AMSCAR: the Group C years

Rugby League had the Amco Cup, a made-for-television competition supplementary to the main premiership, held at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval. Meanwhile, Aussie Rules’ auxiliary competition was its night series at Melbourne’s Lake Oval and later VFL Park. Motor racing’s version was the AMSCAR Series, which began late in the Group C era and saw, in the immortal words of commentator Mike Raymond, the touring cars bark at Amaroo Park.

Story: Steve Normoyle

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Amaroo Super Cars. That’s AMSCAR for short. This was the marketing name dreamed up by Ivan Stibbard, the general manager of the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club, for rustic Amaroo Park’s touring car series in 1979.

The AMSCAR Series would run to the end of the Group C era and beyond into Group A, all the way to 1993. It was even revived for a single season in 1997.

With live television coverage of all rounds and a hefty prizepool courtesy of series sponsor Rothmans, the first AMSCAR Series rivalled the Australian Touring Car Championship itself for profile, field quality and on-track action. It actually surpassed the ATCC for dramatic incidents as the tight confines of the 1.9km circuit on Sydney’s north-western outskirts allowed no margin for error. By comparison, only a handful of 1979 ATCC rounds were on TV and, with no series sponsor, prizemoney was a pittance compared to AMSCAR.