Group A Thread

[zebra]

Forget the Sierra, I want the bubble wrapped Mustang lol

[zebra]

I am not 100% sure but I think the 1990 & 1993 winner was the Impul/Calsonic GTR. In 1991/1992 Hasemi Motorsport

1989 Japan Masahiro Hasemi Hasemi Nissan HR31 Skyline GTS-R

1990 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino IMPUL Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R

1991 Japan Masahiro Hasemi Hasemi Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R

1992 Japan Masahiro Hasemi Hasemi Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R

1993 Japan Masahiko Kageyama Hoshino Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R

[Marko R1]

Calsonic

wow - that blue calsonic looks incredible! the 17 inch wheels with that tough high profile slick looks insane & suits that era to a tee!

i guess i dont mind the sierra for its success, however, it kinda looks like a shopping trolley next to the r32.

[Roy]

IT IS A SHOPPING TROLLEY!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like the VL and VN, M3, R31 etc etc. The Grp A rules were for manufacturers to hot up mass produced cars after building a limited volume of the hotted up buckets to go racing.

I loved the category, but Nissan cheated (were smarter?) and when they built the next model built a car around the regs. Can you imagine if the R32 GTR was just a later model R31 GTS-R still running an RB20 so it would be in the same class as the Sierra (2L, RWD)

One day I will have an E30 M3 to go with my R32 and Sierra. If I can find the right M3 may have it as soon as May next year Though dont think I will ever have the money to get the VN Grp A...as much as I would love one

[Marko R1]

sorry roy - i dont mean to offend you in any way, sierra is a great car

im sure you emailed some pics of your gun metal grey sierra which looked amazing & somewhat better than the race spec sierra, in every way!

[zebra]

IT IS A SHOPPING TROLLEY!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like the VL and VN, M3, R31 etc etc. The Grp A rules were for manufacturers to hot up mass produced cars after building a limited volume of the hotted up buckets to go racing.

I loved the category, but Nissan cheated (were smarter?) and when they built the next model built a car around the regs. Can you imagine if the R32 GTR was just a later model R31 GTS-R still running an RB20 so it would be in the same class as the Sierra (2L, RWD)

One day I will have an E30 M3 to go with my R32 and Sierra. If I can find the right M3 may have it as soon as May next year Though dont think I will ever have the money to get the VN Grp A...as much as I would love one

You forgot the only remaining MA71 group A Supra...and it is in AUS!!!!!

lol

I have wanted a Sierra since I was about 12 years old

One day if I stop buying all these other cars I will have one

[Roy]

sorry roy - i dont mean to offend you in any way, sierra is a great car

Lets be clear. An 87 Sierra, even with 6 pot APs, 420hp and plenty of love, care and maintenance is a bucket

If you are not quite right in the head you will see that as part of its appeal....its loud, rather crude styling, rattly hatchback, loud-harsh engined appeal

At the end of the day you get in it and grin like an idiot and again if you are soft in the brain you are proud to be seen in it. Having been a passenger/driven in all sorts of cars, including exotics...I cant think of too many other cars I would be proud to say I own ... like I said a little soft in the head and no doubt the reason I dont get as laid as often as most

[zebra]

But what a successful bucket they were!

[Marko R1]

Lets be clear. An 87 Sierra, even with 6 pot APs, 420hp and plenty of love, care and maintenance is a bucket

If you are not quite right in the head you will see that as part of its appeal....its loud, rather crude styling, rattly hatchback, loud-harsh engined appeal

At the end of the day you get in it and grin like an idiot and again if you are soft in the brain you are proud to be seen in it. Having been a passenger/driven in all sorts of cars, including exotics...I cant think of too many other cars I would be proud to say I own ... like I said a little soft in the head and no doubt the reason I dont get as laid as often as most

that sounds like an exgirlfriend of mine, crude & loud but a great ride!

roy - go easy on yourself

zebra - who can forget the mobil/shell/peter jackson sierra's!

i remember watching bathurst in the 80's as a kid & my dad didnt like the sierra at all "bloddy inglish rrrubbish" - he was a true v8 supporter & v8 owner. my uncle on the other hand absolutely loved the sierra & the gtr (we inherited his rover 3500sdi) "better than your v8 torrrana shitbox"

unfortunately both have passed since but i have fond memories of the above cars & their subsequent commentary

[Marko R1]

actually - the rover is the same as this car & has the same wheel design as per pic

[Marlin]

My father purchased one of the first to be delivered Rover SD1's in Oz. Well, two actually. Yes, he was obviously led astray by them winning Euro car of the year. Funily enough, both were superbly reliable, despite us living at the end of 15klm of corrugated dirt road.

You can imagine how excited I was as a young and car-mad 10 year old in 1985 when the Group A Mobil sponsored SD1's were here

Dad was also more than chuffed

They weren't fast in outright terms, especially not up against the big-banger Group C's they raced against, but they were a mighty fine looking race car I reckon.

I cherish my Bathurst 84/85 yearbook with all the great photos.

[NoFigJamHere]

This topic really does remind me of just how old i really am... For those interested, when they 1st started racing the GTR here it used to take Fred Gibsons crew 6 hours plus to change an engine! And very soon it was almost every night at a race meeting. The problems many of us see today regarding the RB26 blocks cracking/splitting bores was alive and well back then. When Nismo started supplying the 24U (N1) blocks the mechanics were all of a sudden goin back to their hotels much earlier each night. I still remember the 1st race (i think it was Mallala S.A but dont quote me on that it was over 20 yrs ago!) and everyones worst fears were REALITY!! And as history shows that was only the beginning of total domination... They really did race most of the time with the hand brake on! (ie: not running flat out) and in the rain barring that famous bathurst debacle they were in Race A the rest in the B class. Funnyly enuff ive owned the same 97 R33 Vspec since 1998 and really cant see myself parting with it anytime soon. I have too many stories from that era and if i dont stop now my hands will hate me for ever... The fact was the GTR was light years ahead of anything else and if you ask me pick any HSV or FPV and put it up against a std 32 or 33 GTR and even after 20 years they're STILL way behind!!! 2 finger typing is so emarrassingly slow....

[NickR33]

I will say one thing about the Japanese Group A cars, they might have been slower than the GMS cars but they were a hell of a lot prettier!

Roy: The Sierra would have to be a helluva a lot cheaper than 1/3 the price to have one over a GTR

[Marlin]

This topic really does remind me of just how old i really am... For those interested, when they 1st started racing the GTR here it used to take Fred Gibsons crew 6 hours plus to change an engine! And very soon it was almost every night at a race meeting. The problems many of us see today regarding the RB26 blocks cracking/splitting bores was alive and well back then. When Nismo started supplying the 24U (N1) blocks the mechanics were all of a sudden goin back to their hotels much earlier each night. I still remember the 1st race (i think it was Mallala S.A but dont quote me on that it was over 20 yrs ago!) and everyones worst fears were REALITY!! And as history shows that was only the beginning of total domination... They really did race most of the time with the hand brake on! (ie: not running flat out) and in the rain barring that famous bathurst debacle they were in Race A the rest in the B class. Funnyly enuff ive owned the same 97 R33 Vspec since 1998 and really cant see myself parting with it anytime soon. I have too many stories from that era and if i dont stop now my hands will hate me for ever... The fact was the GTR was light years ahead of anything else and if you ask me pick any HSV or FPV and put it up against a std 32 or 33 GTR and even after 20 years they're STILL way behind!!! 2 finger typing is so emarrassingly slow....

Welcome mate. I like the cut of your jib!

Stick around

[zebra]

There are a few Group A and group N GTR's amongst these pics,

Plus LM Editions and a heap of other cool race cars

http://twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=2079707

[Roy]

A friends Dad had one of those Rover V8s in a TRX Bluebird that had the Bathurst mock up guards etc. Was a pretty tough conversion!

[Marko R1]

My father purchased one of the first to be delivered Rover SD1's in Oz. Well, two actually. Yes, he was obviously led astray by them winning Euro car of the year. Funily enough, both were superbly reliable, despite us living at the end of 15klm of corrugated dirt road.

You can imagine how excited I was as a young and car-mad 10 year old in 1985 when the Group A Mobil sponsored SD1's were here

Dad was also more than chuffed

They weren't fast in outright terms, especially not up against the big-banger Group C's they raced against, but they were a mighty fine looking race car I reckon.

I cherish my Bathurst 84/85 yearbook with all the great photos.

so these rovers werent that bad after all? after repeatedly hearing from jeremy clarkson how much of a lemon they are - cant be true

i have plans with my brother on this car, however, my uncle forged the engine back in the 80's & spent a bomb on it hence i dont want to take that away from it - then again, the engine seems lazy so i dont even think it is running right as its been unregistered for 10yrs (i crank it over every 3mths to keep it kicking). a twin turbo v8 is very appealing though.

A friends Dad had one of those Rover V8s in a TRX Bluebird that had the Bathurst mock up guards etc. Was a pretty tough conversion!

can these 3.5ltrs make good power? do you what it was produced back in its heyday?

[Roy]

I know with injection etc that people take them out to just under 5L and they make 450hp with revs on board. The one in the TRX made about 300hp so made for a quick car back in 1990

[Marlin]

You have to spend serious money to get them to go and be reliable.

[Nee-san]

You have to spend serious money to get them to go and be reliable.

You mean like a Skyrine ? Lol