Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ Pictures...
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.
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.
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