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Creative homologation. The STR91 camshaft was part of a special emission kit. A bigger rad and oilcooler etc. were standard parts for some export countries. When you had on paper a certain number of production cars had those parts fitted it was a standard part so could be used in gp1.
After the rule change in 1976 there were only group 1 cars allowed. Triumph had almost nothing homologated. Ford did. It even didn't homologated the mk2 escort. In 1975 they just homologated a slightly change in bodywork of the escort and could continue.
Jeroen
There are some mods listed for the Group 1 car in the homologation papers for the Dolomite, but only 3. The camshaft isn't one: it's claimed to have been within the limits of the tolerances allowed by the FIA on the production one.
A heavy duty suspension is listed for exoprt cars in 74. I've not read the 1974 version of appendix J, so that may be different, but there wasn't a rule in Appendix J 1975 for export options in Groups 1 and 3, only groups 2 and 4 - a production of 5000 was needed for a group 1 mod, and 1000 for group 3. However, it does look like the RAC/FIA/SCI were a bit slapdash over mods pre 76, also approving the HD axle for the group 3 TR7 as an export model in 75. It does look like there was a change in how the rules were applied about 77-78, when Jean-Marie Balestre tookover the CSI/FISA, but it is said he had been in the French SS during the war (as a spy for the resistance, of course). BL re-homologated that HD axle again in 1978, when production of 5-speed TR7s exceeded the 1000 car requirement for group 3.
As to the Escort RS 1800 , there's a long list of mods for the group 2 RS1800 from 75 on in its papers (FIA RN 1605). As far as I can make out, they made 58 cars for that, but don't forget, the 100-off rule applied in 1975, and cars (and parts) approved using it were allowed to continue to be rallied in group 2 (and 4) untill the end of 1977. The Mk II shell is homologated in ammendment 18, for the 4th evolution, dated 1/5/75. Ford also got a separate new homologation of it for group 4, with the 2 ltr version of the BDA engine (BDG?) in 77 (FIA RN 650). They seem to have got that on only another 50 cars as a modification to the RS1600/1800 - the cars marked with X0 on the chassis plates - not the 400 required for a simple new homologation into Group 4. However, there at least one other similar instance at about that time where homologations of new a car that was actually modified from exiting approved car was approved on very many fewer than 400 <150 at most.
As to there only being group 1 cars after 76, there's references on the web for the Group one and a half Dolomites in 77-8, at least one saying they had Webber 48s and bigger front brakes, which was not allowed by the FIA in Group 1 under the rules for 76 or 78. There're also references to the group 2 race car engines in some of Graham Robson's books, clearly separate from the Group 2 rally cars, and that goes into 77-8 too.
But I still cant find any reference to where the Gp 2 Doly racers were used, or how the got to modify away from gp 1 for the BTC without listing those changes in the recognition form - however they got approval.
Graham
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