Group E Series Production Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for production based sedans competing with limited modifications. It was current from 1964 to 1972.
Although production car racing in Australia had gained momentum with the running of the first Armstrong 500 endurance race at Phillip Island in 1960, no national guidelines for this type of racing existed until 1 January 1964 when the Group E regulations were introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as part of a major review of Australian motor sport categories. Vehicles racing in Group E had to be one of at least 1000 units which had been produced in 12 months and could compete only with strictly limited modifications. [1] The rules were framed to cater for cars such as those that had been contesting the Armstrong 500 (which had moved from Phillip Island to the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst in 1963), although that race continued to run under its own regulations which at the time limited the field to Australian built cars only. [2] From 1967 the minimum production requirement for Group E was changed to 5000 units produced internationally or 500 produced and/or sold in Australia. [3]
In 1969 Group E cars were eligible to compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship alongside the more highly modified Group C Improved Production Touring Cars for the first time. [4] The local market component of the eligibility rules for Group E was relaxed in 1970 such that models of which 200 units had been sold in Australia within 12 months were now eligible. [5] The annual Hardie Ferodo 500 endurance race at Bathurst continued to be run under regulations differing from Group E, with the former still being more restrictive in terms of permitted modifications. [6] For 1971 CAMS introduced the Australian Manufacturers' Championship title which was to be contested over a series of endurance races for Group E cars [7] and the Hardie Ferodo 500 was included in this series for the first time in 1972. [8] By this time the eligibility rules had been changed again with a vehicle now accepted if it was one of 200 manufactured or assembled in Australia or if it was a recognised FIA Group 1 Touring Car of which at least 100 units had been sold in Australia. [9]
In 1973, in response to the growing media concerns regarding Group E homologation specials, CAMS replaced both Group E and Group C with a new Group C Touring Car category [10] which specified a level of modifications between those applicable in the two superseded classes. The Australian Touring Car Championship, Australian Manufacturers' Championship and the Bathurst endurance race would all be run to the new Group C rules from that year.
Production car racing in Australia was revived in 1981 when CAMS introduced regulations for "Group E Series Production Cars", officially redesignated to its current "Group 3E Series Production Cars" name in 1988. [11]
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1,000-kilometre (621.4 mi) touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recent incarnation of the Australian Touring Car Championship. In 1987 it was a round of the World Touring Car Championship. The Bathurst 1000 is colloquially known as The Great Race among motorsport fans and media. The race originated with the 1960 Armstrong 500 with a 500 mile race distance at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; it was relocated to Bathurst in 1963 also with the 500 mile distance and has continued there every year since, extending to a 1,000 kilometer race in 1973. The race was traditionally run on the New South Wales Labour-Day long weekend in early October. Since 2001, the race has been run on the weekend following the long weekend, generally the second weekend of October.
Allan George MoffatOBE is a Canadian-born Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four wins in the Bathurst 500/1000. Moffat was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 1999.
John GossOAM is an Australian retired motor racing driver who competed in his home country during the 1960s, 1970's and 1980's. He is the only driver to have won Australia's two most prestigious races, the Bathurst 1000, and the Australian Grand Prix (1976).
The 1975 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 16th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was an endurance race for touring cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. The event was held at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales on 5 October 1975 over a distance of 1006.036 km. The race was Round 3 of the 1975 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with the FIA's Group C sports car regulations, used from 1982 to 1992 for the World Endurance Championship / World Sports-Prototype Championship / World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 1982 James Hardie 1000 was the 23rd running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 3 October 1982 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was Round 3 of both the 1982 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1982 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes, was open to cars eligible to the locally developed CAMS Group C touring car regulations with two engine capacity based classes.
The Ford works team was the unofficial name for an Australian motor racing team which was supported by the Ford Motor Company of Australia. The team was formed in 1962 and was disbanded when Ford Australia withdrew from motor racing at the end of 1973. Drivers for the works team included Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, Harry Firth, Bob Jane, Barry Seton, Bruce McPhee, John French, Ian Geoghegan and his brother Leo Geoghegan. Ford Australia also supported a factory rally team in Australia from 1977 to 1980.
The 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 21st running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 5 October 1980 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race was open to cars eligible under the locally developed CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations with four engine capacity based classes.
The 1991 James Hardie 12 Hour was an endurance race for production cars staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, on 31 March 1991. It was the first "Bathurst 12 Hour". Of the 24 starters, 20 were classified as finishers.
The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was an endurance motor race open to Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The race was held on 1 October 1972 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in four classes defined by Capacity Price Units, where the engine capacity, expressed in litres, was multiplied by the purchase price in Australian dollars to arrive at a CP value for each vehicle. It was the 13th running of the Bathurst 500 race and the last to be held over the original distance of 500 miles. It was also the last to allow drivers to compete for the full distance without a relief driver. The race was the third round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
The 1986 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Touring Cars as specified in the National Competition Rules of CAMS. The title, which was the sixth Australian Endurance Championship, was contested concurrently with the 1986 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, which was the sixteenth in a sequence of manufacturers championships awarded by CAMS, and the seventh to be contested under the Australian Manufacturers' Championship name.
The 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was a production car race held on 6 October 1968 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the ninth running of the Bathurst 500.
The 1970 Rothmans 12 Hour was an endurance motor race for Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The event was held at the Surfers Paradise International Raceway in Queensland, Australia on 4 January 1970 with the field divided into four classes determined by the retail price of the vehicle.
The 1994 James Hardie 12 Hour was an endurance race for production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 3 April 1994. It was the fourth running of the "Bathurst 12 Hour". The race was open to cars of which at least ten examples had been sold and registered for use on Australian roads. Modifications in line with Group 3E Series Production Cars regulations, as published by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, were permitted.
Leo Francis Geoghegan was an Australian racing driver. He was the elder of two sons of former New South Wales car dealer Tom Geoghegan, both of whom become dominant names in Australian motor racing in the 1960s. While his younger brother Ian "Pete" Geoghegan had much of his success in touring car racing, winning five Australian Touring Car Championships, Leo spent most of his racing career in open wheel racing cars.
Group 3E Series Production Cars is an Australian motor racing formula for production based cars competing with limited modifications. Group 3E cars formerly contested the Australian Manufacturers' Championship and Australian Production Car Championship titles and compete in the annual Bathurst 12 Hour and Bathurst 6 Hour endurance races.
The 1985 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for car manufacturers. It was the 15th manufacturers title to be awarded by CAMS and the 6th to carry the Australian Manufacturers' Championship name. All championship rounds were open to cars complying with Australian Touring Car regulations, which were based on FIA Group A rules.
The 1973 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for automobile manufacturers. It was the third Australian Manufacturers' Championship and the first to be contested with Group C Touring Cars.
Group N Touring Cars is an Australian motor racing category for touring cars built before December 1972.
The 1974 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group C Touring Cars. It was authorised by Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian National Title.