The Porsche 935 is back!

The surprise unveiling, at the Rennsport Reunion event at Laguna Seca Raceway in California, is Porsche Motorsport’s contribution to the 70 years of Porsche celebrations this year. And yes you will be able to buy one: 77 of the modern-day 935s are being made for £750,000 each in the UK, including the tax, with delivery from June 2019. They will all be race cars though, so forget about driving one on the road. Although original 935s have been made into road cars so who knows…

The new Porsche 935 puts together the best of two Porsche worlds, 40 years apart. Any Porsche 935 is an awesome machine but the 935/78 is a true icon of motorsport, as we all here at Goodwood know only too well. Remember the Group 5 demo from the 76th Members’ Meeting in March? Remind yourself of that here.

Moby Dick never did win Le Mans for Porsche (the factory 935/78 was eighth in 1978, despite being the fastest car there with 228mph on the Mulsanne Straight), leaving the Kremer team’s car to win in 1979. It didn’t matter because with more than 150 race wins worldwide and four world championships for Porsche, 935 immortality was guaranteed.

Staying true to this legacy, the new version marries those iconic looks with what is Porsche’s fastest contemporary model, the twin turbo GT2 RS. That is the car, you may remember, that  had its dynamic world debut at the Festival of Speed in 2017 before going on to lap the Nürburgring in 6 minutes, 47.3 seconds – enough for Porsche to claim a record for road-approved sports cars at that time.

As a car intended for clubsport events and private track use, the new 935 is not homologated for any championship, which gave the engineers a lot of freedom to “Moby Dick” the GT2. Most of the body has been replaced or supplemented by carbon-fibre composite parts. The elongated tail and spectacular aerodynamic addenda are all inspired by the original.

Other parts pay tribute to other Porsche road or track cars. The front wheelarch vents are from the 911 GT3 RS. The aerodynamically capped wheel rims echo those of the 935/78. The LED rear lights on the rear wing endplates are from the 919 Hybrid LMP1 car. The side mirrors are taken from the 911 RSR, and the exposed titanium tailpipes are modelled on those of the Porsche 908 from 1968.

Porsche Motorsport references abound inside too. The wood gearshift knob recalls that used in the Porsche 917 and Carrera GT. The carbon steering wheel and colour display behind it have been taken from the 911 GT3 R. As a pure track machine, the car comes with a welded-in safety cage and a racing Recaro bucket seat with  six-point safety harness. A second passenger seat is optional. Air jack and fire extinguishing system are built in.

The engine is exactly as the GT2 RS’s, so a twin-turbo 3.8-litre flat-six with 700PS sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed Porsche PDK paddleshift transmission. Six-piston aluminium monobloc racing callipers are fitted up front. Steel brake discs are used. Like the road GT2 RS, traction and stability controls and anti-lock brakes are fitted but can all be switched off.

Porsche doesn’t make claims for the new 935’s performance but there are some comparisons between 935s then and now that we can make. The original car weighed in at 1,030kg and had 845PS (833bhp). The new Moby Dick weighs 1,380kg and has 700PS. The golden oldie could hit 228mph in full Moby Dick Le Mans spec, the new one – in GT2 RS road guise at least – is all through  at 211mph.

The original race  car might then have the legs of the new one, but we still reckon you’d have a whale of a time in it…