| Category | Group A Sports Cars | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Kaditcha | ||||||||
| Designer(s) | Barry Lock Wayne Eckersley | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Aluminum monocoque | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbone with pullrod operated inboard coil springs and Koni shock absorbers | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone with pullrod operated inboard rear springs, Tyrrell uprights and Koni shock absorbers | ||||||||
| Engine | 1983-84: mid-engine, longitudinally mounted, 2,998 cc (182.9 cu in), Cosworth DFV NA V8 1984-86: mid-engine, longitudinally mounted, 3,955 cc (241.3 cu in), Cosworth DFL NA V8 2010-: mid-engine, longitudinally mounted, 3,494 cc (213.2 cu in), Cosworth DFZ, NA V8 | ||||||||
| Transmission | Hewland FGB 400 5-speed manual | ||||||||
| Weight | 775 kg (1,709 lb) (ASCC) 845 kg (1,863 lb) (FIA WEC) | ||||||||
| Lubricants | Valvoline | ||||||||
| Tyres | Dunlop Avon | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants |  Bap Romano Racing | ||||||||
| Notable drivers | Bap Romano Alfredo Costanzo | ||||||||
| Debut | 1983 Australian Sports Car Championship Round 1 at Sandown Raceway | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 1 (1984) | ||||||||
The Romano WE84 is an Australian designed and built, mid-engined closed top racing car built to CAMS Group A Sports Car specifications. The car began its life as the Kaditcha K583 when it first appeared in the 1983 Australian Sports Car Championship and was built by the Queensland based Kaditcha owner and former McLaren engineer Barry Lock after he was approached by Brisbane accountant, property developer, timber mill owner and former speedway racer Bap Romano in 1981 with the idea of building a Le Mans type coupe. When the car first appeared in 1983, it was the first closed top Sports Car seen in Australia and looked like an FIA Group C Sports Car (such as the Porsche 956) rather than the open cockpit Can-Am style cars of previous years. This led to the false belief that it was built to the Group C regulations
Bap Romano's ultimate ambition was to take the car to the famous 24 Hour French classic in an All-Australian challenge. Although this did not happen, going on its qualifying performance of the car at the 1984 Sandown 1000 race as part of the 1984 World Endurance Championship held at Melbourne's Sandown Raceway against the FIA Group C Sports Cars, the Romano, with some minor modifications to bring it up to FIA specs, would not have been out of place in Group C2 at Le Mans.
Even in 2024, 41 years after its competition debut and 38 years since it was retired from competition, the Romano remains one of Australia's most iconic, fastest, and popular race cars, and is generally regarded as the second fastest Australian built sports car, behind only to the Group C and IMSA spec Veskanda C1-Chevrolet built in 1985 by K&A Engineering in Adelaide.