Believe it or not, Porsche Carrera Cup and Toyota GR Cup Australia are the latest in a long history of one-make series competing locally going all the way back to the 1950s.
The first of which were the Humpy Holdens, but it really ramped up in the 1970s when Gemini Series began at Calder Park where infamously Peter Janson jumped the start and still won after being penalised 30s.
Another to emerge during the 1970s was the Renault ‘Newstart’ Series. Using stock Renault 12s as a cheap way to enter motorsport and proved an entertaining product.
Next was the Barclays TR7 Pro-Car Series, which attempted to help Leyland Australia reverse the floundering sales for its sports coupe. Hosted at Amaroo Park, the series included seven top drivers of the day competed for prize money in TR7s starting in 1980. The series was a success and all TR7s to arrive in Australia in 1980 were sold leading to the class opening up to amateur drivers leading to a grid of 20.
Garry Waldon got his start in the series before his relationship with Mazda started and was the leader of the Am Class after winning his TR7 in a go kart race. But the series came to end when TR7 production closed.
Another Pro-Am category hot on the heels of the Barclays TR7 Series was the Alfa Romeo Trophy using the baby Alfasud. Split between Amaroo Park and Calder Park, the inaugural series was won in controversial circumstances following a collision between Dick Johnson and Colin Bond, resulting in the Queenslander rolling out of contention. Bond won, went to Italy and contested the Trofeo Europa Alfasud at Monza qualifying 11th out of 100 entries, but a driveshaft failed in the race.
In its second and final year, controversy still surrounded the result at the end of the season when young upstart Tony Longhurst clashed with series protagonist Allan Grice. It was Grice on the receiving end and while Longhurst sprayed the champagne the touring car star lodged a successful protest excluding the future BMW factory driver.
The Ford Laser Series was created as an entry class and produced some stars including none other than Mark Skaife, while the Nissan Pulsar Series of 1985 was a stop-gap after a change of touring car regulations prevented the usual program led by Fred Gibson. For professional drivers, the series was spectacular using the Pulsar ET turbocharged hot hatch.
Emerging in the mid-1990s was another entry level one-make class using the Suzuki Swift featuring more than 32 entries at some rounds. The inaugural 1995 season was the only one to run after the local importer stopped its support.
An all-woman Mazda 121 Series was launched in 1996 and lasted just one year also, with it won by Tania Gulson.
Porsche was next to enter the Australian market by introducing Carrera Cup in 2003 following a successful marque-only based category for nearly a decade. Carrera Cup is easily the most successful due to still existing to this day albeit having a hiatus for three seasons.
There has been an influx of one-make classes entering the marketplace particularly at state level. Hyundai Excels, Porsche 944s, BMW E30s and Pulsars remain staples allowing young guns or weekend warriors to compete.
On a national scale, Mini Challenge was one to attract a solid driver cast and the Swifts return albeit less popular than the original iteration.
Of course, Carrera Cup isn’t allow these days in the one-make stakes thanks to the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia GR Cup where rising stars including Will Brown, Cam Hill and Broc Feeney used as a pathway towards a Supercars career.
What’s next for the one-make series? Who knows, but Australia’s support of this type of racing has failed to wane and the role of one-make racing to provide competitive, yet cost effective racing is integral to the motorsport landscape.