The Group 3 racing class referred to a set of regulations for
Grand Touring Cars competing in
sportscar racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
and
rallying
Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...
events regulated by the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
. These regulations were active, in various forms, from 1957 to 1981
1957 to 1965
Regulations for Grand Touring Car racing were first defined when the FIA issued "Appendix J" for Touring Cars and GT Cars in 1954. The term Group 3 was in use by 1957 and by 1960 a minimum production of 100 units
[János J Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 297] in 12 consecutive months was required to allow homologation into Group 3. An FIA GT Cup
[János J Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 331] was instituted in 1960
[ and the GT category was featuring prominently in most rounds of the ]World Sports Car Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and N ...
.[ For 1962 the FIA replaced the World Sports Car Championship with an International Championship for GT Manufacturers, the new title being awarded each year through to 1965.][Denis Jenkinson, The Automobile Year Book of Sports Car Racing, 1982, page 222]
1966 to 1969
The FIA introduced a new Group 3 Grand Touring Car category in 1966 as part of a major revision of the Appendix J regulations.[János J Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999] The production minimum required for Group 3 homologation was raised to 500 units and models such as the Ferrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category. It was powered by Ferrari's ''Tipo 168/62'' Colombo V12 engine.
The "250" in its name denotes the disp ...
and Porsche 904
The Porsche 904 is an automobile which was produced by Porsche in Germany in 1964 and 1965. It was officially called Porsche Carrera GTS due to the same naming rights problem that required renaming the Porsche 901 to Porsche 911.
History
After ...
were reclassified to the new Group 4 Sports Car category with its lower 50 unit minimum.[ The International Championship for GT Manufacturers was discontinued for 1966 and replaced by the International Championship for Sports Cars.][ GT cars were eligible to compete with the Group 4 cars in rounds of the International Championship for Sports Cars in 1966 and 1967 and then in the new ]International Championship for Makes
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and Nor ...
with Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars
Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two-Seater Racing Cars class from 1976 to 1982.
Group 6 Prototype-Sports Cars (1966 to 1971)
...
in 1968 and 1969. An International Cup for GT Cars
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 to 1992 World Sportscar Championship, 1992.
The championship evo ...
was contested concurrently with the Makes Championship from 1968.[1973 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 124-125]
1970 to 1981
The creation of a new Group 4 Special Grand Touring Car
The Group 4 racing class referred to regulations for cars in sportscar racing, GT racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The Group 4 class was replaced by Group B for the 1983 season.
Production requirements
Prior to 1966, the FIA's Gr ...
category in 1970 saw Group 3 renamed as Series Production Grand Touring Cars and the minimum production requirement increased to 1000 units.[M.L. Twite, The World's Racing Cars, 1971, page 99] Group 4, which allowed a greater degree of modification to the competing vehicles, had its minimum production requirement set at 500 units.[ Both GT categories were eligible to compete in the ]International Championship for Makes
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and Nor ...
and then, from 1972, in the renamed World Championship of Makes
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and North ...
. The International Cup for GT Cars also continued. In 1976 the World Championship of Makes was restricted to production derived cars (FIA Groups 1 to 5) and the International Cup for GT Cars was discontinued in that year.
The Group 3 Series Production Grand Touring Car category remained valid through to 1981 with the FIA introducing a new Group B
Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
Grand Touring car category the following year.[János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1363]
Rallying
In rallying, there were classes for Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4 cars. The Lancia Beta Coupé, was homologated into both Group 3 and Group 4, with the Group 3 car running the mass-produced 8-valve engine, and the Group 4 version running the more powerful 16-valve.
Groups 1-9
See also
* World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
* World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...
References
External links
FIA Historic Racing Regulations
{{Class of Auto racing
Sports car racing
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
24 Hours of Le Mans
Racing car classes