Porsche 956 Featured Archives

The Last-Minute Crisis That Named an Icon

Black and white photo of a Porsche Prototype 901-1 from 1964

In early October 1964, Porsche’s management team received an unexpected letter from France. Peugeot claimed trademark rights to all three-digit car names with a zero in the middle. Production of the new 901 had already begun on September 14. Marketing materials were printed. Exhibition vehicles were on display. The company...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Porsche Type 956 Design And Development

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19-20 June 1982: On the way to their 1982 Le Mans victory Jacky Ickx/Derek Bell bettered their previous year’s lap total by adding an extra five laps (both years were run in favourably dry and warm weather), posting a distance of 4,899.086 kilometres at an average speed of 204.129 km/h. Despite these improved figures, the Porsche team had to run a closely calculated race as the fuel restrictions were ever-present in the minds of the team’s management. © Corporate Archives Porsche AG

Words by: Glen Smale Images by: Corporate Archives Porsche AG The Porsche 956, and its later sibling the 962, became the most successful sports prototype in racing history during its domination of Group C between 1982 and 1992. Once the Porsche factory released the race car to private teams from...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Group C Reunited in Leipzig After 40 Years

After 40 years, the most successful Porsche race car – the Porsche 956 – ever was reunited with its drivers in Leipzig. Now 81 years old, British Derek Bell is still the elegant gentleman he was decades ago. 40 years after the fact, Bell finally admits that he and the...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

The Porsche 956 Group C: 40 Years After Its First Win At Le Mans

There are many legendary Porsche racing cars that command respect for their legacy, their series of wins in a season, or their pure technological advancement. The Porsche 917LH and the Porsche 917K come immediately to mind, as well as the 935/78 “Moby Dick” (for having one of the craziest whale...

Book Reviews

Works Porsche 956 – The Definitive History

Works Porsche 956 – The Definitive History: by Serge Vanbockryck – © Porter Press International I met the author, Serge Vanbockryck, a good number of years back at the Le Mans 24 Hours, and since then I have known him to be the quiet, hardworking PR manager for the Chev...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Porsche 956/962 Engines – Group C vs IMSA

Lined up for the photo shoot following scrutineering for the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours are the three works Group C Porsche 956s – they would finish the race in the order of their racing numbers: the #1 finished first, the #2 was second and the #3 third In the...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

How a Porsche survived at Le Mans on Coca-Cola

Le Mans 24 Hours, 10-11 June 1989: Just after the start of the race, the #15 Richard Lloyd Racing Porsche 962 GTi of Steven Andskar, David Hobbs and Damon Hill passes the pits When you were last with Richard Wiley, we were hurtling around a damp La Sarthe in 1988...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Porsche 956/962 at Le Mans – Logistics Part II

Le Mans 24 Hours, 18-19 June 1983: By midnight, the #3 Rothmans 956 of Vern Schuppan/Al Holbert/Hurley Haywood was leading the field by a lap after a seventh place start on the grid. With just an hour to go and with Holbert behind the wheel, the lead looked secure until...

Porsche 962 Porsche History Porsche 956 PRR

Porsche 956/962 remembered

The ‘white, red and blue’ 956 LHs line up at Weissach ready for their onslaught at the Le Mans 24-Hour 1982 The decline of Group 6 and the growth of Group C saw the emergence of what is today widely regarded as the most entertaining and successful era in modern...

Featured Content & Premium Editorials

Why was 1983 a good year in Group C?

1983 Porsche 956 chassis #110 – Matthew Howell © 2018 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s The 1983 Group C World Endurance Championship was arguably one of the most exciting and competitive racing seasons in years. So, why was 1983 a good year in Group C? Well, this was the first year...

Motorsport & Racing

Dream team at the Nürburgring Nordschleife

(from L-R): 1982 Porsche 956 C and 2017 Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Just before the Nürburgring 24-hour race will be green flagged on May 12, Porsche will present a dream team at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the benefit of the expected 200,000 spectators. There, Timo Bernhard and Hans-Joachim Stuck will...

World's Fastest Growing Porsche Community