This weekend’s Heritage Touring Car round at the Muscle Car Masters will again showcase an array of vehicles from Australian touring car racing’s Group A and C eras.
The Sydney event has garnered a strong 36 car field, including the racing return of the 1991 Bathurst winning Nissan Skyline GT-R in the hands of owner Carey McMahon.
Running as a national series, the Heritage Touring Car category pits genuine Group C (1973-1984) and Group A (1985-1992) vehicles against each other, creating some unlikely match-ups.
While Group C was a local product and Group A an international formula, both sets of regulations catered for a wide variety of machinery now long missing from the Australian touring car scene.
Group C began with fields dominated by Holden Toranas and Ford Falcons, before ending with the General’s new Commodore facing off against factory entries from Mazda, Nissan and BMW, as well as its traditional Blue Oval rival.
Imported cars naturally found further prominence under Group A, which, after brief success for the likes of BMW and Volvo, quickly descended into a Ford Sierra versus Nissan GT-R war.
This week’s Pirtek Poll asks; what is the most iconic car from these two distinct eras of Australian touring car racing history? Choose from our short list below.