1976 Porsche 935 Coupe

This Porsche 934/5 series customer competition car was the 27th of 31 Porsche 934s built, ready for the 1976 racing season. It was originally painted in Indian Red and supplied to its original owner, German entrant/driver Georg Loos, for his Gelo Racing team. At the 1976 LeMans 24-Hour race, the car finished second in class.

The next owner of the car was Swiss privateer, Claude Haldi. It is believed that this car contested the 1976 Mugello 6-Hours (finishing 6th overall and 2nd in GT class), and later prepared for the Nurburgring 1000Kms where it finished second overall. At LeMans, the car finished 16th overall and second in the GT category.

Claude Haldi was the car's next owner, who raced it in the World Championships and European Championship road racing events, plus European hillclimbs, through the end of the 1976 and into 1977. At LeMans in 1977, it was forced to retire due to a gearbox failure.

In 1978, Claude Haldi sold the car to a South American owner/driver racing under the pseudonym 'Jamsal.' He had the car converted to 935 twin-turbocharged form and raced it in North American IMSA events in addition to South American fixtures until 1981. The car won the 6 Hours of El Salvador, which gave its owner a World Champion title.

In the early 1980s, the car was re-bodied in its current form with K3/M13 bodywork. At the time, the car was fitted with an Andial-built flat-fan twin-plug engine.

The car was sold in 1989 via Dick Fritz to Frank Gallogly in the USA where it passed through several owners until, in 2005, being brokered by John Starkey to the current owner. The car was treated to a restoration, which included a rebuild of the current 3.2-liter engine.

In 2010 the car was offered for sale at the Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia presented by Bonhams. The car was estimated to sell for the sum of $650,000 - $750,000. Unfortunately, a willing buyer could not be found and the car would leave the auction unsold.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2010