Group A/C and Sports Sedans

[jd yort]

I was looking through the Bathurst programs of 1991 and 1992. There was 50+ cars in the entry list but when you go through around 20% of the cars were probably old Group C / Group A cars. It is often overlooked the affect the revival of old Group A and Group C cars has had on filling Sports Sedan fields from the late 90's onwards. When this is combined with people who collect race cars in general as opposed to racing them the pool of cars shrinks even further.





It irks me when ever you read about people whinging how so many old Group C cars ended up as being destroyed by being converted to a Sports Sedan when the reality is very few were ever destroyed. I can't really think of any cars that were that far modified that they could not be converted back.

Can anyone name what Sports Sedans were modified old Group C cars?
- Russell Stenhouse had a couple of old HDT Torana's including one with the light weight Lemans panels.
- Ivan Mikacs first RX7 I think may have been the yellow pages car.
- The Stone Bros Ezy pav car I think was a known Group C Rx7.
- Charlie Senese had the Slick 50 car but it was not modified too far from Group C specs.
- Tino Leo's Monaro was the Jane Monaro but is now converted back.

[2002 turbo]

I don't know how modified from original Group C trim they were but I am pretty sure the following cars were cars from that period:
- Colin Schwenke RX7
- Hugh Harrison Alfa GTV
- Michael West Commodore

Bob McDonalds Alfa was an old Caltex Group A car, was Mike Griffin's RX7 an ex Group C car too? Not sure on the exact history but I think Mikac's series II RX7 was also originally a Group C car too, maybe someone call fill us in.

I agree some of the historic purists do carry on with rubbish!
With the RX7s from what I saw most were pretty much how they ran them in Group C, its not like they chopped them all up and put Chev V8s in them!!!

Also speaking of Stenhouse did he ever finish that VT Commodore he was building? Heard about it years ago now.

[jd yort]

I am pretty sure Mikacs S2 was the yellow pages RX7 which is not in the hands of a collector (can't remember who). Adrian Simmons car would be the Ignis Fridges Group C Commodore and Bill Nabhan back then would have been running the Moffat RX7 more than likely. Shawn Donnelly's looked very much like a Group C Rx7 but not sure which one. Beach Thomas still owns and races that Celica GT in Group C races. Bob Blacklaw raced the Monza in 1992, still not sure which Monza that was. I have never seen a picture of the car.

[2002 turbo]

Bill Nabhan back then would have been running the Moffat RX7

Bill Nabhan ran a different RX7 at that point in time. Not sure of the exact history but it was a blue series 2 model with Rotor Action signage (the workshop he owned back then). Was a quick state level car in its day which he drove quite competitively.

I can still recall the good races he used to have against Graham Smith's Fiat 131 turbo in the Northern Beaches Spares Sport Sedan series at Amaroo. Although Smithy and the Fiat (with the super dooper blow off valve noises!) always came out on top! I might have an old magazine clipping of the RX7 somewhere, will have to dig something out.
Nabhan later bought the Moffat RX7 which he ran in around 1996-1997, saw it run at Oran Park a few times. I think he sold it and then went drag racing.....


Thinking about it state level sport sedan racing at Amaroo in the early 1990s was nearly wall to wall rotaries!
You had Nabhan in the blue RX7, Mikac in his light blue RX7, Colin Schwenke in the red RX7, Lyndon Bain in his white RX7, Peter O'Brien in his then black RX3 (which Peter Conyers later raced), Ric Shaw in his RX3, plus David Attard used to run sometimes in the rotary Datsun 1600 and of course Joe Saids Fiat rotary too.
Haha the noise was heaven for some and hell for others!