QUESTION OF SPORT

For the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche created the 935/78. This was the works team’s third and final iteration of the 935. It performed well at the year’s Six Hours of Silverstone, an event serving as a proving ground for the car in advance of its visit to Circuit de la Sarthe. In fact, the Porsche many would begin to refer to as Moby Dick (on account of its outlandish aero package, including large tail) was clocking lap times just four seconds slower than the Cosworth-powered Formula One Mclaren driven by James Hunt at Silverstone for the 1977 British Grand Prix.

The Martini-liveried Porsche — one of the greatest 911 derivatives to date — qualified third at Le Mans and was the fastest entry down the Mulsanne Straight, achieving a staggering 228mph, but mechanical problems before the race necessitated a swap of the car’s 3.2-litre engine and, as we outline across the following pages, the Porsche some saw as a shoe-in for the outright win caused its drivers problems early on in the event, resulting in a disappointing eighth-place finish behind three customer 935s and the factory team’s duo of 936s. Adding insult to injury, Renault took top honours.

The 935/78 participated in further races after the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans, but suffered mechanical issues at each outing, leading to the near 850bhp monster being mothballed in the Porsche Museum. Rather than be rendered a footnote in the Stuttgart brand’s motorsport success story, however, this extraordinarily powerful racer has gone on to command the attention of successive generations of motorsport enthusiasts, partly a result of the influence it had over the design of many subsequent racing sports cars from manufacturers and privateers alike.

In this issue of Classic Porsche, we look back at events leading to the design and creation of Moby Dick, the challenges Norbert Singer and his team faced in assembling the car, and the FIA’S outrage during subsequent inspection. It might not have achieved the goal it was designed for, but as a rolling showcase of Porsche engineering, the 935/78 was a winner.