Iconic Race Cars / #perday |4

This Group C prototype won the overall Le Mans 24 Hours race four consecutive times between 1982 and 1985. It is one of the most successful prototypes ever produced.

The car? Porsche 956

This car had plenty of power. Twin-turbo, air-cooled 2.65 liter flat six, producing between 620 to 750 BHP. The engine had quite a development history. It started in the bonkers-fast Porsche 935 racer of the 70s, was then developed into an Indy 500 competitor and was rejected from Indianapolis and stuck in a five-year-old prototype chassis for the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans. It won that race, then got stuck in the 956.

The chassis is even more interesting. It is a very smooth, slippery shape, with tons of downforce from its underbody ground effects. What is strange is that, at the time, Porsche didn't totally understand how it all worked.

At the 1985 1000 km of Spa, factory driver Stefan Bellof died after colliding with Jacky Ickx's newer Porsche 962. Safety concerns over the 956 led to its eventual end as teams upgraded to the safer 962.

Did you know?

This car holds the all-time record for the fastest vehicle ever to lap the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife, completing the 20.832 km (12.93 mi) circuit in 6:11.13 during qualifying for the 1000 km Sports Car race.