1976

Porsche 935 is First Produced

The Porsche 935 was introduced in 1976, as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 turbo prepared for FIA-Group 5 rules. It was an evolution of the Porsche Carrera RSR 2.1 turbo prototype which had scored 2nd overall in the 1974 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Beginning with the 1977 season, Porsche offered the 935 to customers which entered the car in the World Championship for Makes, in the IMSA GT championship and in the German Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM). The 935 went on to win the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans overall, and other major endurance races, including Sebring, Daytona, and the 1000 km Nürburgring. Of the 370 races it was entered, it won 123.

Usually, no other make could challenge the Porsche 935, as due to the availability of customer models, each race at the time typically featured at least five 935s. Racing became entertaining for the crowd at the expense of the diversity of makes. The large turbocharger was controlled by mechanical fuel injection which caused turbo lag followed shortly by a fireball spitting from the exhaust and an enormous amount of power (up to 800hp). The dominance of the 935 was ended by the FIA rules changes coming in effect in 1982, when the six numbered groups were replaced by only three groups, A, B and C.

For 1976, endurance racing had two World Championships: the 1976 FIA World Championship for Makes for Gr. 5 Special Production Cars, and the 1976 World Sportscar Championship season for Group 6 prototypes up to 3.0L. Accordingly, the 935 and the new Porsche 936 were the two-pronged Porsche effort for 1976. Each championship had 7 races, with only Dijon hosting both at the same weekend, while on two other weekends, the races were even run in different countries, which forced Porsche to divide its resources. Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass were the main drivers, if F1 schedule permitted. Rolf Stommelen, who was recovering from his bad crash in the 1975 Spanish GP, was the backup, along with Manfred Schurti.

Under...

The Porsche 935 is a sports car launched in the year 1976 which was prepared for the FIA-Group 5 Rules.

The Porsche 935 had participated in a number of championships that includes the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterchaft and IMSA GT Championship.

The Porsche 935 also made its racing debut in the year 1976 where Martini has organized the work team for the FIA World Championship. For the Group 5 rules several modifications have been done which included the bodywork, water cooling, wider axles, and larger wings. It consisted of a 3.0 flat 6 cylinder engine that delivers an output power of 560 hp and the most attractive feature in the car is the flat nose shape at the front part.

In the year 1977, the Porsche factory continued modification to the Porsche 935 where two KKK units were used in the place of single turbo and the body structure has been changed. Later a new “Baby” version was launched as a competitor to the Ford and BMW. The car weighed about just 750 kg, displacement is about 1425 cc and delivers an output power of about 370 hp. The Baby version also marked its victory at the Hockenheimring Race.

In the year 1978, a new version nicknamed “Moby-Dick” has been launched where the body structure has been lowered by 10 cm. It contained a 3.2 liter engine which delivers an output power of 950 hp and equipped with water cooled four valve cylinders. The maximum speed of the Porsche 935 is about 240 mph; it also participated in the Le Mans where it reached a top speed of about 223 mph.

Up to the year 1984, the Porsche 935 has won about 150 races. It was also victorious at the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona.