1990 Porsche 962C

Racing Coupe
Chassis number: 962-159
Engine number: 962.207

The Porsche 956/926 Series cars are iconic endurance racing machines that have won the Daytona 24-Hours six times, LeMans 24-Hours race no fewer than seven times, and the Sebring 12-Hours four times. They dominated the FIA World Championship, winning it five times, plus four American IMSA Championship titles, the European InterSerie and Japanese Sports Car Championship.

This particular car, chassis number 962-195, is a restored car with a rebuilt 2.8-liter twin-turbo engine. It was campaigned by the celebrated Japanese Team Trust. It was ordered new from Porsche in 'longtail' specification for Le Mans. Its engine produced over 850 bhp for the 1990 racing season. At LeMans in 1990, the car was driven by George Fouche ex Kremer Racing, Stefan Andskar and Shunji Kasuya. Their main sponsors were the Japanese oil company Nisseki, Cibie and Dunlop and under the team management of Gen Suzuki. The car wore the race number '63' and finished 13th overall.

It returned the following year where it was driven by Fourche/Andsker and wore number 49. It failed to finish the entire race. It finished 1st in the 1991 FIA SWC race at Autopolis, Japan with Fourche/Andsker at the wheel.

Team Trust performed a complete restoration in 1992 on the car, which brought it back to its 1990 LeMans 24-Hour race specification. Since then, it has been kept in a museum.

It is believed that there were 91 examples of the Type 962 cars between 1984 and 1991. Of these, 16 were used officially by the works team, and 75 were sold to customers. A few Type 956 models were rebuilt as Type 962 models. Two were previously written off and four others rebuilt. Three badly damaged 962s were rebuilt with fresh chassis numbers.

In 2008, this 1990-91 Porsche Type 962 Group C Racing Coupe was offered for sale at the 'Quail Lodge, A Sale of Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia' presented by Bonhams Auction. The lot was sold for $612,000 inclusive of the buyer's premium.

by Dan Vaughan

Racing Coupe
Chassis number: 962-012

This particular car, chassis number 962-012, was built and developed at Weissach. It is a late-production Joest Racing 962C works chassis. It was given a highly tuned engine and aerodynamic improvements, including radiator flow guides and a large, center-mounted rear wing.

Chassis number 962-012 was sponsored by Blaupunkt and campaigned as Joest Racing's primary car for the 1990 season, with former Porsche works team member Bob Wollek and German F3 champion Frank Jelinski as its drivers. It raced in all nine rounds of the 1990 World Sports-Prototype Championship season with its best result being a 4th Place finish at Silverstone. At the close of the season, Joest Racing placed 5th in the team championship standings.

During the 1991 season, it participated in the European Interserie Cup with Sachs sponsorship. It was driven by John Winter (the pseudonym often used by German businessman and racer Louis Krages) in three of the four Interserie outings.

The car was retired at the end of the 1991 season, yet Joest Racing continued to campaign 962Cs in the US and Europe.

In late 1991, Porsche engineer Norbert Singer fitted two purpose-built 962s with Doppelflügel – or Double Wing. The carbon fiber bi-plane rear wing, coupled with revised rear bodywork and other aerodynamic advances, created more downforce than any prior 956 or 962. With the Double Wing, the cars were capable of about 370 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans and reduced its lap time by approximately seven seconds over the classic longtail 962.

In 2001, chassis 962-012 was restored to as-new condition and given the Singer-developed Doppelflügel and revised bodywork. In January of 2006, Mr. Jerry Seinfeld acquired the car from Joest Racing.

by Dan Vaughan

Racing Coupe
Chassis number: 962-148

In 1989, Porsche A.G. requested that Rob Dyson return to IMSA Camel GTP for 1990. Porsche would construct a new car (chassis 148) for Dyson Racing. Chassis 148 finished on the podium several times. It was piloted by many of the most elite Porsche pilots, including Rob Dyson, James Weaver, John Paul Jr., Hurley Haywood and Price Cobb.

For over ten years, the Porsche 962 dominated the racing circuit, including the 24 Hours of LeMans, Daytona, FIA, and IMSA racing. Nearly 150 were sold and because of such a large customer program, every component was available off the shelf direct from Porsche.

Racing Coupe
Chassis number: 962-160

The Porsche 956 and its successor, the 962, are among the greatest and most dominant endurance racing vehicles of all time. Between 1982 and 1987, they won LeMans six times, finishing 1-2-3 every year except 1987, when they were 1-2. The Porsche 962 won 48 out of 68 North American IMSA GPT races between 1984 and 1987, including 1-2-3 finishes at Sebring and Daytona for three consecutive years. They captured the World Endurance Manufacturers' and Drivers' Championship (1982–1985), the World Sports Prototype Manufacturers' and Drivers' Championships (1986–1987), the IMSA GTP Manufacturers' Championship (1985–1988), and the IMSA GTP Driver's Championship (1985–1987), along with numerous other important victories and series championships.

In a similar fashion to the 956 program, the 962s built for the Works team began with chassis number 001, while customer cars began with chassis number 962-101. The Works team cars were more technically advanced while the customer cars were more standardized. Factory 962s typically wore the Rothmans colors, though for the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans the works team cars were given a new Shell-Dunlop livery.

In 1988, Porsche withdrew as a factory entry, yet they continued to build 962C chassis for privateers. One such team was the Brun Motorsport GmbH, founded by Walter Brun in 1983. This Swiss racing team was created from the remnants of GS-Sport. Initially, they raced in sports cars, later being among the first to race the Porsche 956, both in the World Sportscar Championship and the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, or DRM. Their driver, Hans Stuck, placed second in the 1985 DRM Championship while piloting a 962. For the 1990 season, Brun fielded two Porsche 962Cs in the World Sports Prototype Championship competition, including chassis number 962-160.

This car is chassis number 962-160. It was purchased from Porsche through Brun by Dr. Robert Bishop of Indianapolis. It was contracted for use by the Brun Motorsport team in the 1990 and 1991 WSPC. Part of the agreement required the team to restore the car to as-new condition with factory parts and return it to Dr. Bishop with 90 days of the season's final event in Mexico.

Wearing the livery of Spain's Repsol oil company, chassis 962-160 would have its inaugural race at the 1990 24 Hours of LeMans. It was decided that because of the two new chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, 962-160 would be given high-downforce bodywork for LeMans. Oscar Larrauri earned the pole position until the final moments in qualifying and started on the front row of the grid, ahead of all factory-backed 962s. 962-160 would have a spectacular race until 15 from the end, when the engine expired. The car had completed 353 laps and had nearly earned a victory at LeMans. Disappointment would follow the Brun team during the remainder of the 1990 season, including an accident in Montreal involving a manhole cover. It had been dislodged by a car and then run over by Brun's other 962C. The cascade of events that followed left the 962-160 with damage to the left front corner of the car, which was later fixed by Fabcar in Indianapolis.

During the 1991 season, 962-160 was essentially a backup car for Brun and saw action in four races, including the 24 Hours of LeMans, where it failed to finish. At the end of the season, 962C was restored by Brun's mechanics and delivered to Dr. Bishop in Indianapolis. On February 12th of 1997, it was sold to its current caretaker.

Since its retirement from the highest level of motorsport endurance racing, 962-106 has been shown at four of the five Rennsport Reunion meetings. It has competed in HSR (Historic Sportscar Racing) enduros at both Daytona and Sebring, where it won the Al Holbert Memorial enduro.

This Porsche 962C retains its original tub and period bodywork. The Type 935/85 flat 6-cylinder engine is fitted with a Bosch Motronic fuel injection system and a pair of KKK turbochargers. The engine displaces 2,999cc and produces an estimated 750 horsepower. There is a five-speed manual transaxle and four-wheel ventilated disc brakes. The suspension system is fully independent with coil-over shock absorbers.

by Dan Vaughan

The Porsche 956 and 962 captured the World Endurance Manufacturer's and Driver's Championship (1982 through 1985), the World Sports Prototype Manufacturer's and Driver's Championship (1986-1987), the IMSA GTP Manufacturer's Championship (1985-1988), and the IMSA GTP Driver's Championship (1985-1987), along with many other victories and series championships.

Factory Porsche 962s typically wore Rothmans colors, though for the 1988 24 Horus of Le Mans the works team cars had Shell-Dunlop livery.

by Dan Vaughan

Porsche met Group C regulations introduced by FISA in 1982 with a fresh concept. This new car would be the focal point of factory racing efforts. These new Group C regulations led to the re-birth of the two-seat, special race sports car which no longer had to be declared a prototype for some future production car, but rather was seen as a high-performance vehicle in its own right.

The 956 from which evolved the later 962, developed to comply with American IMSA race regulations but raced around the globe - was the first Porsche race car with a monocoque chassis and an aerodynamically designed underside to generate ground effects to literally suck the car down into firmer contact with the track. The use of advanced fuel injection and ignition systems not only enabled the 2.6-liter engine to develop 630bhp but combined this with low fuel consumption - a crucial advantage given the racing regulations of the time.

The sporting career of the 956 was no less impressive; right off the drawing board and only a few weeks after the first cars were built, the 956 scored an impressive 1-2-3 victory in the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance classic. That same year brought the World Championship for Makes trophy to Porsche and the World Endurance Drivers' Championship for Porsche factory driver Jacky Ickx, of Belgium.

In 1983, Porsche offered the car to customers to race themselves alongside the factory-supported team. So began an unrivaled run of success in World Endurance Championship racing, and at Le Mans, that continued well into the 1990s.

by Porsche UK

by Porsche

Porsche created the 956 during the early 1980s for FIA Group C competition. The design and components of the vehicle would further evolve over the years and become known as the 962. The 956 project was led by a very determined and experienced project manager named Norbert Singer, who had his sights set on winning the 24 Hours of LeMans race. With Derek Bell and Jacky Ixckx, the factory team drivers, the cars easily dominated the season and won the championship for the team.

The 956 was an evolution of the 935 and 936 cars which had proven to be very competitive racers. Porsche chose to stick with the tried-and-true, reliable flat-six engine which had powered the Porsche 936 to a LeMans victory. It was fitted with an electronic engine management system to help reduce fuel consumption. The FIA had imposed a limit of 100 liters per fuel tank size and allowed only 25 refuelings. The idea was to add an extra level of difficulty for teams and to inspire creativity and innovation. By doing so, they were hopeful that new technology would be born that could trickle down to production vehicles.

Porsche chose to stick with the smaller engine and adapt a turbocharger, another attempt at combating the fuel restriction rules.

The body was very modern, aerodynamic, and elegant. Extensive use of exotic materials and ground effects were employed that included a venturi positioned between the front wheels, rear wing, and rear venturi. The chassis was comprised of a very rigid monocoque comprised of aluminum and a composite body.

The Porsche 956 made its inaugural debut in 1982 at the Silverstone 6 Hour race, the second round of the World Championship for Makes. The car was piloted by the factory drivers, Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. They missed the second round at the Nurburgring 1000km but returned for the running of the 25 Hours of LeMans. The cars led the entire race and captured the checkered flag. The three factory Porsche's finished in the top three positions.

After proving the potential of the 956, Porsche began selling them to privateers such as Kremer Racing, John Fitzpatrick, Richard Lloyd, Brumm Motorsports, and more. Porsche continued to make improvements to the vehicles such as reducing the overall weight by incorporating even lighter aluminum chassis. The aerodynamics were improved which made the car quicker and more fuel-efficient. Additional safety features were added such as a tire pressure warning system. At the 1983 LeMans, the cars bearing the Porsche badge took nine out of the top ten positions.

The Porsche 962 was based on the 956 and intended for IMSA GTP class competition. To prepare the car for competition, the vehicle required changes to bring it into alignment with ever-changing rules and regulations. For 1984, rules stated that the pedal box had to be mounted behind the front axle. To comply, the wheelbase of the 956 was extended to accommodate additional space. A steel roll cage was also integrated into the car at the time.

The factory began work on a larger engine. In the meantime, Porsche had to find a replacement for the twin K27 turbochargers since twin-turbo's did not comply with GTP class racing regulations at the time. In its place, a single Kühnle, Kopp und Kausch AG K36 turbocharger was fitted.

Porsche named this updated version of the 956, the 962. Five examples were debuted at the 24 Hours of Daytona. One was driven by factory drivers, Mario and Michael Andretti, while the other four were privateer entrants. The factory car led most of the race and appeared that it would go on to claim overall victory, but it was side-lined due to engine and gearbox problems after 127 laps.

For the following season, Porsche created the 962C, which featured a 3.2-liter engine and twin-turbochargers. It was entered in the World Endurance Championship where it was beaten by a 956. For 1987, another new engine was introduced. Though it was in 3-liter form, it was more powerful and durable than the unit it was replacing. The engine carried Porsche to its seventh consecutive victory at the 24 Hours of LeMans.

The Porsche 956 and 962 were very dominant vehicles that lasted for nearly ten years. From 1985 through 1987 they won the IMSA GTP. They were World Sportscar Champions from 1982 through 1986 and are considered the most successful prototype race car in the history of motorsports.

During the early 1990s, Jochen Dauger was able to get the 962 reclassified as a GT1 road-legal car. They were raced at the 1994 24 Hours of LeMans and captured its final overall victory.

by Dan Vaughan