New rules for The World Championship of Makes were announced
for 1976 and the racing turbo line split into two. The 934, a relatively
civilized Group 4 Grand Touring Class version, remained close to the 930 road
car, with electric windows and interior trim! But the new Group 5 category
rules encouraged much more extensive modifications and the 935, with its wide
bodywork over massive rear wheels and 'double decker' rear wing, left its
intended use in no doubt.
In developing the 935 the Porsche engineers, under Ernst
Fuhrmann and Norbert Singer, would exploit the CSI (Commission Sportive
Internationale) rules beyond the limit. They stated that the racers should
retain the silhouette of the production car but, as project leader Norbert
Singer reasoned, also that the shape of the front wings was 'free'. Although
that was to allow wider tires, Singer saw an opportunity to chop off the top of
the wings and reposition the headlights low in a more aerodynamic nose. The CSI
was not happy but Porsche got its way and the heavily louvered Hachbau or 'flat
nose' became a distinctive feature of the 935. Deep sills connected the front
wing to the widened and boxier rear wings, enclosing Dunlop's specially
developed 15in wide ultra-low-profile tires on 19in diameter rims; front wheels
were 16in with 10½ in-wide tires.
In developing the
935 the Porsche engineers, under Ernst Fuhrmann and Norbert Singer, would exploit
the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale) rules beyond the limit.
As the rules required, the 2856cc engine was based on the
production 930 Turbo crankcase and crank, but fitted with titanium rods and
most other components modified. Fuel injection was by a Bosch plunger pump and
the road engine's vertical cooling fan was replaced by a horizontal version.
Boost was provided by a single large turbocharger from Kiehnle, Kopp &
Kausch (KKK), Germany's sole supplier, hanging at the rear of the engine, with
an air-to-air intercooler fitted above in the modified rear lid.
All external panels bar the cabin were made from glass fiber,
with the front air-dam and wings in one piece. The transaxle used the 930
casing with modified internals and a solid differential, and traditional 911
torsion bar suspension was abandoned for titanium coil springs; rear anti-roll
bar stiffness could be controlled from the cockpit, and stopping power came
from 917 calipers on vented discs.
Porsche ran into problems almost from the first race when
officials objected to the rear engine cover, which had been enlarged to
accommodate the intercooler. Given six weeks to comply, Porsche was forced to
switch to a heavier water to air system, with twin radiators positioned in the
rear wheel arches.
Porsche ran two cars in '76 and at the end of the season
built a further 13 customer cars for the following one (it would eventually
build 35). The 935s made a clean sweep of Group 5 in '77, winning every round,
and the three factory cars were developed even further. The engine now used two
smaller KKK turbochargers to improve throttle response and reduce chronic
turbo-lag, and made 630bhp at 8000rpm with 4341b ft of torque at 4500rpm. And a
false roof appeared after extensive wind-tunnel testing: the more aerodynamic
engine cover and wing complete with rear screen, extended over the original,
which, under the rules, could not be altered.
For the 1978 season, the last in which Porsche would compete
with a works 935, they rolled out the extraordinary Moby Dick, as this lowered,
extended and aerodynamically flowing monster was nicknamed. Inside lurked a
tubular space frame linking front and rear suspension, to which the few remaining
911 remnants were attached still including the roof and rear screen, buried
under the new flowing tail.
A new 24-valve engine, now producing 750bhp, had
water-cooled heads welded to the still air-cooled barrels, curing the blown
gasket problems of earlier engines. Another trick was turning the gearbox
upside down to bring the driveshaft angle closer to the center of the tall rear
wheels, further improving reliability.
Astonishingly fast, Moby Dick was timed at 227mph at Le Mans
and won its first race at Silverstone by seven laps, but faltered in the three
other races for which it was entered.
Rumours at the time claimed that, after its retirement by
the factory, Moby Dick made an unscheduled 'stopover' at the premises of Kremer
Racing while it was being transported to a car show in Essen something Kremer
always denied. True or not, Kremer incorporated into their K3 much of what made
the factory cars fly, plus around 100 small modifications of their own that, as
Erwin Kremer pointed out, made it 'only 1% better', but that 1% was enough to
make it almost unbeatable. From 15 starts in 1979 the Kremer K3 scored 12
victories and two second places.
Above and below
Canepa Motorsport’s test driver Robert Orcutt with the freshly restored K3 at
California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca a far cry from the rain-sodden Le Mans
circuit where it made history in 1979.
Manfred and Erwin Kremer had been involved in racing since
1964, both as drivers and preparation specialists, and Kremer Racing had been
competing at Le Mans in Porsches since 1970, with consistently high finishes
and class wins in '77 and '78, even placing ahead of the Porsche factory car in
'78. Erwin retired from racing in 1973 to concentrate on running the business,
while engine expert Manfred focused on development. Privateers could do no
better than to buy a car from Kremer.
The Kremer team built their first 'K car in 1977 and in 1978
started developing a standard 935 into what would become the K3. It too
featured an internal tubular frame, with the engine mounted in a removable sub-frame
anchored to the rollover cage, permitting rapid removal for emergency work.
Special attention was paid to the aerodynamics, and the
bodywork made entirely from expensive but weight saving Kevlar introduced
Kremer's distinctive sharp edged 'fences' at the outer edges of the wings to
improve airflow and down force.
Porsche 935 K3
Jagermeister DRM 1980
Perhaps the most significant change was the return to air to
air intercoolers. Not only did this save weight but Kremer claimed it
maintained horsepower better over the span of a long race. For its 3.2 liter
'sprint' engine, Kremer quoted 805bhp at 8000rpm running with 1.7bar boost.
Kremer built 13 K3s and supplied kits to customers to modify
their own cars; Grand Prix team owner Walter Wolf had a trimmed and silenced
210mph K3 road car built.
The 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours didn't have quite the Hollywood
ending the crowd would have liked but the story didn't end there - the twists
that followed were as dramatic as anything a scriptwriter could concoct. Pit lane
cynics had referred to the well-funded IMSA series as the 'International
Marijuana Smugglers Association' and, as if to prove them right, within a few
years the Whittingtons were in prison for smuggling marijuana, an enterprise
that had funded their racing. After forfeiting $7 million Bill Whittington
served four years of a 15-year sentence, while Don escaped with 18 months.
During the case it was stated that the $203,000 Porsche K3
had been paid for with drug profits and its purchase hidden from the authorities;
25 years later it hit the headlines again, when it becomes the center of a
tug-of-war between Don Whittington and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2009.
1981 Kremer
Porsche 935 K3
Don claimed that he had only loaned the K3 to the Motor
Speedway Foundation museum, where it had been on display since the early 1980s,
but with no documentation and some of the original people involved by then
deceased, Whittington lost the case. A member of the court wryly observed: 'The
lesson for Whittington should be that an unwritten contract is not worth the
paper it isn't written on.'
'Explosive', 'electrifying' and 'brutal' were just a few of
the adjectives drivers used to describe the power delivery of the 935. Bob
Garretson prepared and raced 935s and stepped shaken from the wreckage of his
totaled 935 after crashing spectacularly on the Mulsanne straight avoiding a
slower car in the '78 race. As he describes: “You couldn't drive them like
normal race cars, where you brake late into a comer and then apply the power
again as you clip the apex. If you did that you got nowhere fast. What you had
to do was brake early and then get back on the gas again. If you were lucky it
would all start happening by the time you hit the apex, and then you'd be off
like a rocket!”
And rocket-like the 935 was. No one who watched them racing,
especially at night, will forget the wake of flame spitting from the exhaust on
the overrun. One who didn't was California collector and lifelong petrol head
Bruce Meyer, who bought his first Porsche, a 356 Coupé, from legendary Los
Angeles importer and racer John von Neumann in 1961. Given the wherewithal, no
sane Porsche collector would pass up the chance to acquire the Le Mans winning
K3 and, after what Bruce describes as 'a bit of horse trading', the
Indianapolis Museum acquired the famous 'Agajanian Special' Indy roadster and
he acquired the K3.
In March 2012, after nearly 30 years gathering dust, Porsche
#00900015 rolled through the doors at Canepa Motorsport. It had been hastily
prepared for its museum stay back in 1983, with many critical parts - like the
intercooler, waste gates, titanium drive shafts and all the gears! Missing, and
the livery poorly recreated (on its return to the US the brothers had had the
car painted in yellow 'Road Atlanta' livery).
2012 Porsche 911
Carrera GTS 2dr Rear-wheel Drive Cabriolet
While the K3 was being dismantled, calls went out to source
parts and period photographs of the car at Le Mans. Every detail was scrutinized
to ensure accurate restoration. From engine parts to marker lights, sponsor
stickers to period wheels, piece by piece the puzzle came together including,
Bruce feels sure, many of the parts that were removed from the car by
Whittington's mechanics before it was sent to Indianapolis. To ensure the K3
was race-ready, all the mechanicals were rebuilt, including engine and
transmission. Only 92 days after being pushed into the Canepa facility, the Le
Mans winner exited under its own power, 100% correct, and once again ready to
spit flame.
The fact that it is a production based car added to the
appeal of the K3 for Bruce and just to prove its production heritage he intends
to get it 'titled' for the occasional blast into the California hinterland. And
with around 8oo horsepower to play with, a blast it surely will be. Bruce, for
the sake of Los Angeles, just don't hit the loud pedal while crossing a fault line.
