Flashback Friday: 935 Unveiled for 70th Anniversary

Keeping Secrets

With the amount of road-testing required for new model vehicles, it is quite difficult for manufacturers to keep their new cars a secret. Although these pre-production vehicles often sport camouflage paint, modified body panels, mismatched wheels, and even various amounts of fabric coverings, the public generally has a pretty solid idea of how these cars will look before they are even released. With all of this in mind, Porsche completely shocked fans at Rennsport Reunion VI with a brand new 935 racer that the public had no prior knowledge of. 

The Surprise of the Year

The unveiling of the new 935 at Laguna Seca caught everyone off-guard as Porsche had just revealed their Speedster concept moments before (which apparently was not too much of a secret), so most were not expecting another vehicle to be shown. When the 935 was uncovered, a surge of gasps erupted from the crowd. Unfortunately, when Porsche admitted that only 77 935s would be produced, those gasps turned into groans. 

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

GT2 RS at Heart

It is likely that the 935 was able to be kept under wraps so well because it will not be a street-legal car, thus it did not need to be tested on public roads like many other cars. Also, Porsche apparently required a vow of secrecy from insiders within their dealer network to not spill the beans before the official unveiling. While it may not be a road car, the 935 is based on the street-going 911 GT2 RS that boasts 700 horsepower via a 3.8L twin-turbo flat-six. Suffice it to say, the inner workings of the 935 have already been rigorously tested both on and off the track with great success. 

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

No Design Contsraints

Vice-President of Motorsport & GT Cars, Dr. Frank Walliser, explained that the car is not a homologated racer that was required to meet any particular specifications, so the development team had the freedom to design the car on their own terms. The most obvious of these design elements is the swooping body panels and wheel arch vents made of carbon fiber that not only look like those fitted to the classic racer but are fully functional as well.  

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

Parts Bin Porsche

As mentioned, the car is largely a re-bodied GT2 RS with track-oriented modifications throughout. In a sense, it is a bit of an amalgam of parts pulled from other Porsche racers such as the Cosworth LCD driver information screen and CFK multifunction steering wheel from the GT3 R, side mirrors from the RSR, wing end-plate lighting from the 919, and a wooden 917-esque shift knob, to name a few. Additionally, it also features numerous FIA certified safety features that are implemented on all Porsche competition cars. 

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

The Lucky 77

Some have been critical of Porsche and the new 935 as there will be a significant price hike over the GT2 RS and will be limited to only the closest of Porsche customers. Porsche will supposedly offer owners a driver training program to get the most out of the 935 on track, but chances are that most, if not all of these 77 cars will end up as collector vehicles to be stowed away in museums or private collections. 

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

How Fast?

On paper, the 935 may not seem too incredibly impressive as it only shaves approximately 200lbs of weight off of that of the GT2 RS to tip the scales at nearly 3100lbs. That said, one would expect the car to feature some incredible aerodynamics coupled with racing slick tires to keep it glued to the track. Let's not forget that the GT2 RS ran a 6:47 at the Nordschleife, so we could potentially see a sub 6:30 lap time if it ever visits the Nurburgring. Until then, one can enjoy the new 935 testing at full song in a recent Monza outing here. 

>>Join the conversation about the 935 from the Rennsport Reunion right here in Rennlist.com.

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