Motor Sports Association 1988 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
1 | Jaguar XJR-9 'Castrol' | 60 | Onyx | 14 |  |
The Momo 962 by Onyx is quite the mysterious item. It does not have an official reference number of the box, and is often referred to as a 'promo' or 'special'. It is also not from the Daytona 24 hours, as only two drivers (Moretti and Sigala) are listed. These two drove together at the Miami GP only, so that is where I am listing it. This car would go on to run at Le Mans with a center-post rear wing, which has been accurately modeled by Spark.
International Motor Sports Association 1989 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962 'Miller' John Andretti Derek Bell Bob Wollek | 67 GTP | Spark | S0939 |  |
| Vitesse | 326 |  | |||
| 3 Hours Miami | |||||
| 3 | Porsche 962 'MOMO' Gianpiero Moretti  Massimo Sigala | 30 GTP | Onyx | (20 'Special') |  |
International Motor Sports Association 1990 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Mid-Ohio | |||||
| 25 | Ferrari F40 LM '0123' Jean-Pierre Jabouille Olivier Grouillard | 40 GTO | IXO model-car.com Special Edition | MDC005 |  |
Tom Wakinshaw brought a Group C XJR-12 to Daytona
International Motor Sports Association 1991 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Porsche 962C 'Blaupunkt' Frank Jelinski Henri Pescarolo Hurley Haywood "John Winter" | 7 GTP | Spark Model | S0950 |  |
| 30 | Jaguar XJR-12 'Bud Light' Davy Jones Scott Pruett Derek Warwick Raul Boesel  | 2 GTP | Onyx Sports Racing | 39b |  |
Nissan wins Daytona, and most everything else for that matter. Ebbro put out a nice version of this classic GTP, but without the Toyota Eagle MkIII it seems lost...
International Motor Sports Association 1992 | |||||
Place |
Car |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Daytona 24 Hours | |||||
| 1 | Nissan R91CP 'Nissan' Masahiro Hasemi  Kazuyoshi Hoshino Toshio Suzuki Anders Olofsson  | 23 GTP | Ebbro | 43529 |  |
