European Touring Car Championship

While often overlooked in the annals of motorsport history, from 1963 to 1988 the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) provided some epic production car racing. In its early days, the ETCC was an affordable entry point for young drivers to hone their craft. Future stars like Baghetti, Ickx and Whitmore all cut their teeth in ETCC, driving small Fiat-Abarths, Mini Coopers and Lotus Cortinas. By the 1970s, manufacturers like BMW, Ford and Alfa Romeo used victories in the ETCC as a way of marketing the durability and superiority of their cars and enlisted world class drivers like Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Mass and Hans Stuck to wave their flag. These battles between the BMW CSL and the Ford Capri would prove to be the halcyon days of the series. In later years, other manufacturers would enter and dominate, but by 1988 the series would dissolve into the FIA’s failed Procar championship and numerous regional Touring Car series.

This month’s Web site is devoted to the history of this series and its cars. Organized into periods, there are sections covering: The Early Years, 1963–1968; Group 5, 1968–1969; The Ford & BMW Years, 1970–1975; The Dull Years, 1976-1981; and the Group A Years, 1982–1988. Within each of these sections are listings of race-by-race results, championship overviews and technical specifications for each of the cars that participated. This site provides a wealth of information on this oft-overlooked series.