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HISTORY

Porsche 956 / 962

The Porsche 956 was a race car built by Porsche which designed it in 1982 for FIA Group C racing. It was later evolved into the 962C.

956

The 956 made its debut at the Silverstone 6 Hour race, the second round of the World Championship for Makes with Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell driving for the factory. After missing the following round at the Nürburgring 1000km for developmental reasons, the Ickx/Bell unit reappeared at the 24 hours of Le Mans. They led the race for the entire 24 hours, eventually taking the overall win - their third win together. As they had already won in 1981 with a Porsche 936 that had used an early version of the 956 engine, their car had start number 1. The two other factory 956 followed them, so the three factory Porsches finished 1-2-3 in the order of their starting numbers.

Boosted by this success, Porsche sold customer versions of the 956 to privateer teams such as Joest Racing, Obermaier Racing, John Fitzpatrick Racing, Richard Lloyd Racing, Kremer Racing and Brun Motorsport who raced them independantly of the factory.

962

After considerable success with the 956, Porsche decided they wanted to use the platform for an IMSA/GTP class car, but IMSA regulations changed in 1984, now dictating that every vehicle entered into the series had to have its pedal box mounted behind the front axle line, which the 956 did not.

To make it eligible under the new rules, the 956's wheelbase was increased to make room for the pedal box, which was then relocated. A steel roll cage was integrated into the new car, too. Work was under way on a larger engine, but in the meantime a modified version of the 934 derived 2.8 L engine was used featuring a single KKK K36 turbocharger instead of the twin K27 turbochargers of the 956, as twin-turbo systems were not allowed in GTP class racing at the time.

Porsche dubbed the revised vehicle the 962 and debuted a total of five units at the Daytona 24 Hours with Mario and Michael Andretti driving the factory car and the other four being driven by members of the privateer teams which had purchased them. The factory car lead the race until it retired during lap 127 with engine and gearbox problems.

Porsche went back to a twin-turbocharged 3.2 L engine for 1985, re-naming the car 962C and entering it in the World Endurance Championship, but the car ironically lost to an older 956, which had already taken WEC top-honors four times.

Under pressure from fast new cars from Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, Porsche again brought in a new engine for 1987, a more dureable, more powerful 3.0 L unit which powered the car to an overall win at the 24 hours of Le Mans in '87, marking Porsche's sixth consecutive victory at the race.

After a post-'87 "dry spell", Porsche customer Jochen Dauer got the 962 re-classified as a road legal GT1 car under a loop-hole in the new ACO regulations for the 1994 Le Mans. The Dauer-Porsche 962 took its final overall victory there, surprising the world and proving the viability of the 10 year old design.

962 Road Car

Towards the end of the car's competition life, four privateer teams and tuners began converting 962s for road use:

Dauer 962LM

Schuppan 962CR

Koenig C62

DP Motorsports DP962

Some sources claim the Dauer 962 as the world's fastest road-legal production car at 405 km/h (252 mph), but the company's official claim was of only 370 km/h (230 mph). The Dauer 962's maximum speed has never been confirmed by the motoring press or by independent timing facilities such as the Nardo test track.