SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

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Can-Am ZN
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SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Can-Am ZN » Tue 26 May 2015, 14:51

As most of you have probably seen, I have put together a collage of all the legendary SA Production Car Racing homologation specials and put it up in my signature below.

These cars were specially modified by their respective manufacturers to compete, mainly in the highest class of the production car racing series of their era, viz. Argus Production Cars, Group 1, Group N etc.

In order for them to compete in the series the regulations stated that they were required to meet certain homologation requirements, meaning that they could not merely make enough cars to compete in the series but, because the series represented road-going production cars that were available to the public during their time, they had to meet minimum production numbers in order to participate. Many of the manufacturers were allowed to compete before the required minimum number had been sold but raced on the undertaking that the required minimum would be sold to the public.

I have been fascinated with and been a devout fan of these vehicles since I was a kid and, whilst I consider myself somewhat of an aficionado on these cars, a few comments as well as PM's that I have received as a result of my collage have prompted me to put the topic up for discussion, in the interests of it being as accurate and comprehensively complete as possible.

Whilst it is widely accepted that the Capri Perana was the first of these insanely modified cars for production car racing, I am not sure that it was actually subject to homologation regulations? It was certainly a special performance edition of the Ford Capri, but was it created specifically for production car racing and subjected to the strict homologation requirements that the subsequent special racing editions were? Many more of them were made than what was required to qualify them for the production racing of the day, if there were even any regulated production number requirements at the time.

If not, then the first real homologation special was the Chevy Can-Am, which was specifically created to take Chevrolet into the ring to go, toe to toe, with the then dominant Capri Perana. The regulations, when it was designed in the early 70's, required that 100 of them be made in order to compete in the Argus Production Car racing series.

Later in the 70's and the early/mid 80's, the regulated minimum number required to compete increased to 200 and then to 250 as far as I know, as these are the numbers of BMW 530MLEs (1976) and Cortina Interceptors (1980) made respectively.

The above increased numbers brings me to another 2 cars that I had to consider and which may qualify for inclusion, except for the fact that I am not sure that they were actually "homologated" according to the regulations.

The first one is the Fiat 131 2000 Racing of the late 70's (I posted a road test of this car on the forum last year sometime), that I was approached about via PM by a fellow forum member, asking why I had not considered it for inclusion in my collage. He has a very interesting story on the creation of these cars, which I hope he is willing to share with the rest of of the forum, either within this topic or in a separate thread. :D

The truth is that I did but the thing with this amazing little car (I am certainly a big fan) is that it was made in incredibly small numbers, which made it a very special "limited edition" model, but was eventually excluded from production car racing due to the complaints from the competition that it was not suitably "homologated". It definitely caused a stir and left an indelible mark in production car racing history as it was untouchable in its class and was quicker than many of those in the higher classes at the time!

The second one, which was no less impressive, is the Alfa Giulietta Group 1 of the early '80s, which seems to also suffer the same uncertainty as regards it's compliance with the homologation minimum production number regulations. This may also fall into the "limited edition" category rather than "homologation special" category.

It is for this reason that I did not include them in the collage in my signature.

Does anyone have any substantiated information to the contrary on these 2 cars, as I would love to include them if they indeed do qualify, for the sake of accuracy and completeness, as I stated earlier?

The number required to homologate production cars for racing eventually increased to 500, for the BMW 325iS and the Opel Kadett 16V Superboss in 1990.

There have, unfortunately, been none created since these last two.
Gavin

1974 Chev Can-Am 302
1991 BMW 325iS Evolution (SOLD)


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Can-Am ZN
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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Can-Am ZN » Tue 26 May 2015, 16:04

After receiving another PM reminder, I feel that I should also need to make mention of the BMW 333i which, although also designed and made in sufficient numbers (204) in 1985 to compete in Group 1 racing, it never reached the grid and was left without a formula when Group 1 was cancelled at the end of '85 and replaced by a new production car series from 1986 called Group N, a series for which the 333i did not qualify and in which BMW entered the 325i Shadowline instead.

I was unsure of whether to include it or not because it did not actually compete in a production car race.

What do guys think?
Gavin

1974 Chev Can-Am 302
1991 BMW 325iS Evolution (SOLD)


"The sad reality about the uneducated is that they don't know that they don't know." - Me

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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by V8 fan » Tue 26 May 2015, 17:39

Howdy Gavin

Very nice thread buddy - that's what this forum is all about ;)

I suppose I can vouch for the homologated models that made its mark from the early 1980's. Boy, were they great cars too especially in the hands of some great drivers like Sarel v/d Merwe (Interceptor), Mike Briggs (Super boss) and many other legendary race drivers :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Keep up the good work!!

Ps! Apart from that elusive Capri Perana I'm still after, I wouldn't mind a Super boss to complete the collection :D :D
'73 Chevrolet Can-Am
'71 Ford Capri Perana
'84 Ford Sierra XR8
'65 Ford Mustang Convertible
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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Can-Am ZN » Tue 26 May 2015, 20:34

Thanks Gert :D

I've actually changed the pic of the 325iS in the collage, which I originally got off the internet, to a photo of my own car as I think it is a better shot...at home in the pits at the racetrack :mrgreen:

Yes, I know you've been after a Capri Perana for quite a while now. That's why people pay big bucks for them, because they are just so hard to come by!
Gavin

1974 Chev Can-Am 302
1991 BMW 325iS Evolution (SOLD)


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ZA Perana
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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by ZA Perana » Tue 26 May 2015, 20:52

Another one was this, the BMW 745i.

The rest of the world had a turbo motor but in SA we had the M88 6 cylinder motor out of the M1. These cars were hand built and thanks to 210 kw they managed a top speed of 235 km/h, extremely quick for 1984.

Was lucky enough to hear this at Zwartkops over the weekend, I'd like to think Tony Viana was looking down with approval. The car sounded amazing, probably the best sounding 6 cylinder racing motor I have ever heard.

BTW: Great thread!
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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Johann72 » Tue 26 May 2015, 21:44

This is a subject I know little of!! :mrgreen: But if somebody knows more about Mike Briggs' dad Gordon Briggs who Made name with his Broadspeed Anglia and what was his doings while still at GMSA!! :D Why is there so little locally on the Rekord "B" and the Rekord "C". I wish Michael Briggs would open up with tales and nostalgia about his Dad, Mariner. Dodd, Fuller, and ofcourse the old fogies still going strong! :D
I only had 3 years in that era!
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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Can-Am ZN » Wed 27 May 2015, 08:17

ZA Perana wrote:Another one was this, the BMW 745i.

The rest of the world had a turbo motor but in SA we had the M88 6 cylinder motor out of the M1. These cars were hand built and thanks to 210 kw they managed a top speed of 235 km/h, extremely quick for 1984.

Was lucky enough to hear this at Zwartkops over the weekend, I'd like to think Tony Viana was looking down with approval. The car sounded amazing, probably the best sounding 6 cylinder racing motor I have ever heard.

BTW: Great thread!
Thanks Jacques :D

The BMW 745i was never built with Group 1 production racing in mind but was created rather to offer South African luxury car buyers with the equivalent of the E23 745i that was available at that time in Europe, which was fitted with a turbo-charged version of the original M30 that was in the 735i in N/A form.

The snag that they faced with fitting the turbo motor locally is that they could not offer it in RHD form for the SA market, due to the turbo set-up interfering with the steering column etc. This is the reason for them using the M88 multivalve 3.5 litre motor here.

The only 745i used for racing (in the world) was the one that you correctly show in your post above, which was campaigned so successfully by Tony Viana in the modified saloons (not Group 1 production cars) in the mid 80's :D
Gavin

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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by IndianaJones » Wed 27 May 2015, 09:59

Excellent topic Gavin. You touch on a variety of discussion points.

When trying to construct a list SA specific homologated cars, one might first ask, whom homologated the cars? Today it would be Motorsport South Africa(MSA), as a sanctioned affiliation of the worldwide motorsport controlling body, the FIA. But in the late 70's the controlling body for motorsport in SA was a committee of the AA (Automobile Association of SA), and I don't know if the current AA, still would have records of the cars they homologated. Maybe one should try contact the AA, MSA and/or the FIA for a list of previously homologated cars. Not sure whom the controlling body was, in the era of the Capri Perana?

The second question might be, what makes a homologation "special"? Since I presume any car that competed in a particular racing series, would need to be homologated for that series.
How much has to be changed from the regular production cars, for it to be considered a "special"? I would say for it to be a "special", the manufacturer must have specially designed / modified a particular model with the intend, to use it in a racing series and make use of specific parts on the car that would be considered exotic, in a regular production car. The manufacturer of the car would then need to produce a vehicle specifically to "legalise" the use of those parts, in the racing series. Otherwise it would just be the regular production model.

Case in point, the 1978 Fiat 131 Racing. Which exotic parts differentiated it from the regular Fiat 131 2000? Perspex windows, etc? The cars it competed against (Cortina 3.0S, Alfa GTV) was also homologated, but is not "specials", since they didn't make use of any exotic parts, except for maybe the Mazda’s.

It is also worthwhile to note, that at the time of the Fiat 131 Racing, the "Group 1" rules that was followed in SA, not only allowed for cars to comply to the homologation rules by sheer numbers built(incidentally the number varies between 100 to 500, according to which source you quote). It also allowed cars to comply if it was developed to stage 3 of the then current local development program.

This source definitely reckons the Fiat 131 Racing a homologation special:
http://www.131mirafiori.com/131storySA.htm

Although I don’t have any records of it, one might also consider the Mazda Capella Rotary to be a homologation special, since I don’t think too many of the Rotary powered Capella’s were sold, much more 4 cylinder cars were sold.

Another consideration might be the Toyota Corolla TRD, both liftback and sedan, although I’m not too familiar with their racing careers.

As for the Capri Perana, it might not technically be a homologation special, as you suggested. But then I’m not sure of it’s development history, was it specifically designed with the intend to go racing? Or was it only after production started that it was considered as a perfect candidate to go racing with.

Can-Am ZN wrote:The first one is the Fiat 131 2000 Racing of the late 70's (I posted a road test of this car on the forum last year sometime), that I was approached about via PM by a fellow forum member, asking why I had not considered it for inclusion in my collage. He has a very interesting story on the creation of these cars, which I hope he is willing to share with the rest of of the forum, either within this topic or in a separate thread. :D
Would like to read this, as there were much controversy in the 1978 racing season.
Last edited by IndianaJones on Wed 27 May 2015, 10:03, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by IndianaJones » Wed 27 May 2015, 10:02

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Re: SA Production Car Racing Homologation Specials

Post by Gavin RS » Wed 27 May 2015, 10:23

Awsome topic .very interesting reading.
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