The Garretson Developments Sports Car team entered two cars at Le Mans 1982, a March-Chevrolet and a Porsche 935. The March was an 82G, the March IMSA GTP car. The March was a fast car, but fragile. Most of the problem was due to the use of the Hewland DG300 gearbox in the original design. Used no doubt to save weight, it proved unable to handle the torque of the 6.0 liter … [Read more...]
1983 Sebring 12 Hour – David and Goliath
The 1983 Sebring 12 Hour was an epic event. Back then the race was run on the ‘old circuit’ which was over 5.2 miles in length, bumpy, in disrepair, and it was a real battle to even finish a 12- hour event there, being very hard on both driver and equipment. Since about 1971, it had been the domain of Porsche as they had repeatedly won there with cars from the 917 to the … [Read more...]
The 1979 Sebring 12 Hour – The Tortoise comes through
The IMSA season in the 1970s always started with the two toughest races on the calendar, the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours. Daytona was tough because back then, there was no chicane, and more than fifty per cent of the race was in the dark. The traffic was very difficult, as in the old days they would start with upwards of 80 cars on the 3.84-mile oval/infield … [Read more...]
Video: Porsche 935 Moby Dick at Le Mans Classic driven by Emmanuel Collard
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...]
Fitz – My Life at the Wheel
John Fitzpatrick needs little by way of an introduction. He learned his trade the hard way, by racing his own private road car, a Mini, in local races. But we are getting ahead of the story a bit, because as a youngster, Fitz as he is known, was an aspiring golfer with his sights set on becoming a professional. However, life has a way of throwing a curved ball at our plans … [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...]
