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The 1980 Porsche Carrera GT ‘Le Mans’ (left) with its roadgoing sibling, the 1981 model Porsche 924 Carrera GT (right) Porsche at Le Mans 1980: 14-15 JuneĪlthough the Porsche 924 was introduced back in 1976, it was four years before the car would see any action at Le Mans. Whether one viewed this situation with some pessimism or with interest, such a varied grid did provide the race-goer with some entertaining track action. This resulted in a varied collection of contenders at Le Mans in the early part of that decade as some manufacturers understandably delayed the development of their new cars while others went ahead with theirs. The decade of the 1980s began with the knowledge that Group 6 was to be replaced with the FIA’s latest Group C rules in 1982. The 1980 Porsche 924 Carrera GT ‘Le Mans’ still in its development phase Porsche at Le Mans Part V: 1980 to 1994 the Transaxle years, looks at the importance that the Le Mans 24 Hour race played in proving Porsche’s front-engined models. These two models were followed by the 944 and 968 models, the 944 seeing great success in the sale rooms around the world, and on the race track. When so many manufacturers of high performance sports cars were closing their doors in the face of the oil crisis in the early 1970s, Porsche bucked the trend and introduced a brace of new models, the 924 and 928. These front-engined models, that in roadgoing form rescued the company during difficult financial times, have been unjustly maligned over the years.
PORSCHE LE MANS PROTOTYPE 1 PROJECT SERIES
In this feature, the fifth in our series that looks at the different eras of Porsche’s participation at Le Mans, we examine the part played by the company’s transaxle cars. In 1978, the Porsche 928 was voted ‘Car of the Year’ – the first time a sports car had ever been awarded this accolade In July 2018, the car was seen in public for the first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of Porsche.Le Mans 24 Hours, 10-11 June 1978: The pace car, a Porsche 928, leads the field away followed by the #5 Porsche 936/78 (Ickx, Pescarolo, Mass), #1 Alpine Renault A443 (Jabouille, Depailler) and the #43 Porsche 935/78 ‘Moby Dick’ (Schurti, Stommelen). The engine from the car was used in the Porsche Carrera GT concept car and was detuned for the production version.
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ĭespite Porsche's initial denial of the 9R3's existence rumours circulated about its cancellation including: the engineers were diverted to the Porsche Cayenne SUV project to avoid competing with its Audi R8 stablemate which won the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans insufficient competition after the withdrawal of BMW, Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. In May 1999 the project was halted, but the chassis was completed and underwent a two-day private test, driven by Allan McNish and Bob Wollek who reportedly gave positive feedback. The chassis was unaltered apart from suspension geometry for newer tires and the engine mountings to accommodate the new engine. Due to the inherent flaws of using the heavy flat-six and the extra cooling the engine would've needed, Porsche instead redeveloped the 3.5-litre V10 engine that was originally developed in 1992 for Formula One, to replace the V12 used by Footwork Arrows it was redesigned for both 5-litre and 5.5-liter capacities, and the pneumatic valve springs were removed, as the air restrictors mandated under LMP regulations made them redundant. It was initially to use a modified version of the turbocharged flat-six engine found in the Porsche 911 road car, but, although the design was completed in November 1998, Porsche opted against building the car. In 1998 Porsche designed a Le Mans Prototype for the following season, assigning it the codename 9R3. The project was canceled before the car was built, leading to various rumors about the reason for its demise. One car was built, and it was designed around a modified version of Porsche's 3.5-litre V10 engine that was originally designed for Formula 1 in 1992. The Porsche LMP2000 (also known as the Porsche 9R3) is a Le Mans Prototype racing car that was developed between 19, but never raced.