Opel Calibra, 25 years since its victory in the International Touring Car Championship

In 1995 the FIA launched the ITC, also known as the International Touring Car Championship, which ran until 1996. And you may well wonder why a championship with these ingredients was gone in just two years. Don’t be impatient, you’ll find the answer further on.

The technology of these cars was impressive for the time, so much so that they were known as “Formula 1s with a roof”. To give you an idea of the championship’s importance, the ITC was broadcast live on television and its thirteen races were held around the world, from Hockenheimring to Suzuka, passing through Estoril, Nürburgring, Silverstone or Magny-Cours, among others.

As for the drivers who starred in these spectacles that kept all motorsport fans glued to their televisions, there were former Formula 1 drivers such as Alessandro Nannini, Hans-Joachim Stuck, young stars of the time such as Giancarlo Fisichella, or former DTM winners such as Klaus Ludwig or Bernd Schneider, who finished runner-up behind Reuter’s famous Calibra “Cliff”.

The regulations required Class 1 touring cars -where the Calibra competed- to fit V6 engines of no more than 2.5 litres and 500 CV. In addition, the Calibra had four-wheel drive, which, combined with the engine developed by Cosworth Engineering with an aluminium block, made it unbeatable for its rivals, which included cars such as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class V6 or the Alfa Romeo 155 V6. The Opel Calibra not only won the drivers’ title with Reuter, but also took the constructors’ championship at the end of the season at Suzuka.

The Opel Calibra was a predator of circuits and budgets

Cosworth was not the only major company involved in the project, as the semi-automatic gearbox that came with the Calibra package was developed together with Williams GP Engineering, which was then a partner of Opel. This transmission allowed the driver to change gear in 40 thousandths of a second. An ideal package that enabled Manuel Reuter to be crowned world champion with 218 points, thirteen ahead of Bernd Schneider with his C-Class V6 and 38 points ahead of Nannini with his 155 V6.

The huge investment these impressive machines demanded, added to the cost of competing itself, made survival practically unattainable for the teams, and the ITC disappeared, a competition that made the whole world vibrate. From that moment on, the DTM appeared, also known as “Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters”, with a much more accessible and simplified regulation, which has partly eliminated the wildness that is remembered so nostalgically from the ITC.

The Opel Calibra marked a historic moment for its brand in 1996 and for creating the myth that brings such fond memories to many of us. A car on a par with a Formula 1 of the era, with an astonishing 500 CV, barely one tonne in weight and a great legacy behind it.