Getting Obsessed with Old Race Cars
So this all started when I was watching some old racing videos online. Kept seeing comments like “Group 5 was insane!” or “Modern cars are tame compared to these beasts!” Got me curious. Like, how fast were these things really? Everyone talks big, but I wanted hard numbers. So I decided to dig.
The Frustrating Search Begins
First thing? Hit up Google. Searched “Group 5 specs” and “Group 5 top speed”. Absolute mess. Found tons of forum threads, people arguing like crazy. One guy says the Porsche 935 topped 220 mph. Next guy calls him crazy, insists it was barely 190. Found old magazine scans, but half were blurry or in German. Spent ages just trying to figure out what info was legit. Felt like chasing ghosts.
Finding Some Actual Evidence
Finally got a breakthrough. Stumbled across a rare PDF scan of an actual 1970s race program from Le Mans. It had official practice speeds for the Group 5 cars! My heart skipped. Here was the Porsche 935 K3 listed at 362 km/h (about 225 mph) on the Mulsanne Straight! Okay, that was one data point. But needed more.
Dug deeper into motorsport archive sites. Found timing sheets. Saw lap records:
- Nürburgring Nordschleife? Porsche 935: Under 7 minutes flat. Bonkers.
- Daytona? BMW 320i Turbo Group 5: Hit over 210 mph on the banking.
- Le Mans? Multiple years, speeds consistently 220+ mph for the turbo monsters.
The numbers were piling up, and they were huge.
The Lightbulb Moment & Realization
Then it clicked. It wasn’t just about the peak speed, though 220+ is terrifying enough. It was the whole package in those crazy machines:
- Ridiculous Acceleration: Turbo lag kicking in like a hammer, then shoving you forward.
- Sketchy Handling: Wide body? Massive tires? Still slid like crazy, drivers basically wrestling them.
- Danger Everywhere: Knowing brakes could fade or tires explode at those speeds… absolute trust fall.
Seeing those official timings, comparing them to what cars do now at those same tracks… yeah, those 70s beasts were terrifyingly quick. The stats don’t lie. They were absolute rocketships held together by ambition and hope.
Still Trying to Get My Head Around It
Seriously, after seeing the proof, I just keep replaying footage. Imagine sitting in that Porsche cockpit, doing 225 mph down that straight, knowing how flimsy it felt. Pure, terrifying speed without all the computer nannies. Insane respect for those drivers. Numbers confirmed the legend. Those Group 5 cars? Yeah, they were as fast as the crazy stories say. Maybe faster.