VIDEO: Celicas, Civics, RX-7s and Sunnys, racing together, in modern times

Last month in Australia was the Bathurst 12 Hour, an enduro packed with Nissan GT-Rs, BMW M6s, Vipers, Porsches, and Lamborghinis duking it out for supremacy. Nobody cares, though, because the supporting races, filled with JNCs, were about a million times more exciting. 

The Improved Production Challenge is exactly what the name implies — production cars modified for racing. You can enter practically anything, and that’s why you’ll see a Daruma Celica going balls out against an EG Honda Civic (8:15), or a B110 Datsun 1200 Sunny holding off a Ford Falcon GT and SA22 Mazda RX-7 (21:40). There’s door-to-door action with V8 Holdens, Evos, Corollas in AE86 and TE37 and FX16 guise, BMW 3-Series of every generation, and even a Mazda 808. Where else can you find a diversity of cars mixing it up like this?

Here’s another Improved Production Challenge race in Adelaide, with the same Civic driven by 23-year-old Jordan Cox hounding an AE86 like it’s life or death stakes.

There’s just something about seeing cars that you could actually drive being raced in anger. Very few people will ever drive a Lamborghini, NASCAR, or F1 machine, but everyone understands what it’s like to hoof a Corolla. Now excuse us as we study up on Australian citizenship again.

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8 Responses to VIDEO: Celicas, Civics, RX-7s and Sunnys, racing together, in modern times

  1. SHC says:

    Reminds me of the old Trans Am series (Pre BRE) when the competitors were Alfa GTA’s, BMW 1600/2002’s, Ford Pinto’s, Mini Coopers and Mazda RX-3’s. Very close racing and a lot of the tactics used in NASCAR were employed to get around someone.
    Bathurst is an amazing track which really makes for a competitive race for both more powerful and less powerful cars to compete against each other.

    * Who says a FWD car cannot be competitive.

  2. j_tso says:

    Bathurst 12H was last month, I found the first video while watching the livestream of the race. The 12H itself is a nice mix of cars, modern GT3(?) cars and tube frame V8 racers. You could see a Ferrari, GT-R, and V8 Mazda 3 go at it.

  3. Brett says:

    Improved Production is the most interesting category in Aussie motorsport, and when they run at Bathurst it is always a spectacle.

  4. Jacob says:

    The dude in the Civic is insane. I first came across the ae86 clip, and did some research on the guy and found his personal Youtube page. He has in-car footage of the entire race with the Celica.

    What I found the coolest was the fact that his page wasn’t anything spectacular. No fancy videos or millions of views/subscribers, just your average young and aspiring driver. Yet, he’s drives like a pro.

    I wish racing series like this were more popular here in the US.

  5. Censport says:

    I watched this recently too. Great minds, and all that. 😉

  6. Dimitry says:

    Wow, how did I not see this before?! This is amazing! An EG Civic, duking it out with a throng of BMW, only to end up fighting a 3400cc Celica. So good!

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