Racing is Life Style: Porsche 956 / 962 automobilia

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Porsche 956 / 962 automobilia

Towards the end of the 70's, endurance was on the decline. The world championship is reduced to a fight between German Porsche 935 in the "silhouette" category. Almost neglected by the international federation (FISA), endurance attracts less and less media and the public is not interested in it anymore, preferring Formula1.

To save it, new sporting regulations were applied in 1982 establishing the new Group C category, based on consumption by limiting the fuel tanks of the new normally aspirated or turbo-powered prototypes to a maximum of 100 liters.

The limited capacity of the tanks makes it possible to open the championship to various types of engines while equalizing the chances between them. The formula will be so successful that the American IMSA series will more or less model its regulations on it.

Porsche 962C Poster

car art illustration 50 x 70 design print by Aclassica

Available here on GPBox

Thanks to Group C, endurance will be reborn from its ashes and will see the return of the major manufacturers who had made its glory days in the past, such as Mercedes, Jaguar, Aston Martin as well as a new japanese opposition through Mazda, Nissan and Toyota ... But while waiting for the arrival of the latter, it is Porsche, always faithfull to endurance racing, which will take the plunge with its new prototype, the 956 which will hit the track in 1982.

The Porsche 956 and 962 will dominate for 6 years, evolving very little in particular through aerodynamic modifications and the installation of a new 3-liter water-cooled engine from 1987.

Porsche 962:

Directly derived from the 956, the 962 powered by a 2.8-liter single-turbo flat six was put into service to comply with IMSA regulations requiring the drivers feet to be located behind the front wheel axle. The FISA in turn adopted the following year (1985) this safety measure leading Porsche to replace the 956 by the 962 in Group C. This one will be labeled 962 C. Externally it differs from the 956 only by its wheelbase. lengthened by 12 cm shortening thus its nose since it was impossible to push the drivers seat to the back.

Thanks to the Motronic consumption management system developed by Bosch, a Porsche partner, the 962 will display increasingly high performance and lower and lower fuel consumption.

The dominance of the Porsche 956 and 962 was such that the only way for privateers to stand up to the Stuttgart factory in the endurance world championship or any other sport prototype championship whether in Germany or Japan or even USA was to line up a 956 or 962. With reliable and proven equipment, these "customer" teams have even managed to beat the factory several times, including at the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans, Joest team being the most successful among them.

The Porsche 956 and 962 totaled 288 wins between 1982 and 1993! 106 victores for the 956 and 182 for the 962, and 51 constructors and drivers titles.