1977 Porsche 935 Pilots: E. Abate, B. Garretson, S. McKitterick Team: Dick Barbour Racing Race: 8th overall (2nd in IMSA class) at Le Mans in 1979 Spark - S2017 (resin)
Published 07/23/18
The Porsche 935 was one of the most iconic racing cars of the 70s. A so-called “silhouette car”, it borrowed it’s looks from Porsche’s current (at the time) 911 930 Turbo. The 935 was one of the most successful cars of the Group 5 era, and Porsche produced the car from 1976 t0 1981. The chassis was of an unitary steel construction, and the engine was the famous Typ 930/72. It was a flat-6 displacing 2994 cm³ with a single big KKK turbo, but powerful enough to produce 630 hp.
From 1977 onward, Porsche offered the 935 to private teams. So if you had the money, you could own one of the finest racing machines of the time. This is chassis #930 770 0910, that was initially bought brand new by Jim Busby Racing in 1977. In late 1978 Busby sold it to Dick Barbour Racing, that campaigned the car in the 1979 season. Though #72 was an original 1977 model, for the 1979 season it was upgraded to 935/78 specs. However, it persisted with the same 930/72 engine used in the 1977 season.
The Dick Barbour team had four 935s in the 24 Heures du Mans of 1979, and 935 #72 finished in 8th place. Not a great result but what a gorgeous livery – I love the oh-so-1970s look of the “Hawaiian Tropic” 935s. Specially when it’s a fine model by Spark. So that means I still have two more to get, the yellow and the red versions… Unfortunately though, they’re both hard to come by nowadays 🙁