The
Porsche 962 (also known as the
962C in its Group C form) was a
sports-prototype racing car built by
Porsche as a replacement for the
956 and designed mainly to comply with
IMSA's
GTP regulations, although it would
later compete in the European
Group C
formula as the 956 had. The 962 was introduced at the end of 1984,
from which it quickly became successful through private owners
while having a remarkably long-lived career, with some examples
still proving competitive into the mid-1990s.
Development
An early 962 cockpit.
When the
Porsche 956 was developed in
late 1981, the intention of Porsche was to run the car in both the
World Sportscar
Championship and the North American
IMSA GTP Championship. However IMSA
GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was
banned in the US series on safety grounds as the driver's feet were
ahead of the front axle center line.
To make the 956 eligible under the IMSA regulations, Porsche
extended the 956's
wheelbase to make room
for the pedal box. A steel roll cage was also integrated into the
new aluminium chassis. For an engine, the
Porsche 934-derived Type-935 2.8L flat-6 was
used with air cooling and a single
Kühnle,
Kopp und Kausch AG K36 turbocharger instead of the twin K27
turbochargers of the
Group C 956, as
twin-turbo systems were not allowed in IMSA's GTP class at the
time.
The newer
Andial built 3.2L fuel injected
Flat-6 would be placed in the 962 by the middle of 1985 for IMSA
GT, which made the car more competitive against
Jaguar. However it would not be until 1986 that
the 2.6L unit from the 956 was replaced in the World Sportscar
Championship, using 2.8L, 3.0L, and 3.2L variants with dual
turbochargers. The cars run under World Sportscar Championship
regulations were designated as 962C to separate them from their
IMSA GTP counterparts.. The 3.2L unit, which had been eligible
under IMSA's Group 3 engine rules was banned in IMSA by 1987 In
1988, to counteract against the factory
Nissans and the threat of withdrawal from Porsche
teams, watercooled twin turbo Porsche engines would be allowed back
but with 36 mm restrictors.
In total, Porsche would produce 91 962s between 1984 and 1991. 16
were officially used by the factory team, while 75 were sold to
customers. Some 956s were rebuilt as 962s, with two being
previously written off and four others simply rebuilt. Three 962s
that were badly damaged were also rebuilt had been given a new
chassis number due to the extensive reconstruction. Due to the high
demand for 962 parts, some aluminium chassis were built by Fabcar
in the United States before being shipped to Germany for
completion.
Modifications
Due to the sheer numbers of 962s, some teams took it upon
themselves to adapt the car to better suit their needs or to remain
competitive. These modifications included new bodywork for better
aerodynamic efficiency, while others changed mechanical elements.
Long-time Porsche campaigner
Joest
Racing heavily modified a pair of 962s for the IMSA GTP
Championship in 1993 to better compete against
Jaguar, taking the 962s final sprint race
victory (Road America) that season.
Privately-built 962s
A Kremer 962CK6.
Beyond even modification, some teams took it upon themselves to
reengineer the entire car. One of the notable problems of the 962
was the lack of stiffness in the aluminium chassis, which meant
that some teams took it upon themselves to design new chassis, and
then buy components from Porsche to complete the car, although some
also had unique bodywork as well. Some teams would then offer their
962s to other customer teams.
Among the most popular privately-built 962s was that from
Kremer Racing, termed the
962CK6. 11 total were built, campaigned by Kremer
and other teams. John Thompson designed a chassis for
Brun Motorsport, eight of which were built
and helped the team take second in the World Sportscar Championship
in 1987. Thompson would later build two chassis for Obermaier
Racing.
Richard Lloyd Racing's
GTI Engineering would turn to Peter
Stevens and Nigel Stroud to develop four
962C
GTis, which featured entirely revised aero. Former factory
Porsche driver
Vern Schuppan would
also build five new chassis, some known as
TS962s.
In the United States, the ball got rolling when Holbert Racing
began making modifications to their own chassis and rebadging them
with "962 HR-" serial numbers. The search was always on for a
stiffer and safer 962 monocoque and Jim Busby contracted Jim
Chapman to build a more robust version of the 962 monocoque. Fabcar
would become the defacto factory tub supplier, supplying chassis
with official Porsche serial numbers. Fabcar incorporated changes
to the factory tub replacing the simple sheet aluminum construction
with a combination of sheet aluminum and aluminum honeycomb in
addition to billet aluminum bulkheads, all of which substantially
increased the tub's crashworthiness as well as stiffness.
Dyson Racing purchased a Richard Lloyd
Racing/GTi Engineering 962 monocoque for use in their Porsche 962
DR-1 chassis. A Fabcar tub was used in Dyson's Porsche 962
DR-2.
Some 962s were even more extensively modified, with several
open-cockpit versions being developed in the mid-1990s to run under
new sportscar regulations. Kevin Jeanette built the
Gunnar
966, mimicking elements from the 917/30
Can-Am cars. Meanwhile, Kremer Racing would once
again develop their own chassis, with the open-cockpit
CK7 running in
Interserie and
K8
running at Le Mans. These cars shared little with the original
962s, using custom bodywork and chassis designs, yet retaining the
engine and some suspension elements.
Racing history
Porsche debuted the 962 at the
24
Hours of Daytona with
Mario and
Michael Andretti driving the
factory car which led the race until it retired during lap 127 with
engine and gearbox problems.
For 1985, the 962C would debut in the World Sportscar Championship,
but ironically the car lost to an older 956, which had already
taken WEC top-honors four times. Under pressure from new cars from
Jaguar and
Mercedes-Benz, in 1987 Porsche again brought
in a new engine, a more durable and powerful 3.0 L unit which
powered the car to an overall win at the
1987 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche's
record seventh 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 loophole in the new
ACO regulations for the
1994 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Achievements
During the early years of the career of the 962, the car was one of
the most dominant cars in motorsport. The championships won by
teams campaigning the 962 included the
World Sportscar Championship
title in 1985 and 1986, the
IMSA GT
Championship every year from 1985 to 1988, the
Interserie championship from 1987 until 1992, all
four years of the
Supercup series (1986 to
1989), and the
All Japan Sports
Prototype Championship from 1985 until 1989.
The 962 also won the
24 Hours of Le
Mans
in 1986 and 1987 as well as later winning under the
Dauer 962 badge in 1994.
The presence of strong factory teams, such as
Jaguar,
Mercedes-Benz,
Nissan,
and
Toyota, competing against privateer 962s
eventually led to the car becoming less successful in the later
1980s. Even though they struggled, 962s would continue to win races
into 1993, taking lone victories in the IMSA GT and Interserie
seasons.
Although Dauer's Le Mans victory in 1994
featured a highly modified car, Team Taisan would take the final
victory ever in an original 962C, winning an All Japan Grand Touring
Car Championship event at Fuji Speedway
in August of that year, just over ten years after
the car had first debuted.
Road versions
Towards the end of the car's competition life, a number of
privateer teams and tuners began converting 962s for road use. The
concept was that the 962, which had performed so well on the track,
would be ideally suited as a supercar for the road. An almost
standard car was registered (BB-PW 962)and briefly driven on the
road for a German magazine, although the original headlight height
and underbody configuration rendered the car illegal under German
regulations.
The first company outside Porsche to modify a 962 into a road car
was Koenig, a German tuner who had previously raced 962s. Known as
the C62, the car was completed in 1991 and featured entirely new
bodywork in order to better adapt to German regulations. The engine
was expanded to 3.4L and saw the addition of a newer
Motronic system. It is unknown how many were built
by Koenig.
German tuner DP Motorsports completed a road conversion in 1992,
with a total of three cars, known as DP62, built upon existing 962
racing chassis. Modifications included moving the headlights higher
to meet German legal requirements, plus the addition of a 3.3L
twin-turbo Flat-6.
A Schuppan 962CR road car on
display.
In 1991
Vern Schuppan created his
Schuppan 962CR for Japanese
customers, with a list price of 195 million Yen, or UK£830,000. The
bodywork and chassis were completely new and unique, designed by
Mike Simcoe of GM Holden in Australia, but the engine was taken
directly from 962s, although it was also expanded to 3.3 litres. An
unknown amount were built before funding failed to materialize.
Before the run of CRs, however, at least two 962R (or LM) cars were
built. The first, UK-registered H726 LDP, was little-modified from
its race days. 962/123 raced at Le Mans in 1988 and was in
Schuppan's workshop when the decision was made to convert it to
road use. A decal on the nose read "962R Le Mans Prototype",
although the car is often referred to as a 962LM. It differed from
many of the street versions in having a British-built aluminium
honeycomb chassis. The 962R featured in a number of UK and
Australian magazines in summer 1991.
Jochen Dauer
Dauer 962 Le Mans,
used original racing chassis for his GT1 versions of the 962, both
road and race. The bodywork was all new, yet retained many elements
from the original 962s. However, unlike the previous road cars,
Dauer took the 962 Le Mans racing once again.
With the assistance of
Porsche and using a loophole in the rules
for the 24 Hours of Le
Mans, Dauer was successfully able to race his modified
962s and win the race overall.
A run of Derek Bell edition 962 road cars was planned, but only one
completed, powered by a engine from the 993 GT2. It was on sale,
complete with the rights to continue the run, in 2007.
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