Supercars derived from 911
935 - The ultimate racing car

Officially, the 935 was a derivative of the 911 Turbo. In fact, its relationship with the 911 road car was similar to today's 911GT1 with the 996 - very different indeed. Anyway, the 935 was still developed from the 911 root, especially was its turbochanged flat-six engine.
935 appeared in 1976 as a Group 5 racing car. In appearance, it differed from the 911 by its "slant nose" and the full scale aerodynamic kits. Moreover, the larger diameter rear wheels, which was 19 inch in diameter versus the 16 inch front wheels, were easy to catch eyes. Under its skin, differences could be found in the coil-spring front suspensions, the 590 hp 2.85-litre race-breed turbo engine, the 917 brakes ... it won Porsche the World Championship of makes in 1976.

Next year, the more powerful 935/77 appeared. Twin-turbo and higher lift cam enabled 630 hp while aerodynamic was also improved. Porsche retained its World Champion title in 1977.



In 1978, the most powerful version, 935/78 "Moby Dick", introduced dohc 4-valve heads to the block which was skretched to 3.2 litres. The engine became water-cooled and developed 750 horsepower. That made it the most powerful GT racing car ever made. Besides, new interpretation of the regulations allowed a very long tail which improved aerodynamics a lot, also gave the nickname "Moby Dick".

However, it was a private entry 935 which eventually won the Le Mans. Kremer Team's 935-K3, which was based on the 1979 "Customer" specifications, won the overall Le Mans title in that year. That was the only occasion that a production-based car won the title.

Since then, Porsche stopped developing the 935 but still supply parts to private teams to build their own 935s. This extended its competition life for several years. Until it was retired, the 935 family won 6 straight Daytona 24 hours between 1978 and 83, another 6 Sebring ('78-'82 and '84), as well as one Le Mans 24 hours. No other production-based car could be more successful.



Model 935/76 935/77 935/78 Moby Dick
Engine F6, sohc, 2v/cyl, air-cooled, turbo. F6, sohc, 2v/cyl,
air-cooled, twin-turbo. F6, dohc, 4v/cyl,
water-cooled, twin-turbo. [b]
Capacity 2857 c.c. 2857 c.c. 3211 c.c.[b]
Power 590 hp 630 hp 750 hp
Drag cofficient for Le Mans 0.390 0.393 0.358
Lap time in Le Mans 3min 47sec 7 (practice) 3min 39sec 3 (practice) 3min 30sec 9 (practice)
Top speed in Le Mans 199.5 mph (race) 201.0 mph (race) 222.0 mph (race)


One of my all time favorite racing cars...
Enjoy reading!
Text from: autozine.org