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Each month, Panorama magazine brings you the best from the world
of Porsche. Races, vintage car shows, technical articles, we cover
it all!
At Panorama, we never have room for all the pictures we'd like
to
share with our readers. Here are some photos that just wouldn't
fit
into the magazine this month.
Featured in the October issue is Bill Oursler’s account of the desperate hours of the 1983 Le Mans race when Al Holbert brought his dying 956 safely home for the win. That set us to thinking about the 956 and its successor, the 962. For this month’s gallery we present some of Leonard Turner’s photos of both Porsche prototypes and give you some tips on how to tell the difference.
We refer you to the magazine for even more articles. How do you
get your copy? Join PCA, Porsche Panorama
is a prime benefit of membership! |
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In the 1980s prototype racing was dominated by Norbert Singer’s 956/962 family of turbocharged flat six monocoques. The 956 (#12) featured a shorter wheel base and a water-cooled-head engine from the start, while the later 962 (#16) was built originally to IMSA Camel GT rules and had an all ai-cooled engine and a slightly shorter front nose section.
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The very first 956 built, 001, is this car which featured what was called the “short tail” as opposed to the “Le Mans long tail” option. In reality, both were of equal length. However, the wing on the short tail car was raised much higher on its side fins than on its 24-hour cousin.
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When Porsche decided to enter the IMSA Camel GT in 1984, IMSA regulations demanded that the driver’s front feet be placed behind the front axle line. The factory accomplished this by moving the front axle forward, thus providing one of the recognition features between the two cars. Here one can see the very short spacing from the front door to the rear edge of the front wheel well on an original 956.
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The first appearance of a racing 962 occurred at Daytona in 1984, where the new Porsche prototype joined Jaguars and the Kreepy Krauly Porsche-March 83G on the grid. The first of a long series of successful racers, 962-001 made a single race appearance at Daytona in 1984 where it retired in the hands of Mario and Michael Andretti. |
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Although it looked quite similar to the long tail 956s that had run at Le Mans, the first 962 was in fact quite different. The changes in wheel base forced Porsche engineers to create a much more sharply angled and slightly shortened nose section with a flat upper surface and a totally different tail. |
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Two years after its first appearance the 962 had changed substantially when it won the 1986 Daytona 24 Hours in the hands of Al Holbert and his co-drivers. Applied to the car was the European short tail which changed both aerodynamics and balance. Though most 962s featured a top mounted intercooler, this Daytona winner, the famed 962-103, did not have it for this race. The photograph shows the original rear mounted intercooler and the slight bulge at the rear of the roofline to accommodate it. |
The ultimate expression of the 962 is actually a home grown American car, run by Jim Busby for BFGoodrich in 1989. Driven by Bob Wollek, Derek Bell and John Andretti, the unique car, which featured Californian Jim Chapman’s sandwich tub, had the top mounted intercooler and air scoop, a double element rear wing mounted on extensions that came out from the rear wheel wells, a new nose and a far different profile for the rear edge of the front wheel wells. Those who have driven car say these features made it one of the best handling 962s ever. |
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Check out the October issue for the dramatic story of Porsche’s 1983 win at Le Mans, along with Jim Schrager’s advice on buying vintage Porsche’s in today’s wild market. You can also read an account of Potomac Region’s track event for veterans from Walter Reed Medical Center, see our spy photos of the Panamera and read a Firsthand File report on the 997 Carreras.
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