Opel Calibra

[FIRE]

I was watching some videos about DTM on Youtube. One of the stars of the mid 90s was the Opel Calibra. As a teenager I liked this racing car but also the road version (now I am less positive about the looks of the road car ).

There was also a rally version of the 4x4 Calibra.

According Wikipedia one Calibra was entered in the South African Wesbank series:

Wanting a car that would be competitive in the Wesbank Modifieds Series (at the time, South Africa's premier circuit-racing series), South Africa's Delta Motor Corporation commissioned a one-off Calibra race car. Owen Ashley Auto Developments, based in Cape Town, was contracted to design and build the car in late 1990, with financial backing from DMC. The car was designed around the then-current Class A rule set (broadly similar to that used in the American IMSA GT series). The car was based around an aluminium honeycomb floorpan, to which was secured a chrome-moly steel spaceframe. DMC's brief to Owen Ashley stated that as much of the standard Calibra silhouette as possible had to be retained. To that end, a standard Calibra roof, side body monocoque pressings, doors and rear window were used. All remaining bodywork was moulded in fibreglass.

The car was powered by a Buick 3800-derived, 3.5-litre all-aluminium odd-fire V6, similar in specification to that used on the IMSA Corvette GTP. Built in the United States by Ryan Falconer, the engine retained its original single-cam, pushrod-and-rocker, two-valves-per-cylinder layout, but employed a Racetronics engine management system and Garrett turbocharger aspirating through a 52mm restrictor plate. The engine produced approximately 600 BHP (447 kW) in race trim. Power was delivered to a rear-mounted five-speed manual Hewland transaxle through a carbon-fibre propeller shaft. Fuel capacity was 40 litres, and double-wishbone suspension was used at both the front and rear ends of the car.

Driven by Michael Briggs, the car was campaigned from 1991 to 1993. A rule change for 1994 that banned turbocharged engines from the series, as well as the rapidly increasing popularity of Group A super touring cars, compelled DMC to retire the Calibra in favour of devoting its motorsport budget and resources to its two-car Astra super touring effort.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Calibra



I was wondering if the Calibra was used in other series around the world. Original the road car was FWD later there was also an AWD version.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by FIRE

I was watching some videos about DTM on Youtube. One of the stars of the mid 90s was the Opel Calibra. As a teenager I liked this racing car but also the road version (now I am less positive about the looks of the road car ).

There was also a rally version of the 4x4 Calibra.

According Wikipedia one Calibra was entered in the South African Wesbank series:



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Calibra



I was wondering if the Calibra was used in other series around the world. Original the road car was FWD later there was also an AWD version.

The Calibra was homologated in Gp N and Gp A at the start of 1992, so was eligable for most motorsports .
But in 1993 the FIA bought in a ban on 4x4 turbo cars , mainly because of the Nissan Skyline which was just about unbeatable at the time .

I believe those details are correct and that would explain why the Calibra 4x4 turbo dropped out only leaving a lesser model Calibra .

[Gerard C]

Yaeh, but the one pictured looks like a Calibra if you think that a Zakspeed was actually a Capri and Big Bertha a road going Vauxhall…
That said, I did thouroughly enjoy a Calibra 4x4 Turbo in spite of an unperfect gearbox linkage, offering room for four adults which is not often the case for a coupé.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

The Calibra was homologated in Gp N and Gp A at the start of 1992, so was eligable for most motorsports .
But in 1993 the FIA bought in a ban on 4x4 turbo cars , mainly because of the Nissan Skyline which was just about unbeatable at the time .

I believe those details are correct and that would explain why the Calibra 4x4 turbo dropped out only leaving a lesser model Calibra .

Souds like a logical reason why we didn't see the Calibra more often.

Although I can imagine AWD to RWD conversions but apparently not. Or even racing with FWD versions.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Yaeh, but the one pictured looks like a Calibra if you think that a Zakspeed was actually a Capri and Big Bertha a road going Vauxhall…
That said, I did thouroughly enjoy a Calibra 4x4 Turbo in spite of an unperfect gearbox linkage, offering room for four adults which is not often the case for a coupé.

Of course the DTM and Wesbank Calibra had not much in common with a road car, still great looking racing cars.

[Gerard C]

Sure! Impressive.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Sure! Impressive.

In early 90s Wesbank series had some great cars.

[BertMk2]

I'm sure there was at least one Calibra used in rallycross - I seem to remember it being in the Euro 2000 class? I don't think it was all that competitive - too big and heavy compared with other cars in the class.

Incidentally one of the engines for our rally car came out of a Calibra, bought as a non-runner (turned out to be starter motor) we took the engine out to use in the Escort and broke the rest of the car and sold the parts. Made a profit on that

[JesperOH]

There was never a ban on 4x4 turbo cars in either group N or A. Just think of all the winning rally cars of the 1990s. On the race circuits group A gradually lost out to what became the FIA class II Super Touring regulations.

For the 4x4 Turbo Calibra as a group A rally contender, I think it was a matter of GM-Europe not ready to spend money and time on developing it to match the competition from Ford, Lancia, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru.

Never heard of the South African Calibra but a nice brutal car to look at, so a big thank you!

Jesper

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by JesperOH

There was never a ban on 4x4 turbo cars in either group N or A. Just think of all the winning rally cars of the 1990s. On the race circuits group A gradually lost out to what became the FIA class II Super Touring regulations.

For the 4x4 Turbo Calibra as a group A rally contender, I think it was a matter of GM-Europe not ready to spend money and time on developing it to match the competition from Ford, Lancia, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru.

Never heard of the South African Calibra but a nice brutal car to look at, so a big thank you!

Jesper

You are right . It was not a total ban on all 4x4 turbo cars .
But I believe a rule change banned certain cars , like the Nissan Skyline GTR .
IT has dominated saloon racing in Australia and Japan in 1992 , but I think it was much to fast with over 600 BHP , and from 1993 on they had to change to a different model .
That rule change possibly affected other cars like the Calibra .

[JesperOH]

To answer FIREs original question, the normally aspirated version was used in the 1993-1994 ADAC GT Cup, the cars looking quite standard. I don't know but the Belgian Belcar series during the early to mid-1990s would be a guess.

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

You are right . It was not a total ban on all 4x4 turbo cars .
But I believe a rule change banned certain cars , like the Nissan Skyline GTR .
IT has dominated saloon racing in Australia and Japan in 1992 , but I think it was much to fast with over 600 BHP , and from 1993 on they had to change to a different model .
That rule change possibly affected other cars like the Calibra .

Your first line made me remember that, I think, at some stage FIA put a max of 2 litre turbo 4wd cars for rallying. This might have been in the early 1990s.

Japan kept to group A regulations for their touring car championship with 1993 being the last season. For 1994 they went with the Super Touring formula and entered 2 litre normally aspirated FWD Primeras.

Jesper

[JesperOH]

https://www.racingsportscars.com/pho...-05-30-059.jpg

Jesper

[FIRE]

Thank you.