Porsche 956-008 Works (1983)
A Rothmans factory 956 newly built for the 1983 Le Mans. Driven by the stellar German pairing of Stefan Bellof and Jochen Mass, the race was story of what-ifs as it qualified third, led the race for the first four hours before a catalogue of issues slipped it down the order and into eventual retirement after 22 hours of racing. It recorded the second fastest lap time and the second highest speed on the Mulsanne of 218mph.
A week later however Bellof won the prestigious ‘Gold Race’ at the Norisring before being lightly damaged at Weissach and renumbered 007 after the car that originally bore that number had a spectacular aerial accident at the Nurburgring, just after Bellof had smashed the outright lap record.
In 1984 it was loaned to Richard Lloyd Racing for use as a ‘camera car’ and after retiring at Le Mans (where it was driven by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason) it did three more races that season as a works entered Rothmans car, driven by Vern Schuppan, Johnny Dumfries and Jack Brabham without further success.
It finished on the podium for it last race, in 1985, driven by Schuppan and James Weaver and exists today in full Rothmans livery with a sprint body, although it also retains its original Le Mans bodywork as well.
Text from Historic Porsche. For more information check out their full article and history here.
