1980 Porsche Indy Car pictures and wallpaper 1980 Porsche Indy Car pictures and wallpaper



1980 Porsche Indy Car news, pictures, and information

 
Porsche's decision to enter the Indianapolis 500 race precipitated a political battle between other entrants and the rule makers. Despite previous assurances that the Porsche engine would be accepted, last-minute rule changes prevented driver Danny Ongais from qualifying. Interscope, owned by Ted Fields, and Porsche joined forces on this Indianapolis effort. Porsche provided the powerplant and Interscope modified an existing chassis to accept the new engine. The engine for this car, with a water-cooled head and six-cylinders, evolved from the Porsche 935 and 936 prototypes. The present-day 956/962C Group C engine, which had been so dominant at LeMans and elsewhere, was also developed from this model. Porsche withdrew the car and canceled its Indy program less than a month before the practice sessions were to begin. No one outside of the Porsche engineers, Ongais and the Interscope team ever saw the car on the track, but in testing at Ontario Motor Speedway (a duplicate of Indy), the car was said to have been spectacular, breaking numerous track records.
View more Indianapolis vehicles

© 1998-2009. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.