1976 Porsche 934 “Jägermeister” #68 Pilots: E. Dören, G.Holup, H. Poulain, R. Feitler Team: Hervé Poulain Race: DNF (Group 4 class) at Le Mans in 1978 Spark - S4424 (resin)
Published 09/17/21
By the 1970s, Porsche was an established “racing brand”. After their overall win at Le Mans in 1970 and 1971, Stuttgart’s cars became synonymous with racing. That being so, the manufacturer got busy producing cars for privateer racers. One of these was the 934. Based on the 911 (930) Turbo of 1975, it was made specifically for Group 4 racing. In essence, to create the 934 Porsche fed a 930 steroids – a LOT of steroids. Porsche swapped the “pedestrian” 260 hp boxer-6 of the 930 with a bigger 2992 cm³ that delivered 480 hp. Brakes came from the 917, and they trimmed weight everywhere. In the end, even with a roll cage, Porsche had to add ballast so that the car weighed the minimum 1090 kg for Group 4. With that, the 934 was FAST, yet it was a handful to tame. Nonetheless, Porsche produced and sold 31 units.
Max Moritz bought chassis #930 670 0168 brand new in 1976. He painted it in Jägermeister colors and raced it in only two races. The following year he raced the car all over Europe, however in a different livery. Then, in 1978, Hervé Poulain bought it (maybe just rented it?) to race at Le Mans. He painted the car again in full Jägermeister livery and took it to La Sarthe. Oddly, his team consisted of himself and three more pilots. Out of the norm, since at the time usually only two pilots shared the wheel. In spite of the double staff, on the 167th lap the gearbox failed and car #68 was out. Later that same month Max Moritz got the car back and only raced it twice more. He subsequently sold it, and chassis #930 670 0168 never raced at La Sarthe again.
This particular 934 is known as the “Jägermeister 934”. Despite the DNF, it was the only car to race in Jägermeister livery at La Sarthe. When I collected 1:18, I had a special Jägermeister section in my collection. However, the Jägermeister 934 at the time was not available. I had a bunch of Jägermeister cars but not the most important of all. A grail model, and I finally have it. Though a pretty rare one, this is the second one I see on auction. The first one I saw locally last year, however I missed it ($$$) 😣. Last month another one popped up and this time I jumped on it. Model-wise it is your normally-gorgeous-Spark, so there’s not much to discuss here. Even so, I am thrilled to finally have this car in the W-143 Garage.