Group 5 Racing

(image: motorsportretro.com)

During late 70's, there was a racing class division that might be remembered because of its unique body kit. The class was Group 5. If you haven't felt familiar with this class, just google Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) championship which applied Group 5 specification cars. There were some generations of Group 5 classification. In this article, I will just focus on the latest generation, the special production class. 

This generation first introduced in 1976, allowing some mass production cars to be modified following FIA regulations. Some parts like bonnet, roof, and doors however, were banned from being modified. Some cars used aero kits shaped like a box, even though some cars stayed on being curvy. Some machines raced in DRM championship were like Ford Capri Turbo, BMW M1, Lancia Beta, and Toyota Celica. Beside DRM, Group 5 class was also run in some other championships, mainly based in US and Japan. 

US Based Group 5: GTX

(image: www.sportscardigest.com)

In United States, Group 5 racing championship was run under International Motor Sports Association, an organization sanctioning many kinds of State's motorsport series. One of the sanctioned series was IMSA GT Championship. This championship ran two different type of cars in each series, including mass production cars which in 1977 used Group 5 look like rules. This similar category was named GTX. Corvette Greenwood GTX, if I may say, could be categorized as the legendary car of this class. 

Japan Based Group 5: Silhouette

(image: www.banovsky.com)

Same things also occured in Japan. In the land of Sunrise, Group 5 racing was run under Japanese Automobile Federation. There were several races that applied this class, such as All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and Super Silhouette. Nissan became star of the class by running Nisssan Skyline and Bluebird Silhouette. The Silhouette term means more or less the same with US's GTX. It tried to standardized Group 5 Class sanctioned by FIA. Unlike modified cars from Europe or US's , Japanese Silhouette cars tends to shaped like box, with huge spoiler and front bumper. This kinds of style rose the bosozoku phenomena in Japan. 

So here it is a short article about Group 5 racing series. Its unique body kit might become your interest to watch. There are several videos on youtube which records about past races, if you get more interested.