When Touring Cars were Cool
ETCC, Et Cetera...
While 'Touring Car Racing' often means boring sedans looping around a sparsely attended track on a cloudy day, in the early 1970's it was full of iconic sports coupes and top drivers. In many ways, these races were the European equivalent to the 'classic' era of the American Trans-AM series. (There were even teams that ran the Chevy Camaro...)
The Spa 24 hours
In the mid 1960's this enduro enjoyed a resurgence as a dedicated race for cars in the FIA groups 1 and 2. It was the most important event of the touring car season, and serious factory teams were often involved.
Alfa Romeo GTA 1600
Built by Alfa Romeo's sport division Autodelta, this was a lightened and high performance version of the Guilia.
1966-1969
During these years, the FIA had three groups for touring car racing. Group 1 was essentially off-the-road sedans, and was rarely used in competition. Group 2 was the main focus, and featured factory-made performance versions of base cars with a minimum 500 units.
There was also a Group 5 class that allowed for extensive modifications that went beyond anything that was ever for general sale. BMW made such a car for 1969 by adding a custom-engineered turbocharger to their 2002 ti.
Even Porsche was able to enter the scene, when they used a technicality of the rear seats to get the 1966 911 homologated as a Group 2 touring car.
1969
1970
The FIA dumped the 'Group 5' touring car class for 1970, as the category never took off the way they had envisioned.
Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm
Built by Alfa Romeo's sport division Autodelta, this was a lightened and high performance version of the American-Spec 1750 GTV. This export model had fuel-injection, which was an excellent platform for tuning into a race car. For the 1970 season, FIA Group 2 cars could have wider wheels than the stock model, and the bodywork could be modified to accommodate them. The earliest cars had fenders that were cut and affixed with riveted flares to accommodate the wider wheels.
1971
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Ford Escort TC
John Fitzpatrick  | 114
B | Minichamps
| 400 718114 |  |
1972
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| BMW 2002
Dieter Basche  | 1
Div. 2 | Neo
| 45445 |  |
| 1 | Sunbeam Imp
Bill McGovern
(Series Champion) | 1
| Atlas
| |  |
1973
Spa 24 Hours
With the arrival of the (somewhat iconic) BMW 3.0 CSL, the 1973 Spa 24 hours should have been the highlight of the era. The event was marred by three fatalities which occurred in two separate incidents.
1974
M-bar-go
International tensions led to a massive disruption in global energy distribution, and racing all over was impacted.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Ford Capri RS 3100
Jochen Mass
Rolf Stommelen
(Incorrect. Mass/Stommelen won with the sister car #4 Ford Capri) | 5
Div.2 | Minichamps
| 430 748005 |  |
