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Porsche 956 or how the most successful racing car of all time was created

Name: Porsche 962 1984
Brand: Porsche

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Created on July 12, 2012

Text:

Daniel Reinhard

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Michael O. Crews

Bruno von Rotz

Archivbild

Porsche Archiv

Fred Lewis

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Michael O. Crews

Bruno von Rotz

Archivbild

Porsche Archiv

Fred Lewis

Archiv

Porsche 962 (1987) - at the race in Spa in 1987

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Le Mans 1982 - Overall winner Rothmans Porsche 956 #1 with Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Ferdinand Porsche and Schulz show the model at a racing car show

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Group C racing sports car, model, side view, left

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Group C racing sports car, model, rear end

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Porsche 956 (1982) - the Le Mans version during test drives

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Porsche 956 (1982) - the Le Mans version in the pits during test drives

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet 1982, in the pits

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Test drives in Weissach with Jürgen Barth

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Jürgen Barth test driving in Weissach

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet in 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet in 1982 - View from behind

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Pit stop during test drives at Paul Ricard

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Porsche 956 (1982) - three Porsche 956s were prepared for Le Mans in Rothmans livery

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Le Mans 1982 - The Rothmans Porsche 956 as a group photo

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Porsche 956 (1982) at Le Mans - Start with the Porsche 956 at the front

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Le Mans 1982 - Winning car Rothmans Porsche 956 by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell

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Porsche 956 (1982) at Le Mans - 3rd place Rothmans Porsche 956 #3 with Hurley Haywood, Jürgen Barth and Al Holbert

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Le Mans 1982 - Rothmans Porsche 956 #2 with Jochen Mass and Vern Schuppan

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Victory at Le Mans in 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - the winners Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Porsche development center in Weissach (Dec 82) - after the great success, a small series was built for customer teams

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Porsche 956 (1982) - at the 1982 Silverstone race

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Ickx and Bell finish second at Silverstone

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Porsche 956 (1983) - at the 1000 km of Monza 1983

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Porsche 956 (1983) - Pit stop at the 1000 km of Monza

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Porsche 956 (1983) - refueling stop at the 1000 km of Monza

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Porsche 956 (1983) - at the 1000km Imola 1983, Fitzpatrick-Hobbs in number 11

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Porsche 956 (1983) - at the 1000km Imola 1983, Bell-Palmer in number 14

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Porsche 956 (1983) - at the 1000 km Imola 1983

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Porsche 956 (1983) in Ayent-Anzére during a demonstration run

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Porsche 962 (1984) during a pit stop at the 24 Hours of Daytona

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Porsche 956 (1985) - Vehicle preparation at Brun Motorsport

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Porsche 962 (1985) - This is the Preston Henn Swap Shop Porsche 962, overall winner of 1985 driven by A.J. Foyt and Bob Wollek (12 Hours of Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1985) - Jim Busby's team came to Sebring with two Porsche 962s - Jochen Mass also drove in this one - the one with number #68 finished 3rd! (12 Hours of Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1985) - The Löwenbräu Porsche 962 from Holbert Racing with Al Holbert and Derek Bell took 2nd place overall! (12 Hours of Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - The famous Coke Porsche 962 was the overall winner - here in full action at the pit stop (12 Hours of Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - The famous Coke Porsche 962 was the overall winner with drivers Bob Akin, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jo Gartner (12 Hours of Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - The Joest Porsche 962 driven by Gianpiero Moretti had to retire early due to engine failure (12 Hours of Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1987) - the Rothmans works racing car at Monza in 1987

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Le Mans 1987 - Overall winner Rothmans Porsche 962C driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck and Derek Bell

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Overall winning car Porsche 962C (1987) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell and Al Holbert

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Porsche 962 (1988) - Race at the Norisring in 1988

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Kenwood Kremer Racing Porsche 962CK6 at Le Mans 1988

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Porsche 962 C (1989) - The Joest Racing Porsche 962 with Bob Wollek at the start (12 Hours of Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - Star cast in this Porsche 962 - Bob Wollek and Derek Bell - retired early due to suspension problems (12 Hours of Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - James Weaver (GB) and Dominic Dobson (USA) came third overall with their Porsche 962 (12 Hours of Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - Hotchkis Racing with their Porsche 962 achieved a good 6th place overall (12 Hours of Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 C (1991) - The Joest Racing Porsche 962 of Bob Wollek, Bernd Schneider and Massimo Sigala finished third overall (12 Hours of Sebring 1991)

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Porsche 956 (1983) - Poster with the Porsche race dates from 1983

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Porsche poster: IMSA Championship (1986)

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Summary

Porsche has always built successful racing cars, but the Porsche 956 still stands out as a stroke of genius. The closed sports prototype and its evolutionary form 962 dominated the world's sports car races for over 10 years, as impressively documented by the victory of the enduring 962 at Le Mans in 1994. This report not only describes the history of the Porsche 956 (and 962), but also provides personal impressions of those involved, such as Jacky Ickx, Jochen Mass, Hans Joachim Stuck and Peter Reinisch, supplemented with historical footage, some of which has never been shown before.

This article contains the following chapters

Five fathers, one objective
New territory for Porsche
Good-natured to drive
From the driver's perspective
The victory at Le Mans in 1982
Racing car of the year
The Porsche 956 in customer hands
From the Porsche 956 to the 962
Afterburner duration 962 and Kremer CK 8
Porsche 956 chassis numbers

Estimated reading time: 14min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Porsche has always built successful racing cars, but the Porsche 956 still stands out as a stroke of genius. The closed sports prototype and its evolutionary form 962 dominated the world's sports car races for over 10 years, as impressively documented by the victory of the enduring 962 at Le Mans in 1994. Five men were behind the development of the Porsche 956: Peter Falk (Porsche racing manager), Norbert Singer (project manager), Horst Reitter (designer), Valentin Schäffer (engine builder) and Eugen Kolb (coachbuilder). They all had extensive racing experience and the team worked well together.

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