Group 5 was anFIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberalsilhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.

In 1966 the FIA introduced a number of new racing categories including one for highly modified touring cars, officially known as Group 5 Special Touring Cars. The regulations permitted vehicle modifications beyond those allowed in the concurrent Group 1 and Group 2 Touring Car categories.^[1] Group 5 regulations were adopted for theBritish Saloon Car Championship from 1966^[1] and for theEuropean Touring Car Championship from 1968.^[2]The Special Touring Cars category was discontinued after the 1969 season.

For the 1970 season, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to the Sports Car class which had previously been known asGroup 4 Sports Cars. The minimum production requirement remained at 25 and the engine capacity maximum at 5 litres as had applied in the superseded Group 4.Group 5 Sports Cars contested the FIA'sInternational Championship for Makes in 1970 & 1971, alongside the 3 litreGroup 6 Prototype Sports Cars.

During 1970 theFIA decided to replace the existing Group 5 Sports Car category when the rules expired at the end of the 1971 season, so the big 917s and 512s would have to be retired at the end of that year. Surprisingly, Ferrari, which in late 1970 had updated the 512S to 512M spec similar to the 917K, decided to give up any official effort with the 512 in the1971 International Championship for Makes in order to prepare a 3-litreFerrari 312PB for the new 1972 season regulations. But many 512s were still raced by private teams, most of them converted to M specification. As a result of the rule change, sports car racing popularity suffered and did not recover until the following decade, with the advent ofGroup C which incidentally were forced out of competition in favour of the 3.5atmo engine formula, reminiscent of events nineteen years previous.

In an effort to reduce the speeds generated at1967 Le Mans and other fast circuits of the day by the unlimited capacity Group 6 Prototypes such as the 7 litre Fords, and to entice manufacturers of 3 litre Formula One engines into endurance racing, theCommission Sportive Internationale (then the independent competition arm of theFIA) announced that the new International Championship for Makes would be run for Group 6 Sports-Prototypes limited to 3 litre capacity for the four years from 1968 through 1971.

Well-aware that few manufacturers were ready to immediately take up the challenge, the CSI also allowed the participation of 5 litre Group 4 Sports Cars manufactured in quantities of at least 50 units. This targeted existing cars like the aging 1965Ford GT40 Mk.I (which received permission for modifications) and the slightly newerLola T70 coupe.

In April 1968, the CSI announced that, as there were still too few entries in the 3 litres Group 6 Prototype category, the minimal production figure to compete in the Group 4 Sport category of the International Championship of Makes would be reduced from 50 to 25 starting in 1969 through to the planned end of the rules in 1971. This was mainly to allow the homologation in Group 4 of cars such as theFerrari 250 LM and theLola T70 which had not been manufactured in sufficient quantities to qualify (unless, in the case of the Lola T70, the open Can-Am cars were counted as well).

Starting in July 1968, still in secret, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to take advantage of this rule. As they were rebuilding race cars with new chassis every race or two anyway, they decided to conceive, design and build 25 versions of a whole new car for the Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory in the24 Hours of Le Mans. In only ten months thePorsche 917 was developed, based upon thePorsche 908, with remarkable technology: Porsche's first 12-cylinder engine, and many components made of titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys that had been developed for lightweight hillclimb racers. Other ways of weight reduction were rather simple, like a gear lever knob made ofBalsa wood.

When Porsche was first visited by the CSI inspectors only three cars were completed, while 18 were being assembled and seven additional sets of parts were present. Porsche argued that if they assembled the cars they would then have to take them apart again to prepare the cars for racing. The inspectors refused the homologation and asked to see 25 assembled and working cars.

On April 20Ferdinand Piëch displayed 25 917s parked in front of the Porsche factory to the CSI inspectors. Piëch even offered the opportunity to drive one of the cars, which was declined.

During June 1969,Enzo Ferrari sold half of his stock toFIAT, and used some of that money to do whatPorsche did 6 months earlier with the 917, to build 25 cars powered by a 5-litre V12 in order to compete against them. With the financial help of Fiat, that risky investment was made, and surplus cars were intended to be sold to racing customers to compete for the 1970 season. Within 9 months Ferrari manufactured enoughFerrari 512S to get homologation.

Ferrari entries not only consisted of the factory cars, tuned by SpA SEFAC. There were also private cars ofScuderia Filipinetti,N.A.R.T.,Écurie Francorchamps, Scuderia Picchio Rosso, Gelo Racing Team andEscuderia Montjuich which did not receive the same support from the factory. They were considered as field fillers, never as candidates for a win. At Porsche, however, JWA Gulf, KG Salzburg who were then replaced byMartini Racing for the following season, received all direct factory support and the privateers likeAAW Shell Racing andDavid Piper Racing received a much better support than Ferrari's clients.

In May 1969, following crashs in F1, the FIA limited the use of adjustable wings. This ban affected also the 917. Its instability problem was resolved in late 1969 with a revised rear hatch, which was called 917K (Kurzheck). There was a long tail version known as the 917L (Langheck). Towards the end of the 1970 season, Ferrari entered some races with a new version of the 512S, the 512M (Modificata) which had revised bodywork similar to the 917K.

For 1972, the FIA applied the Group 5 classification to what had previously been known as the Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars category. These cars, now officially Group 5 Sports Cars, were limited to a 3-litre engine capacity and were to be the main competitors in events counting towards the FIA's newly renamedWorld Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. Unlike the old Group 5, there was no minimum production requirement.

For the 1976 season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 "Special Production Car" category, allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4. These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then theWorld Endurance Championship in 1981 and 1982. TheDeutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft also used these regulations from 1977 until 1981. The only non-circuit events that used Group 5 cars were in theGiro d'Italia automobilistico rally.

The rules restricted the width of the car, therefore cars were built with standard body widths but wide mudguard extensions. The regulation required only the bonnet, roof, doors and rail panel were left unmodified.^[3] The rules however did not mention headlight heights, therefore when Porsche originally were to enter the935 with the production headlight, they read the rules and discovered the loophole, therefore they raced the 935 with the hallmark flat nose. The category was also mostly associated with the wide boxy wheel arches and extravagant body style.

The category would be banished after 1982 in favour of theGroup B regulation, but continued to compete inJSPC, IMSA GTX category and other national sports car racing championships for a few more years.

Brand	Chassis	Image	Debut	Applications	Notes
Abarth-Osella	2000 Sport SE-021		1972	3rd Generation
	PA1		1973	3rd Generation
Alfa Romeo	GTV		1976	4th Generation
	T33/3		1970	2nd Generation
	T/33/TT/12		1973	3rd Generation
Alpine	A441		1974	3rd Generation
BMW	2002		1976	4th Generation
	2002 Turbo			4th Generation
	3.0CSL		1976	4th Generation
	3.5 CSL		1973	4th Generation
	320iTurbo		1977	4th Generation
Chevrolet	Monza		1976	4th Generation
Chevron	B21		1972	3rd Generation
	B23		1973	3rd Generation
De Tomaso	Pantera		1976	4th Generation
Ferrari	308 GTB		1979	4th Generation
	312 PB		1972	3rd Generation	Previous versions raced inGroup 6.
	512 M		1971	2nd Generation
	512 S		1970	2nd Generation
Fiat	Abarth 1000 TCR		1969	1st Generation
Ford	Capri		1981	4th Generation
	Escort		1976	4th Generation
March	73S		1973	3rd Generation
	74S		1974	3rd Generation
Matra	Simca MS630		1967	1st Generation
	Simca MS670		1972	3rd Generation
	Simca MS670B		1973	3rd Generation
	Simca MS670C		1974	3rd Generation
Mirage	GR7		1974	3rd Generation
	GR8		1975	3rd Generation
	M6		1972	3rd Generation
Lancia	Montecarlo Turbo		1979	4th Generation
	Stratos Turbo		1973	3rd Generation
Ligier	JS2		1975	3rd Generation
Lola	T280		1972	3rd Generation	Later versions would race inGroup 6.
	T290		1972	3rd Generation
	T292		1974	3rd Generation
	T380		1975	3rd Generation
Lotus	Cortina		1966	1st Generation
	Cortina Mk 2		1968	1st Generation
	Esprit S1		1980	4th Generation
Osella	PA2		1974	3rd Generation
Porsche	908/03		1972	3rd Generation	Previous versions raced inGroup 6.
	911 RSR		1976	4th Generation
	914		1976	4th Generation
	917K		1970	2nd Generation
	935		1977	4th Generation
Triumph	TR8		1979	4th Generation

• European Touring Car Championship (1968 to 1969)
• British Touring Car Championship (1966 to 1969)

• International Championship for Makes (1970 to 1971)

• World Championship for Makes (1972 to 1975)

• World Championship for Makes (1976 to 1980)
• World Endurance Championship (1981 to 1982)
• Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft
• Giro d'Italia automobilistico (1977–80)
• Australian GT Championship (1982–85)

• FIA Group 5 Special Production Car regulations for 1976 Retrieved from www.fia.com on 27 January 2008
• Group 5 Stratos info
• Zakspeed Ford Capri Turbo info
• QV500.com info on M1 Gr.5

• Sports car racing
• Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
• 24 Hours of Le Mans
• Racing car classes

• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata