The new Porsche 963 is about to join Ferrari, BMW, Cadillac and other marques for the most stacked 24 Hours of Le Mans field in years on June 10-11. That makes it the perfect time to remind the endurance racing world that the German marque is the most successful in Le Mans history, with a record 19 overall victories to date.
And many of those wins—13, to be exact—were tallied during Porsche’s legendary Group C run, which was headlined by the 956 and its closely-related kin, the 962. The dominant racing DNA then justifies the sky-high pre-auction valuation assigned to this veteran 1985 Porsche 962 that’s now being offered by RM Sotheby’s.
With an aluminum monocoque instead of a tubular spaceframe chassis, the 956 broke new ground for Porsche. Aerodynamics represented another revolutionary advancement, with ground-effect being harnessed to generate a huge amount of downforce. And power came from a twin-turbocharged 2.65-liter six-cylinder, which had already won Le Mans in the 936/81.
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) regulation changes forced the 956 to subtly evolve into the 962, which featured a longer wheelbase to allow for the mandated relocation of pedals and a steel roll cage integrated into the chassis. With a long-tail setup for Le Mans and a short-tail setup for regular circuits, the 956 and 962 won five consecutive World Sportscar Championships, a feat that hasn’t been matched since.
This one, chassis number 004, battled almost exclusively for podiums at a plethora of endurance racing events from 1985 to 1989, with its best finish being second at the 1987 500 Kilometres of Kyalamiat and its finale being a respectable fifth-place finish at Le Mans. RM Sotheby’s has many more details on its racing pedigree and provenance, for those who are interested.
Even without a Le Mans win, RM Sotheby’s expects this 1985 Porsche 962 to sell for at least $6.4 million and up to $9.6 million at its upcoming Le Mans auction on June 9.
