Group C - Rise and Fall

Rise and Fall

By 1989, the Group C series popularity was nearly as great as Formula One. When C1 cars were found to be breaking over the 240 miles per hour mark at Le Mans' Mulsanne Straight — the WM-Peugeot recorded the highest 407 km/h (253 mph) — the FIA revolutionized the class by attempting to turn it into a formula series to replace the C2 category (after they proved to be unreliable at endurance races). The new formula restricted the performance of cars built to the original rules (such as the Porsche 962 used by many privateers) and benefited teams using F1-sourced 3.5 L engines — these latter teams being effectively the large manufacturers alone, as the new formula cars were more expensive than the C1 cars. What followed was the quick downfall of Group C, as the new engines were unaffordable for privateer teams like Spice and ADA. A lack of entries meant the 1993 Championship was canceled before the start of the first race. However, the ACO still allowed the Group C cars to compete (albeit with restrictions) at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nevertheless, the race still witnessed protests against the new state of affairs, as spectators placed cloth banners in fences expressing their feelings.

The 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans was the last one in which Group C cars were permitted. A new category formed especially by race organizers also saw modified Group C cars without roofs. In fact, a former C1 car disguised as a road-legal GT car which was entered in the GT1 category, the Dauer 962 Le Mans, and won the race after transmission problems by a leading Toyota 94C-V. The 962 was subsequently banned; the Toyota was later given a special dispensation to race in the Suzuka 1000km, and a few C1 racers were allowed to compete in the newly formed Japanese GT Championship — this would be its final year of competition. Many of the modified open top Group C cars continued to compete until they wrecked, broke, or retired out of competitiveness; notable among these was the Porsche WSC-95 which won the 1996 and 1997 Le Mans races, using the monocoque of the Jaguar XJR-14 and Porsche 962 mechanicals (engine, transmission, etc.).

Afterward, prototypes nearly disappeared from Europe, resurfacing again in the mid-1990s. Recently, interest in Group C cars resurfaced as more of these cars have appeared on historic racing events.