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  Tiga GC85 Cosworth      

  Article Image gallery (20) 379 Specifications  
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Country of origin:Great Britain
Produced in:1985
Numbers built:2
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:December 28, 2015
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Click here to download printer friendly versionEstablished by racing drivers Tim Schenken and Howden Ganley in 1974, Tiga produced sports cars and single seaters for a wide range of formulae. Tigas were particularly successful in the Sport 2000 category. During the early 1980s, the Britain based manufacturer stepped up to international racing with a new Chevrolet V8-powered Group C2 car, built for Australian Neil Crang and raced as a works entry during the 1983 season.

For 1984, the design evolved to accommodate the Ford Cosworth DFL V8 engine. A conventional machine, the Tiga GC84 was built around an aluminium monocoque chassis, which used a separate steel spaceframe to support the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. The rolling chassis was clothed in a straightforward fibreglass body with a full-width rear wing. On either side of the drivetrain sizeable ground-effect tunnels were fitted and provided most of the downforce.

Crang was joined by Gordon Spice and Ray Bellm, and the GC84 was entered as a joint Tiga / Spice Engineering entry. The pairing had a difficult start of the season, which included an engine failure during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Once the bugs were ironed out, the Cosworth-engined Tiga started to rack up victories. The GC84 ended up winning the C2 class at the World Championship rounds at the Nürburgring, Brands Hatch, Spa-Francorchamps and Sandown Park.

A new car was built for the season, which was another subtle evolution of the existing design. The new GC85 was sold to Gordon Spice, who entered the car as a Spice Tiga for the World Championship. Sharing with Ray Bellm, the Spice Engineering entered Tiga scored class wins at Mugello, Monza, Le Mans, Mosport and Spa-Francorchamps. During the season, more than twice as many points were scored than the closest rival and Spice Engineering was crowned World Champion.

From 1986 Spice Engineering and Tiga parted ways as the former started producing their own cars. Tiga continued to build Group C2 and IMSA GTP Lights cars, although these never matched the success of the Spice-run GC84 and GC85.

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  Article Image gallery (20) 379 Specifications