1990 Porsche March 90P

The Porsche Motorsport legacy is most commonly associated with the 24 Hours of Le Mans with 19 overall wins, the Rolex 24 at Daytona with 22 overall wins, and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with 18 overall wins - all three are a manufacturer record for overall victories. The German sports car maker also has a tradition at 'The Speedway,' and although the open wheel cars of Porsche have never enjoyed the good fortune on the 2.5-liter oval that it had at many other iconic race courses, it made its presence felt and created multiple innovations along the way.

Porsche's legacy at Indy dates back to as early as 1966 when privateers utilized non-sanctioned engines to contest the event. The company's firsts serious attempt at American open wheel racing occurred in the late 1970s when it developed an Indy car engine to compete in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series and the Indianapolis 500. In 1979, Porsche teamed with sports car racing customer Interscope Racing, driver Danny Ongais, and the 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones, to contest the 1980 Indy 500. They paired an Interscope IR01 chassis to a factory race engine based on the Porsche 935 powerplant, and put it through extensive testing, where it demonstrated great potential and reliability. Unfortunately, the sanctioning body of the Indianapolis 500 at the time - the United States Auto Club (USAC) - lowered the turbocharger boost for the engine, effectively rendering the car obsolete. Porsche withdrew its support before the car had ever been tested in competition.

Porsche's second attempt to contest the Indy 500 came in 1987, nearly a decade after it began building its first Indy racer. Al Holbert, the director of Porsche Motorsport North America, had convinced Porsche to return to open-wheel racing, birthing a racecar dubbed the Project 2708. With mechanical assistance from Hans Mezger, a turbocharged 2.65-liter V8 engine was installed into a chassis designed by Norbert Singer. Both the engine and chassis were built in Weissach, Germany. Al Unser Sr. debuted the new Project 2708 at Laguna Seca in October of 1987 and would qualify 21st but finished in 24th after a water pump failure ended the car's debut after just seven laps. Since the car had entered late in the 1987 season, it did not attempt to qualify at Indianapolis.

On September 30th of 1988, the project was delivered a major setback when Al Holbert lost his life in a private plane crash. The project soldiered on, and in its second year of running a March - which was now designated the March 89P - Porsche had its best Indy car season overall, earning two pole positions - one at Portland and the other at Mid-Ohio. The brand's only Indy car race victory (to date) was achieved at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Fabi at the wheel, and they had their best oval track finish with a second-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. Success at the Indianapolis 500 remained elusive, however, with a 30th-place finish for Fabi after qualifying 13th.

Porsche's final attempt at Indy car racing (to date) was with the March 90P chassis and its first two-car team. The March 90P was equipped with the latest 161 cubic-inch turbocharged (single Turbo with Twin Wastegates), water-cooled Porsche V8 with Bosch Motronic Fuel injection. It developed approximately 725 horsepower at 12,000 RPM and was backed by a five-speed manual gearbox. The suspension used pushrod double-wishbones with coil springs and stopping power was by disc brakes. The turbocharger was positioned between the driver and the engine resulting in optimal weight distribution.

The 90P was intended to feature a carbon fiber monocoque chassis and would have been the first Indy car to use such a construction. When competitors caught wind of the groundbreaking design, they worried about how competitive it might be, so they protested that the chassis was unsafe and the driver seating position too low. As a result, March built a new aluminum honeycomb chassis. it was later revealed that the carbon fiber 90P chassis was, in fact, much safer than the Penske and Lola chassis used by other teams.

Fabi drove the No. 4 Foster's Beer / Quaker State March-Porsche while driving duties of the No. 41 Foster's Beer March-Porsche was handled by John Andretti. Porsche's third Indy car pole position was earned by Fabi on the street circuit in Denver. He finished third at the Meadowlands circuit and would end the season 14th in the final standings. Andretti's best result of the season was a fifth-place finish at Cleveland and Vancouver and would finish 10th in points. At the all-important Indy 500, Fabi started in the 23rd position and placed 18th overall while Andretti qualified 10th and finished 21st.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021

Sold for $346,000 at 2021 Gooding & Company : Pebble Beach Concours Auction.
This Porsche-March 90P, chassis number 90P, was driven by John Andretti during the 1990 season, with accolades that included a 5th place at Vancouver, a 6th at Denver, and another 5th in Cleveland. Andretti raced in 14 races total with this 90P earning him a 10th Overall in the championship. At Indianapolis, on the 140th lap, Andretti brushed the outside wall, sustaining minor rear suspension damage and the car was retired from the race.

In 2017, the Porsche was acquired by Carlos de Quesada directly from the Porsche factory and later sold to the current caretaker. A full restoration at a cost of over $180,000 was undertaken by Greg Elliff of GE Autosports in Avon, Indiana, who was the former crew chief for Emerson Fittipaldi. After the documented, year-long restoration was completed, it was run at the Indianapolis Historic Racing exhibition prior to the 2019 Indy 500 at speeds of up to 160 mph.

The 2,649cc water-cooled DOHC V-8 Porsche engine uses Bosch Motronic fuel injection and a single turbocharger with twin wastegates to develop 725 horsepower at 12,000 RPM. There is a five-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel disc brakes, an aluminum honeycomb chassis, and a four-wheel pushrod double-wishbones suspension with coil springs.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021