It's wise stuff for Porsche to choose now in particular to embrace its heritage. Vintage examples of the marque — particularly 911s and 959s — are continuing to skyrocket in price. Aftermarket and coach-built variants like the RWB, RUF, and Singer brands are running rampant. And with the EV revolution looking like it's just around the corner, now is as good a time to reveal something like this; the new Porsche 935 Clubsport.
Click here to read more about Porsche's movement towards EV and hybrid technology
The new-age 935 aims to embody the visuals of its legendary motorsport predecessor. It's decorated in Martini-style dress, each corner sports its own wonderfully old-school one-piece forged 'aero' wheel, and the bodywork is heavily revised and stretched to mimic the shape of its 'Moby Dick' lineage.
The body is made out of polymer panels that are reinforced with carbon-fibre. LEDs from Porsche's LMP1 919 Hybrid make an appearance, as do the intricate wing mirrors from the 911 RSR and exposed titanium tailpipes modelled on the 1968 Porsche 908.
They haven't just dumped all of this creativity onto a base 911, either. Under the pretty skin this is a 911 GT2 — the most powerful road-going 911 that Porsche has ever produced, and the quickest rear-wheel drive car to ever lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
That means that power comes via a water-cooled twin-turbo 3.8-litre flat six that conjures 515kW of power and 750Nm of torque. Porsche has curiously strayed for saying just how quick this 935 actually is, but bear in mind that the standard road car does the 100km/h sprint in 2.8 seconds, laps 'The Ring' in less than seven minutes, and has a top speed of 340km/h. On the flip side, this 935 is actually 85kg heavier (1380kg all up, compared to the GT2's 1295kg).
The thing to remember when considering that weight increase is that this isn't intended to be some kind of all out race-car brawler (even though it isn't road legal). It still, for example, comes with air conditioning. The gear knob is made from laminated wood (an homage to other past legends, like the 917). And among the options list is a passenger seat, for if you want to take your mates to the track, too.
“This spectacular car is a birthday present from Porsche Motorsport to fans all over the world.” said Porsche Vice President of Motorsport Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser. “Because the car isn’t homologated for any series, engineers and designers didn’t have to follow the usual rules and thus had freedom in the development [process].”
Just 77 new-age 935s will be made, priced at €701,948 (NZ$1.24m) a pop for the European market.
