One of the motoring highlights of my 2016 season, if not of all time, has to be driving a fabulous Porsche 906 on the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb. The car had come from the Porsche Museum, where in recent years it had been restored to its original, and immaculate, spec. This particular prototype has a very unusual history, as it ran at the 1967 Nürburgring 1000Km … [Read more...]
Yesteryear
The 934/5 – Porsche’s answer to IMSA in 1977
Sports car racing changed drastically in the early- to mid-1970s. The rules for the World Championship shifted away from the 5-litre cars such as the 917 and Ferrari 512, to the 3-litre versions such as the Ferrari 312PB, Porsche 908 and Alfa Romeo T33 in 1972. While most Porsche customers ran the RSR in GT racing, a few also ran 908s, but Porsche knew the 908 was not … [Read more...]
Porsche Type 64 – A Star is Born
Often overlooked, the Porsche Type 64 holds a significant place in the history of Porsche sports cars. Great strides were taken in motor car performance during the 1920s and 1930s, a development that actively fed the motorsport industry, which in turn grew in popularity at an astonishing rate. During this time, the automobile became an object of national identity and pride, … [Read more...]
1981 Daytona 24 Hours – Preparation and Planning
A lot of people have asked me over the years, what is it like to plan, prepare for and run a 24-hour sports car race. It has changed somewhat over the years from the days of the Porsche 935 at the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours. Many of today’s cars are way over-engineered for what is required, reference IMSA DP cars. Technology is relatively low, and if you build them correctly, they … [Read more...]
Valentin Schäffer – Porsche’s turbo master
Another keen young recruitee to Zuffenhausen in the early 1950s, Valentin Schäffer, would become Porsche’s racing turbo specialist and engineer the induction systems that endowed Porsche sports racers with a dominance that lasted decades. The compact figure of Valentin Schäffer trotted up the steps of the Porsche Museum with the zest of a man much younger than his eighty-two … [Read more...]
Porsche at Norisring 1980
The Race for the Pork Cutlets… The end of June 1980 was a busy time at Dick Barbour Racing. We had just run at Le Mans with two Porsche 935 cars, chassis 009 00030 and 000 0023. Car 000 0023 was a brand-new Kremer K3 that had just been picked up the week before in Germany. Chassis 000 0009 sat in the paddock as a spare/parts car the whole week in France, as it had run the … [Read more...]
Batting .750 (3 for 4) – Le Mans 1979
Le Mans 1979 was a race for the ages. The Dick Barbour team had prepared and brought four 935 Porsches to qualify and race. They were as follows: Chassis 009 00030 was a brand new car (#70). This car had been built up from a bare chassis in the team’s shop in Northern California in early 1979, and this was its first race. It was a 935-79 twin-turbo and would be driven by … [Read more...]
Porsche at Le Mans Part I: 1951 to 1963
The name Porsche is synonymous with the world’s toughest endurance race, the 24-Hours of Le Mans, boasting an unbroken run of 65 years. During this time, they have amassed 18 victories. This is Part I of their story… Le Mans – 1951 to 1963 Whether the year 1948 was a year of particular significance in terms of French vintage wines, thereby inspiring automotive designers … [Read more...]
Porsche 904 Carrera GTS
The Porsche Carrera GTS represented a watershed in the company’s march towards motorsport fulfilment. Gone was the space frame and aluminium construction of the 550s, the Type 904 ushered in a completely new way of thinking. Porsche Road & Race investigates… The Porsche Carrera GTS, or Type 904 to give it its internal company designation, marked the biggest change in … [Read more...]
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