Volvo
240
Turbo GROUP A RACING ![]() |
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UPDATED: January 12, 2023 CONTACT VIEW CART |
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GROUP A VIDEOS | GROUP A RACING ARTICLES |
Sample Group A Racing Articles | |
Article LIST -- COMPLETE CONTENTS |
I love Volvo 240's and I've always
been partial to production car racing. And
I love 240
production car racing. But
I live in the U.S. and Group A racing
organizers did not see any need to bring
Touring Car Racing here in the 1980's.
This means finding fresh info on the Group
A races here has been difficult over the
years.
I first began this page in 2002 when little info could be found on this subject. Thanks to the internet, much more info is now available. The below information, videos and articles have been compiled through years of research. I eventually found a number of videos that you'll see below. All were on VHS tape, so I had them converted to DVD video. I am grateful to a few people who were involved with the development of Volvo racing programs who I received help from over the years. I give thanks to the following who have contributed to my research in many different ways: Ferdinand Metz (USA), Anthony Hyde (Aus), Dana Howe (USA), Christian Edstrom (USA), John Amundson (Aus), David Russell (USA), Tom Smith (USA), and several Volvo of Sweden racing insiders who will remain anonymous by their requests.
Here are some more great resources for
information on 240 Turbo Group A racing:
1983 242 Turbo Flatnose "theory" https://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=66501 240 Group A Article https://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=314314 Anthony Hyde's (Australia) well documented
page on Group A Frank
de
Jong's
History of Touring Car Racing
http://touringcarracing.net Dana Howe's (USA) "Flathood" page http://flathood.saliv8.com/history.php Björn Ohlson's Volvo Group A history pages with great photos and articles https://www.240grupp-a.se/ (Swedish) https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/index.htm (English) Detailed discussion thread about the Volvo Group A racing programs http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105300 Peggen Anderson's original Group A 242 Turbo Evolution came up for sale in 2017. Click here to see. I
very much welcome your comments
regarding these cars and racing
programs, including ETCC, DTM,
Swedish, Australian and other
programs.
If you have anything you would like to share, please write me. |
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The return of the ATCC Champion Volvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJuVsW0r50A |
Group A Volvo 240 is Reunited with John Bowe (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXZME7eU0B6U |
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VIDEOS and ARTICLE COLLECTION: VOLVO 240 TURBO GROUP A RACING PROGRAM During my research, I was able to assembled a collection of entertaining videos and articles from the 1980's covering the Volvo 240 Turbo Group A racing programs. They were only available in VHS format, so I had them all converted to DVD. They are all available below. These videos provide a wonderfully entertaining history of Volvo's Group A racing effort. Order Video Collections and/or Article Collection Below All DVD's are available individually or in sets. Some DVDs have ONE video and some have TWO videos.
DVDs are available individually (click here) or you may buy a FULL SET below and save. ![]() FULL DVD SET Buy ALL 8 DVDs (Includes All 13 Videos) $44.00 USD plus shipping (shipping weight: 1.5 lb) The Full Group A DVD Video Set may be purchased here. The Group A Article Collection DVD Book may be added here as an option below for $5.00 ($8.00 regular price). Shipping only needs to be added ONE TIME if buying more than one item.
When I began this project many years ago the first version was a printed book shown above. I later discontinued having this book printed because of the high cost and very few people were willing to pay that high cost. DIGITAL
BOOK
ON CD: $8.00 ea.
(May be ordered below) ![]() I originally put this together for my own research and enjoyment of racing 240's. I have now made it available to anyone. You may read about the Group A racing preparation and results, finger pointing by competing teams, rumors of cheating by Volvo with finger-pointing from disgruntled competitors, and getting FISA sanctions for getting caught. Excellent Reading! Customer
comment: "I have received the article
book. It is fantastic, a really great
resource.
It will take me years to read through it!" M.H., Australia Reading these articles will
give you a unique understanding of how the
ETCC programs worked. You will read how in
1983-84 Volvo entered an evolution 242
Turbo for Group A under FISA homologation
rules. It was later modified over and
above the original requirement of the
first 5000 street car minimum which began
in 1981. The new evolution version was a
new 500 production car requirement. These
cars would become the 500 1983
flathood 242 Turbos imported to
the USA that we know of today. FISA rules
intended them to be real production street
cars that would be sent to dealers and
sold to the public. The rules stated they
had to be built by the manufacturer with
the same homologated equipment as the
Group A race cars, including, but not
limited to: a bigger turbo and intercooler,
better exhaust manifold, better intake
manifold, water injection and a rear
spoiler. Some other items
found on the racing versions were not
subjected to these strict rules, such as
transmissions (these race cars got 5-speed
Getrags), or big brakes (Most used big AP
brakes). Race cars could use any brakes as
long as they fit inside the 16 inch wheel.
It is now common knowledge that none of these 500 cars, when sold to the public, actually came with any real racing parts (except for possibly a few legendary rear spoilers that were reportedly found in trunks). Competitors learned about these cars being sold without the racing parts and filed grievances with the FISA. Volvo was called to answer in the middle of the 1985 season while FISA investigated. After Volvo initially remained silent, FISA suspended the Volvo teams completely from all races after Sep 1, 1985, but then another FISA official reversed and allowed the Volvos to continue racing "under suspension" pending the final outcome of the investigation. They raced half the season under suspension and won a LOT of races during that time. In October 1985 FISA was then shown a loophole in the rules which revealed there was no actual requirement that the 500 cars could not be stripped of the race parts after the FISA inspected the cars, but before being sent to Volvo dealers and sold to the public. On Oct 11, 1985, The FISA announced they had no choice but to exonerate Volvo and remove the suspension. Soon afterward FISA revised the rules to eliminate this loophole in the future. Two days after their exoneration, on Oct 13, 1985, Volvo took first place at Estoril, giving them the points needed for the 1985 ETCC championship. In the
words of an "anonymous" Volvo Group A
racing insider I interviewed a number of
years ago:
"If you weren't pushing the rules to the breaking point, you weren't winning. Every team knew it. Winning teams did it." Shipping only needs to be added ONE TIME if buying more than one item.
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DVD 1 |
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Volvo drivers for the 1984 ETCC: Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Valentin Simons (Bel), Ulf Granberg (Swed), Greger Petersson (Swed), Michel Delcourt (Bel), Pierre Dieudonne (Bel), Jean-Marie Baert (Bel), Eje Elgh (Swed), Jean-Marie Pirney (Bel), Per Stureson (Swed), Rune Tobiasson (Swed), Anders Olofsson ((Swed), Ingmar Persson (Swed), Robert Kvist (Swed), Patrick Neve (Bel), Frank Jelinsky (Ger), Bernard De Dryver (Bel), Giorgio Cipolli (It). |
CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The red Team Delcourt (GTM
Engineering) LHD 240 Turbo (car numbers 4, 34,
21, ans 12) shown in these races was built 1984 by Guy
Trigaux Motors (GTM Engineering) for the Belgium Volvo
Dealer Team. After the 1984 season this car was
purchased by Mark Petch and brought to New Zealand,
where on its first outing won the 1985 Nissan 500 in Wellington, New
Zealand after started in the back of the grid.
More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm |
Volvo drivers for the 1984 ETCC: Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Valentin Simons (Bel), Ulf Granberg (Swed), Greger Petersson (Swed), Michel Delcourt (Bel), Pierre Dieudonne (Bel), Jean-Marie Baert (Bel), Eje Elgh (Swed), Jean-Marie Pirney (Bel), Per Stureson (Swed), Rune Tobiasson (Swed), Anders Olofsson (Swed), Ingmar Persson (Swed), Robert Kvist (Swed), Patrick Neve (Bel), Frank Jelinsky (Ger), Bernard De Dryver (Bel), Giorgio Cipolli (It), Harald Huysman (Ne). |
CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The red Team Delcourt (GTM
Engineering) LHD 240 Turbo (car numbers 4, 34,
21, ans 12) shown in these races was built in 1984 by Guy
Trigaux Motors (GTM Engineering) for the Belgium Volvo
Dealer Team. After the 1984 season this car was
purchased by Mark Petch and brought to New Zealand,
where on its first outing won the 1985 Nissan 500 in Wellington, New
Zealand after started in the back of the grid.
More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm |
DVD 2 |
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Volvo won the 1985 European Touring Car Championship, driven by Thomas Lindstrom and Gianfranco Brancatelli (Eggenberger Volvo 240 Turbo #2). |
Volvo drivers for the 1985 ETCC: Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Gianfranco Brancatelli, (It), Ulf Granberg (Swed), Anders Olofsson (Swed), Ingmar Carlssopn (Swed), Siegfried Muller, Jr. (Ger), Tommy "Slim" Borgudd (Swed), Sune Ohlsson (Swed) Michael Strauch (Swed), Pierre Dieudonne (Bel), Greger Petersson (Swed), Bertil Engstrom (Swed), Per Gunnar "Peggen" Andersson (Swed), Mats Linden (Swed), Carlo Rossi (It), Didier Theys (Bel), Jean-Pierre Malcher (Fr), Christian Danner (Ger), Leopold von Bayern (Ger), Charlie O'Brien (Aus), Graham Baker (Aus), Ake Ernstson (Swed), Jurg Bachi (CH) and Jan Mattsson (Swed). |
Volvo drivers for the 1986 ETCC/ITCC: Johnny Cecotto (Venez), Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Ulf Granberg (Swed), Anders Olofsson (Swed), Per Stureson (Swed), Christer Simonsson (Swed), ? Berggren (Swed), Greger Petersson (Swed), Ulf Svensson (Swed), Lars Lindberg (Swed), Mauro Baldi (It), Didier Theys (Bel), Anders Lindberg (Swed), Per Gunnar "Peggen" Andersson (Swed), Dumortier de Rosie (?). |
DVD 3 |
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CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The blue/white Mark Petch
Motorsport LHD 240 Turbo #1 shown in this race was
the same car originally built in 1984 (originally red)
by Guy Trigaux Motors (GTM Engineering) for the
Belgium Volvo Dealer Team. After the 1984 season this
car was purchased by Mark Petch and brought to New
Zealand, where on its first outing won the 1985 Nissan 500
in Wellington, New Zealand after started in the back
of the grid. More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm |
Car History Note: Volvo #20 seen in
this video was one of two former ATCC (Australian
Touring Car Championship) cars sold to SRS (Söderqvist
Racing Sport) when Volvo ended their motorsport effort
in 1986. One was an LHD car and the other was
RHD. Car #20,
the LHD car, was the same car originally
built in 1984 by Guy Trigaux Motors (GTM Engineering)
for the Belgium Volvo Dealer Team. After the 1984 season
this car was purchased by Mark Petch and brought to New
Zealand, where on its first outing won the 1985 Nissan 500 in
Wellington, New Zealand after started in the back of
the grid. The car ran races for several
seasons. For the 1987 season, car #20 was hired from SRS by Giorgio Cipolli and Bruno Corradi from Italy. This car was later raced by Anders Lindberg in the 1989 Swedish Touring Car Championship, Today, it is known to be in private ownership in Germany. More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm The RHD Volvo #31 being driven by Christer and Kurt Simonsen was a former Petch car from Australia. |
Volvo drivers for the 1987 WTC: Ulf Granberg (Swed), Anders Olofsson (Swed), Per Stureson (Swed), Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Christer Simonsen (Swed), Kurt Simonsen (Swed), Etienne Dumortier (Bel), Baudoin De Rosee (Bel), GiorgioCipolli (It), Bruno Corradi (It), Anders Lindberg (Swed), Per Gunnar "Peggen" Andersson (Swed), Massimo Siena (It), Stig Blomqvist (Swed), Ian Tulloch (NZ), Robert Kvist (Swed). |
DVD 4 |
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Volvo WON the 1985 European Touring Car Championship, driven by Thomas Lindstrom and Gianfranco Brancatelli (Eggenberger Volvo 240 Turbo #2). |
Volvo WON the 1985 European Touring Car Championship (ETCC), driven by Thomas Lindstrom and Gianfranco Brancatelli (Eggenberger Volvo 240 Turbo #2). |
DVD 5 |
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There
was
one Volvo entry for this race: Australian Volvo Dealer Team 240 Turbo, car number 44, driven by John Bowe (AUS) and Alf Costanzo (AUS). The Volvo started in 5th position at the grid. At approximately 130 laps, the Volvo began trailing heavy smoke and went into the pits. According to published race statistics, the Volvo fell out due to an unspecified engine failure. It is then somewhat mysterious that in the last lap of this video, showing the first place Commodore (car number 2), driven by Allan Grice, the Volvo can clearly be seen roaring around the Commodore and charging ahead about 1/2 lap before the Commodore gets the checkered flag. So if the Volvo indeed earned a DNF for this race, it needs more explanation. |
CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The white Australian Volvo Dealer
Team RHD 240 Turbo #44 shown in this race was built in July/August
of 1986 in Australia. This was the last factory
"works" 240 ever built, because Volvo pulled the plug
on its official involvement in Group A racing later
that year. This car is currently owner by Mark
Petch of New Zealand. |
DVD 6 |
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There
was one Volvo entry for this race: Mark Petch Volvo Turbo, car number 55, driven by Robbie Francevic (NZ) and John Bowe (AUS). The Volvo started in 5th position on the grid. They had a great start, gaining two positions shortly after turn 1 and following the two lead TWR Jaguars up the hill. Through much of the race the Volvo traded between 2nd and 3rd pace with some very good racing. At some point after 60 laps, the Volvo went into the pits and driver Robbie Francevic was interviewed. He explained the failure during an on-camera interview as a faulty alternator. This repair put them a number of laps behind the leaders. The Volvo then ran short of fuel on lap 122 and was out of the race. |
CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The Mark Petch Motorsport
LHD 240 Turbo #55 shown in this race was the same car originally
built in 1984 (originally red) by Guy Trigaux Motors
(GTM Engineering) for the Belgium Volvo Dealer Team.
After the 1984 season this car was purchased by Mark
Petch and brought to New Zealand, where on its first
outing won the 1985
Nissan 500 in Wellington, New Zealand after started
in the back of the grid. More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm |
DVD 7 |
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Volvo drivers for the 1986 ETCC/ITCC: Johnny Cecotto (Venez), Thomas Lindstrom (Swed), Ulf Granberg (Swed), Anders Olofsson (Swed), Per Stureson (Swed), Christer Simonsson (Swed), ? Berggren (Swed), Greger Petersson (Swed), Ulf Svensson (Swed), Lars Lindberg (Swed), Mauro Baldi (It), Didier Theys (Bel), Anders Lindberg (Swed), Per Gunnar "Peggen" Andersson (Swed), Dumortier de Rosie (?). |
DVD 8 |
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Volvo
competed against the following other
cars in this race: Nissan
Skyline DR30 RS, Holden Commodore
SS, BMW 635CSi, BMW 325,
Mitsubishi Starion, Ford Mustang,
and Jaguar XJ12. Robbie Francevic, driving the #10 Mark Petch Volvo 240 Turbo, started in #2 position behind the #30 Nissan Skyline driven by George Fury. At the start, the Volvo out-accellerated the Skyline in a drag race up the hill to turn 1 and took the lead. The Skyline took the lead back a short time later and then the Volvo took it away again. The Volvo then began extending its lead further and further. At lap 12 the Volvo had created a 3 second lead over the next challenger and kept gaining. With 5 laps remaining, the Volvo had obviously eased up quite a bite and still had a lead of more than 6 seconds, but a challenger emerged in the #62 BMW 635 CSi driven by Jim Richards (the 1985 ATCC champion). The BMW began closing the lead by up to 2 seconds per lap in a strong effort to catch the Volvo, which appears to have exhausted its tires. Final laps... 4 second lead... then 3 seconds, then 2 seconds, then less than 1 second. And Volvo wins! |
CAR
HISTORY NOTE: The Mark Petch Motorsport
LHD 240 Turbo #10 shown in this race was the same car originally
built in 1984 (originally red) by Guy Trigaux Motors
(GTM Engineering) for the Belgium Volvo Dealer Team.
After the 1984 season this car was purchased by Mark
Petch and brought to New Zealand, where on its first
outing won the 1985
Nissan 500 in Wellington, New Zealand after started
in the back of the grid. More information about this car is found here: https://www.240grupp-a.se/English/bilder-filer/kolla_bilar-filer/racing-filer/1984-filer/gtm-1984-filer/gtm84.htm |
All
DVD's
are available individually or in a set (click here for set). Some DVDs have ONE video and some have TWO videos. DVD 1: 1984 ETCC (bias toward Rover) (32 min.) 1984 ETCC (bias toward Jaguar) (46 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 2: 1985 ETCC (bias toward Rover) (31 min.) 1986 ETCC (general coverage of the season) (40 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 3: 1986 Nissan-Mobil 500 (Wellington, NZ) (47 min.) 1987 World Touring Car Championship (29 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 4: 1985 Donington 500 (ETCC) (24 min.) 1985 Istel Tourist Trophy (Silverstone) (ETCC) (27 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 5: 1986 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst (61 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 6: 1985 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst (59 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 7: 1986 ETCC (comprehensive coverage of season) (90 min.) Volvo in ETCC (produced for Volvo) (15 min.) ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- DVD 8: 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship (Amaroo Park) (59 min.) Click "View Cart" below to see your cart or Check Out. ![]() ------------- Shipping only needs to be added to ONE DVD if buying more than one. ------------- |
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FOR SALE | |
Details: Seller: Peggen Andersson Company Peggen Motorsport Country: Sweden City: Falkenberg Added: 23/11/2017 AD LINK |
Description: One of its kind! Its late 1984 and Volvo had finished the first full season with the 242 Turbo Evolution! They had been competitive in the European Championship and the DTM. Now it was time to not only win races but championships. Two teams were contracted to do the job in the ETC. Magnum Racing in Stockholm, with one car, and Swiss team Eggenberger Motorsport with to cars. There was late that season built a forth car by Volvo Motorsport and this was used by Magnum Racing in Estoril in ETC 86. Drivers were Ulf Granberg and Anders Olofsson. In the season 86 the car was used in six of the races with Granberg/Olofsson in three of them and Mauro Baldi and Peggen Andersson in three of them. Today only two cars remains of the four that was built for the 85/86 ETC seasons. The Magnum Racing car is now in the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg and this car, built by Volvo Motorsport, is the only other. This car is now for sale. It comes on Speedline cast magnesium wheels and have Traction Control System. It even has the EPSON laptop that was used as a datalogger by the time! It has the original Rubi aluminium roll cage. |
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