Faced with a new generation of purpose-built, ground-effect GTP cars, teams running Porsche 935s in the IMSA GT Championship looked at ways to prolong the career of the venerable turbo-charged Porsche during the early 1980s.
The most extreme was of these was the Porsche 935 JLP-4 created for John Paul Sr. by Fabcar. Built around an aluminium monocoque, it was the only 935 to use ground-effect aerodynamics and it was even fitted with sliding skirts much like the Fomrula 1 cars of the day. On par with the GTP cars of the day, the spectacular machine’s career was only short lived but it did propel John Paul Jr. to two outright wins in 1982 on his way to becoming the youngest ever IMSA champion. Following its final outing in 1983, it has always been very well cared for. Its current Italian owner brought the unique Porsche 935 JLP-4 to the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed to raise awareness for the John Paul Jr vs Huntingtons Disease fund. It was driven by the owner and one of Paul’s former rivals, John Fitzpatrick.
Most famous of all privately built 935s is undoubtedly the 935 K3 produced by the Kremer brothers. At the last week’s Le Mans Classic we caught up with yet another chassis, which has allowed us to expand the gallery to 177 shots.
Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has released the first details of the range-topping S 65 AMG Coupe. Powered by a 620 bhp V12 engine, it replaces the CL 65 AMG. Available from just under 245,000 Euro, the S 65 AMG should hit the showroom floors in September.