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In the late 1970s, while Porsche’s 935 was dominating GT racing, the Kremer brothers, Manfred and Erwin, believed they could enhance the factory cars. Operating a Porsche dealership, Erwin raced Porsches tuned by Manfred. By 1977, Manfred began extensively modifying the cars, producing the 935 K2 in 1978, which rivaled...
From 1977 through the 1980s, Porsche 935s dominated Group 5, GTP, and GTX racing across Europe and North America. With later versions crafted by Kremer, Joest, Gaaco, and Fabcar, Porsche’s supremacy faced little opposition. This effort culminated in a historic overall win at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans....
Group 5 origins The history of chassis 935-001, and Porsche’s 935 program at large, originates in a major revision to the FIA’s Group 5 category. While the general template for Group 5 had been in place since 1966, for the 1976 racing season the FIA changed the rule book to...
Background Since the 1960s, Porsche has been optimizing the aerodynamics of future racing and production vehicles in the wind tunnel with the help of special miniature models. The example of the legendary Porsche 935/78 shows how this works. Model vehicles feature in many a display case as diminutive dream cars....
This 1982 Porsche DP 935 was specifically commissioned by a Porsche engineer for a feature in “Car and Driver” magazine, penned by Csaba Csere, in the publication’s 1984 Buyer Guide titled “DP 935 Fantasies Fulfilled: No Waiting.” The details of the build are substantiated by a confirmation letter from DP...
Porsche Of The Day: 1978 Porsche 935/78 Moby Dick
The 935/78 was the ultimate expression of the 911 factory race car before Porsche officially withdrew from motor sport. Raced under the Group 5 silhouette series, great liberties were taken with the design and the result was nicknamed ‘Moby Dick’ for its large size and huge overhangs. Only one 935/78...
After bodywork testing with the prototype 934, 930 670 0001, the Porsche factory built its first 935 to actually race at the end of 1975. This was known internally as 935-001, or R15. The Chassis number was 930 670 0002. The engine had a bore and stroke of 92.8 x...
930 770 0905 at the National Automobile Museum Reno Nevada USA
Sports car racing went through some turbulent times in the early 1970’s. At the start (1970) the world championship was decided by the 5.0 liter sports cars such as the Porsche 917 and the Ferrari 512. The FIA /CSI (International rules body) at first did not think anyone would build...
JLP-4 Porsche 935 in Miller High Life livery on pavement
There are 935s, and then there are 935s… Although almost a hundred Porsche 935s were built between 1975 and 1984, with the factory building some forty two cars and customers building the remainder, JLP-4 was by far the most radical of the Group 5 breed. No Subscription? You’re missing out...
In 1979, French cyclist Jean Claude Rude set out to break the world speed record for a bicycle. The previous record for a bicycle, set in 1962, belonged to his compatriot José Meiffret and was 204.7 km/h (127.2 mph). This speed was shown on the German autobahn near Freiburg, where...
Porsche 935/77
Porsche 935/77 Specifications This is the spec sheet for the Porsche 935/77. Note there was also a 1.4 Liter “Baby” Porsche 935 and those specs can be found here. No Subscription? You’re missing out Get immediate ad-free access to all our premium content. Get Started Already a Member? Sign in to...
Porsche 935 Turbo Monster + Onboard I had the pleasure of filming this amazing Porsche 935 k3 Kremer Gr.5 during the 2020 Monza Historic. We have to thank the pilot Jean-Marc Merlin and all the guys from Team Equipe Europe for being very kind to us and let to install...
Porsche 935 JLP-4 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2014 JLP-4 was the final race car in the line of Porsche 935 specials built for the John Paul father and son team. Using this final ‘weapon’, the Pauls notched up several outright victories in IMSA races and, in combination with...
1979 Porsche 935 chassis #009 0004 – Willow Springs International Raceway © Robert Graham Junior The phone rang, it was my old friend Carlos de Quesada. “I’ve just bought a 935 to restore,” he told me. “Great,” I replied, “which one?” “#009 0004,” announced Carlos. Chassis #009 0004? I had...
Porsche 935 chassis no. 009 00030, the Old Warhorse speeds up the hill at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed with Brian Redman at the helm This is a story of the incredible career of Porsche 935 009 00030, one of the most amazing race cars ever, or as someone...
In 1983 Porsche produced a stunning one-of road car for TAG owner Mansour Ojjeh. Based on a 934 chassis, it was designed to mimic the potent 935 racecars and subsequently became the one of the first slantnoses. Both the front and rear sections were made similar to the potent 935 race car which dominated the Group 5 Championship. This silhouette series allowed radical modifications which contributed to the repositioned nose, ultra-wdie flares and extended rear bodywork.
Inspired by the Kremer brothers, Joest built their own version of the 935 for the 1979 season. Like the factory cars it featured intakes in the C-pillars and also had a slightly different front profile. One car was campaigned by Liqui Moly Joest Racing and won the 1980 Daytona 24 Hours outright as driven by Reinhold Jöst, Rolf Stommelen and Volkert Merl. A second car was built up for Electrodyne and raced with Momo livery in the USA.
In 1982 Bob Akin Motor Racing commissioned spectacular Porsche 935 to be built for their Le Mans effort. It was built by Chuck Gaa of Gaaco to have a higher topspeed and increased performance. Chuck Gaa fitted a Lola T600 front end to a new bespoke bonded aluminum chassis. According to the regulations, the body retained the 930 roof structure, but was entirely new from the beltline down. The standard 3.2-liter Porsche engine was used and put out 750 bhp. 
Using factory 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ plans, Kremer built their own version. In doing so they modified the body to their own design to include more downforce. Only two cars were built in K4 specification. Bob Wollek drove the first car to win the Porsche Cup in 1981. Later this car was sold to John Fitzpatrick Racing and driven by John Fitzpatrick and David Hobbs to many successes in the IMSA series.
In 1977 Kremer sufficiently improved the 935 to begin series production of their own version. It was the third Kremer built on Porsche's successful platform and many 935/934s were updated to reflect ideas from the brothers in Cologne. The K3 version of their 935 was a great success and won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1980 Sebring 12 Hours outright.
Upon seeing the factory 935s and what was possible using the 930 platform, the Kremer bothers from Cologne built up their own version. Their first car contested the World Championship of Makes in 1976 and in the following year, an updated version known as the K2 was further modified. Compared to the Porsche 935, the Kremer version was much more slab sided and featured fences along the top of the rear fender to direct air to the rear wing.
The 935/78 was the ultimate expression of the 911 factory race car before Porsche officially withdrew from motor sport. Raced under the Group 5 silhouette series, great liberties were taken with the design and the result was nicknamed ‘Moby Dick’ for its large size and huge overhangs. The 935/78 was built under Porsche's Chief Racing by Norbert Singer for high speeds at Le Mans. Due to the advanced shape of the car 227 mph or 366 km/h was possible.
The 935 ‘Baby’, based on the successful 935 Group 5 race sports car, was created in 1977, after only four months of development,, specifically for entries in the small division (up to 2000cc) of the German Sports Racing Championship. Compared to the Group 5 car, this little 935 had a six cylinder turbo engine of 370bhp, reduced to a displacement of 1.4-litres. A thorough diet helped ‘Baby’ meet the minimum weight of 750kg as dictated by the rules.
Porsche 935/77 (1977)
The 935/77 was a result of relaxed rules and the car got a completely new suspension. The mirrors were incorporated into the front fenders and the rear window had a new angle. The 935/77 was visually very pleasing. While the 935/76 had a single turbocharger, the 2.85-litre engine of the 935/77 had two turbochargers. There was also a "baby" 935/77 built with a smaller 1.4-litre turbocharged engine to compete in the national German DRM series under 2 liter class.
The Group 4 racer based on the 911 Turbo (930) was called 934 and the Group 5 Porsche was called 935. The first version of the 935 looked similar to the 911 Carrera RSR. The first customers for 935 were Martini Racing and Kremer Racing. The Martini car was a full factory development, while Kremer made its own enhancements already before the first race. By 1977, the 935 was sold as a customer car for these series to race against cars like the BMW CSL.