{"id":7048,"date":"2019-11-04T07:30:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-04T10:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.w-143.com\/?page_id=7048"},"modified":"2023-02-21T11:59:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T14:59:16","slug":"porsche-961-203-spark","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/porsche-961-203-spark\/","title":{"rendered":"Porsche 961 #203 &#8211; Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/+upload\/porsche\/race\/porsche_961_203_01.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><strong>1986 Porsche 961<\/strong>\nPilots: C. Haldi, K. Nierop, R. Metge\nTeam: <em>Porsche AG \/ Rothmans<\/em>\nRace: DNF (IMSA class) at Le Mans in <strong>1987<\/strong>\nSpark - S0961 (resin) <\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-medium-gray-color has-text-color has-small-font-size\">Published 11\/04\/19<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The 961 wasn\u2019t a big priority for Porsche, almost just an experiment. With that, only one car came out of Stuttgart, chassis #WP0ZZZ93ZFS010016. It was ready for the Le Mans test session in early May, 1986. It was a pretty quick car, doing better than the Group B BMW M1 and even quicker than some C1 and C2 cars. Though starting in 26th place, it finished in seventh place overall. The following year Porsche\u2019s four wheel-drive car was back, as 961 #203.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/+upload\/porsche\/race\/porsche_961_203_04.jpg\" alt=\"961 #203\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Compared to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/porsche-961-180-spark\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1986<\/a>, things got wider&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And this time with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/img.favcars.com\/porsche\/961\/wallpapers_porsche_961_1987_1_b.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Rothmans war paint<\/a> and again with Ren\u00e9 Metge at the wheel. Now homologated for the IMSA class, the 961 #203 started in 31st place. Lady Luck, however, did not smile to the 961 that year. On lap 199, with Nierop on the wheel, the car spun and hit the wall. The pilot was unhurt, but the car caught <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=On4N1odNZX8\" target=\"_blank\">fire<\/a> (2m2s video) and was abandoned on the side of the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/+upload\/porsche\/race\/porsche_961_203_03.jpg\" alt=\"961 #203\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">To think such a gorgeous car was reduced to a smoking wreck&#8230;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And that was the end of the racing career of the 961. The fire totally destroyed the car, but fortunately Porsche recovered the wreck and years later restored it. So now you can see the 961 #203 in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. And fortunately for us collectors, Spark makes a beautiful version of the car in 1:43. But as always, the model comes without the Rothmans decals. Within five minutes however the livery was complete and the model shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/+upload\/porsche\/race\/porsche_961_203_02.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">With the exaggerated body work this could easily pass as a Group 5 car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I already had the #180 of 1986 version of the car, and the #203 is much harder to find. I recently got a chance to grab one, though for a lot more than what I paid on the #180. But what the hey, since I love the 959 so much, I couldn\u2019t say no to the opportunity. And I&#8217;m glad I did, because it\u2019s a duesy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/+upload\/porsche\/race\/porsche_961_203_05.jpg\" alt=\"961 #203\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Five minute decal job to make it look complete. Thank you, Spark!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1986 Porsche 961 Pilots: C. Haldi, K. Nierop, R. Metge Team: Porsche AG \/ Rothmans Race: DNF (IMSA class) at Le Mans in 1987 Spark &#8211; S0961 (resin) Published 11\/04\/19 The 961 wasn\u2019t a big priority for Porsche, almost just an experiment. With that, only one car came out of Stuttgart, chassis #WP0ZZZ93ZFS010016. It was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/porsche-961-203-spark\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Porsche 961 #203 &#8211; Spark&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7048","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7048"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15190,"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7048\/revisions\/15190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.w-143.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}