The Group 2 racing class referred to regulations for cars in touring car racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. Group 2 was replaced by Group A in 1982.
The FIA established Appendix J regulations for Touring and GT cars for 1954 and the term Group 2 was in use to define Touring Cars in the Appendix J of 1959.1 By 1961 Appendix J included specifications for both Group 1 Series Touring Cars and Group 2 Improved Touring Cars with a minimum production of 1,000 units in twelve consecutive months required to allow homologation of a model into either group.2 Technical modifications beyond those allowed for Group 1 cars were permitted in Group 2.2
The British Saloon Car Championship was open to Group 2 cars each year from 1961 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1973.3
Group 2 was the specified category for the European Touring Car Challenge from 1963 to 1967 4 and the cars were also eligible alongside Group 5 special touring cars in 1968 and 1969.5 It was again the premier category when the series was renamed as the European Touring Car Championship for 1970 and continued to be so until it was replaced by Group A for 1982.6
The Sports Car Club of America’s Trans-American Sedan Championship was contested by Group 2 touring cars from its inception in 1966 through to the 1972 season.7
List of Group 2 Cars
| Brand | Chassis | Image | Debut | Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo | Alfetta GT | 
|
1975 | Rally |
| GTA | 
|
1966 | Touring Car | |
| GTV | 
|
1971 | Rally | |
| AMC | Javelin | 
|
1968 | Touring Car |
| Audi | Coupe (B2) | 
|
1981 | Touring Car |
| BMC | Mini Cooper S | 
|
1960 | Rally |
|
1961 | Touring Car | ||
| BMW | 1800TI & 1800 TISA | 1966 | Touring Car | |
| 2002 Turbo | ||||
| 2002Ti | 
|
1969 | Touring Car | |
|
Rally | |||
| 3.0 CSL |
|
1973 | Touring Car | |
| 635 CSi | 
|
Touring Car | ||
| Chevrolet | Camaro | 
|
1967 | Touring Car |
| Corvair | 1966 | Touring Car | ||
| Daihatsu | Charade | 
|
1979 | Rally |
| Datsun | 1600 SSS | 
|
1970 | Rally |
| 510 | 1971 | Touring Car | ||
| Dodge | Charger Hemi | |||
| Dart | 1966 | Touring Car | ||
| Ramcharger | ||||
| Fiat-Abarth | 850 TC | 
|
1961 | |
| 1000 TC | 
|
1966 | Touring Car | |
| Ford | Capri RS |
|
1971 | Touring Car |
| Cortina Lotus | 
|
1963 | Touring Car | |
|
1963 | Rally | ||
| Mustang | 
|
1966 | Touring Car | |
| Escort 1850 GT | 
|
1970 | Rally | |
| Escort Twin Cam | 
|
1969 | Rally | |
| FSO | Polonez 2000 Rally Group II | 
|
1980 | Rally |
| Lada | 1600 MTX | 
|
Rally | |
| Mercury | Cougar | 
|
1967 | Touring Car |
| Mitsubishi | Celeste | |||
| Opel | Commodore | 
|
Rally | |
| Plymouth | Barracuda | 
|
1966 | Touring Car |
| Pontiac | Firebird | 
|
1969 | Touring Car |
| Porsche | 911 | 
|
1967 | Touring Car |
| Trabant | P 50 | |||
| Triumph | 2000 | |||
| Volkswagen | Super Beetle | 1972 | ||
| Volvo | 122S | 1966 | Touring Car | |
| 142 | 
|
Touring Car |
Groups 1-9
| Categories | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Touring | A. Touring | |||||||||||
| II. Sports | II. Grand Touring | B. Grand Touring | ||||||||||
| - | C. Sports | |||||||||||
| Group | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |
| Group 1 | Normal series production | |||||||||||
| Group 2 | "Grand Touring" series prod | Modified series prod | Modified series prod | |||||||||
| Group 3 | Special series production | Grand Touring Cars | ||||||||||
| Group 4 | Series production | Normal GT series prod | Sports Car | |||||||||
| Group 5 | International | Modified GT series prod | - | |||||||||
| Group 6 | - | GT specials | - | |||||||||
| Source:89 | ||||||||||||
| Categories | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Production | ||||||||||||||||
| B. Special | B. Experimental Competition | B. Racing Cars | ||||||||||||||
| C. Racing Cars | - | |||||||||||||||
| Group | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
| Group 1 | Series Touring (5000) | |||||||||||||||
| Group 2 | Touring (1000) | Special Touring (1000) | ||||||||||||||
| Group 3 | Grand Touring (500) | Series Grand Touring (1000) | ||||||||||||||
| Group 4 | Sportscars (50/25) | Special Grand Touring (500) | Grand Touring (400) | |||||||||||||
| Group 5 | Special Touring Cars | Sports cars (50) | Sports cars | Special cars derived from Groups 1-4 | ||||||||||||
| Group 6 | Prototype sportscars | - | Two-seater racecars | |||||||||||||
| Group 7 | Two-seater racecars | International formula | ||||||||||||||
| Group 8 | Formula racing cars | International formula | Formula libre racing cars | |||||||||||||
| Group 9 | Formula libre racing cars | - | ||||||||||||||
| Source:89 Note: Special may be replaced with Competition in some official documents. | ||||||||||||||||
References
References
- Appendix K - Technical regulations for historic cars, www.fia.com Retrieved 31 August 2016
- Appendix 'J' to the International Sporting Code of the FIA - 1961, argent.fia.com Retrieved 31 August 2016
- British Saloon Car Championship, touringcarracing.net Retrieved 1 September 2016
- Part 1: 1963-1967 The early years, touringcarracing.net Retrieved 30 August 2016
- Part 2: 1968-1969 Group 5 years, touringcarracing.net Retrieved 30 August 2016
- The European Touring Car Championship, touringcarracing.net Retrieved 30 August 2016
- Trans-Am, touringcarracing.net Retrieved on 30 August 2016
- "Regulations - Period Appendix J | FIA Historic Database". historicdb.fia.com. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- "APPENDIX K TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTING CODE" (PDF).