The Porsche 935 is probably the wildest 911 of all time. And Norbert Singer probably the wiliest reader of sports car rules of all time. Porsche used the year 1975 as a transition year between the 911 RSR naturally aspirated engine and the first Turbos, which, initially as the 934, and from 1976 designated the 935, were to be used by Porsche works racing teams.
The Group 5 regulations adopted by the FIA introduced a so-called “silhouette formula“, in which the vehicles were intended to remind spectators strongly of the production models they were familiar with. Unintentionally, the regulations permitted quite considerable freedom of interpretation, which inspired Porsche and those responsible for motorsports to develop some new ideas. As a result, the 911 developed quite large cheeks, which are not noticeable when viewed from the side, but which extended away from the doors. A rudimentary 911 tail can still be seen far back, but the wheel extensions obscured the view at this point. The slant nose in particular attracted criticism from the competition and initially led to the 935 not being given approval by the FIA inspectors. The shape and material of the wheel arches were exempt, because the FIA had assumed that there were load-bearing body parts underneath the wheel arches and they could therefore not be modified. They were wrong. Since there were no load-bearing parts underneath the wheel arches of the 911, everybody ultimately had to concede, and the wheel arches were subsequently approved, the headlights were incorporated in the front spoiler, since its shape was also exempt from the regulations.
After several modifications at the rear, the racing car now named 935 was able to demonstrate its purpose to the whole world, namely to destroy everything in its path and leave them trailing behind. The BMW CLS and the Ford Capris, as was the case with the Corvettes the Ferraris, were completely annihilated. This was also undoubtedly due to drivers of the calibre of Stommelen, Schurti, Bell and Ickx, but at Porsche, things were rarely left to chance. In the case of our photo model with the protruding hips, this is a Porsche 935 K3 with chassis number 000 0025. It was bought by John Paul Senior in the factory and delivered to America. JLP Racing was racing team run by father and son Paul, which was very successful in motorsports in both the USA and Le Mans from the end of the 70s until well into the next decade. The team‘s racing colours were typically light blue and yellow, with Hilton, Newsweek and BP as sponsors.
Virtually everything on this car was original, because, unlike many of its brothers, it had not been modified several times and had not been burned out in a large number of races. This was because number 0025 spent many years in a well heated police garage. This was due to the fact that its owners, John Paul Senior and John Paul Junior, were involved in smuggling marijuana and part of their property was confiscated during the investigations.
Today, this impeccable Porsche 935 is owned by a German collector and participates in veteran events in which it once again, with an output of 850 hp (according to the dyno) achieves speeds of over 300 km/h. Connoisseurs will certainly recognise from the photos the world’s most famous racing circuit on the River Sarthe – Le Mans – where number 0025 in 2014 was right up with the leaders. But that was why the 935s were built of course.