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

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Created on July 12, 2012

Reading time 14min

Written by:

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) - beim Rennen in Spa im Jahr 1987

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Le Mans 1982 - Gesamtsieger Rothmans Porsche 956 #1 mit Jacky Ickx und Derek Bell

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Ferdinand Porsche und Schulz zeigen das Modell an einer Rennwagen-Show

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Rennsportwagen Gruppe C, Modell, Seitenansicht, links

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Rennsportwagen Gruppe C, Modell, Heck

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Porsche 956 (1982) - die Le Mans Version bei Testfahrten

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Porsche 956 (1982) - die Le Mans Version bei Testfahrten an den Boxen

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet 1982, an den Boxen

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Testfahrten in Weissach mit Jürgen Barth

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Jürgen Barth bei Testfahren in Weissach

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet im Jahr 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Le Castellet im Jahr 1982 - Ansicht von hinten

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Porsche 956 (1982) - bei Versuchsfahrten

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Boxenstopp bei Testfahrten in Paul Ricard

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Porsche 956 (1982) - drei Porsche 956 wurden in Rothmans-Lackierung für Le Mans vorbereitet

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Le Mans 1982 - Die Rothmans Porsche 956 als Gruppenfoto

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Porsche 956 (1982) in Le Mans - Start mit den Porsche 956 an der Spitze

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Le Mans 1982 - Siegerfahrzeug Rothmans Porsche 956 von Jacky Ickx und Derek Bell

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Porsche 956 (1982) in Le Mans - Platz 3 Rothmans Porsche 956 #3 mit Hurley Haywood, Jürgen Barth und Al Holbert

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Le Mans 1982 - Rothmans Porsche 956 #2 mit Jochen Mass und Vern Schuppan

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Siegeinlauf in Le Mans im Jahr 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - die Sieger Jacky Ickx und Derek Bell bei den 24 Stunden von Le Mans 1982

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Porsche 956 (1982) - Porsche-Entwicklungszentrum in Weissach (Dez 82) - nach dem grossen Erfolg wurde eine kleine Serie für Kundenteams gebaut

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Porsche 956 (1982) - beim Rennen von Silverstone 1982

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Porsche 956 (1981) - Ickx und Bell fahren in Silverstone auf Position Zwei

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Porsche 956 (1983) - bei den 1000 km von Monza 1983

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Porsche 956 (1983) - Boxenstopp bei den 1000 km von Monza

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Porsche 956 (1983) - Tankstopp bei den 1000 km von Monza

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Porsche 956 (1983) - bei den 1000km Imola 1983, Fitzpatrick-Hobbs in Nummer 11

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Porsche 956 (1983) - auf dem Nürburgring

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Porsche 956 (1983) - bei den 1000km Imola 1983, Bell-Palmer in Nummer 14

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Porsche 956 (1983) - bei den 1000 km Imola 1983

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Porsche 956 (1983) in Ayent-Anzére bei einem Demonstrationslauf

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Porsche 962 (1984) während eines Boxenstops beim 24 Stunden Rennen von Daytona

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Porsche 956 (1985) - Fahrzeugvorbereitung bei Brun Motorsport

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Porsche 962 (1985) - Das ist der Preston Henn Swap Shop Porsche 962, Gesamtsieger von 1985 gefahren von A.J. Foyt und Bob Wollek (12 Stunden von Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1985) - Jim Busby's Team kam mit zwei Porsche 962 nach Sebring - in diesem hier fuhr auch Jochen Mass - der mit Nummer #68 erreichte Platz 3! (12 Stunden von Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1985) - Der Löwenbräu Porsche 962 vom Holbert Racing mit Al Holbert und Derek Bell holten den Gesamtplatz 2! (12 Stunden von Sebring 1985)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - Der berühmte Coke Porsche 962 war Gesamtsieger - hier in voller Action am Boxenstopp (12 Stunden von Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - Der berühmte Coke Porsche 962 war Gesamtsieger mit den Fahrern Bob Akin, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Jo Gartner (12 Stunden von Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1986) - Der Joest Porsche 962 gefahren von Gianpiero Moretti musste wegen Motorschaden frühzeitig aufgeben (12 Stunden von Sebring 1986)

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Porsche 962 (1987) - der Rothmans-Werksrennwagen in Monza im Jahr 1987

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Le Mans 1987 - Gesamtsieger Rothmans Porsche 962C von Hans-Joachim Stuck und Derek Bell

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Gesamtsiegerfahrzeug Porsche 962C (1987) am 24 Stunden Rennen von Le Mans mit Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell und Al Holbert

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Porsche 962 (1988) - Einsatz am Norisring im Jahr 1988

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Kenwood Kremer Racing Porsche 962CK6 in Le Mans 1988

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Porsche 962 C (1989) - Der Joest Racing Porsche 962 mit Bob Wollek am Start (12 Stunden von Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - Starbesetzung in diesem Porsche 962 - Bob Wollek und Derek Bell - wegen Federungsproblemen frühzeitig ausgeschieden (12 Stunden von Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - Gesamtdritter waren James Weaver (GB) und Dominic Dobson (USA) mit ihrem Porsche 962 (12 Stunden von Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 (1989) - Hotchkis Racing mit ihrem Porsche 962 erreichten den guten Gesamtplatz 6 (12 Stunden von Sebring 1989)

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Porsche 962 C (1991) - Der Joest Racing Porsche 962 von Bob Wollek, Bernd Schneider und Massimo Sigala wurde Gesamtdritter (12 Stunden von Sebring 1991)

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Porsche 956 (1983) - Plakat mit den Porsche-Rennterminen von 1983

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Porsche Plakat: 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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