Beschreibung:

For many enthusiasts the most iconic endurance racing car design in their sporting life has been the classically sleek and graceful Porsche 956/962 series. These immensely capable, practical and reliable machines have won the Le Mans 24-Hours race no fewer than seven times, the Daytona 24-Hours six times and the Sebring 12-Hours four times. In addition these Porsches dominated the relevant FIA World Championship, winning it five times, plus four American IMSA Championship titles, the European InterSerie and Japanese Sports Car Championship. There is growing interest worldwide in these increasingly highly regarded cars from the Group C era of 1982-1991. Here we are delighted to be able to offer this beautifully restored, rebuilt 2.8 liter twin-turbo engined example of the ultimate Porsche Typ 962 design chassis ‘962-159’ as campaigned by the celebrated Japanese Team Trust. This organization ordered a brand-new Porsche 962 to ‘longtail’ specification for Le Mans, chassis serial ‘159’, developing over 850bhp for the 1990 racing season and for its premier event, the year’s Le Mans 24-Hours race. Team Trust secured the driving services of George Fouche ex Kremer Racing, Stefan Andskar and Shunji Kasuya. Their main sponsors were the Japanese oil company Nisseki, Cibie and Dunlop and under the team management of Gen Suzuki. The car ran under race number ‘63’ and finished 13th overall that year. It then returned to Le Mans for the 1991 24-Hours, and was driven by Fourche/Andsker again as race number ‘49’ before being forced to withdraw. The car then finished 1st in the 1991 FIA SWC race at Autopolis, Japan, driven again by Fouche/Andskar. The car has since undergone complete restoration by Team Trust in 1992 in which it was returned to its original 1990 Le Mans 24-Hour race specification. It has since been carefully preserved on museum display and is described as being in ‘runnable’ condition When the Porsche 956 endurance racing Coupe concept was created in late 1981, Porsche’s intention was to campaign the new model in both the World Sportscar Championship series and the North American IMSA GTP Championship category. However, American IMSA GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was banned from the US series on safety grounds as the driver’s foot-pedals were vulnerably placed ahead of the front-axle center-line. To make the 956 eligible under IMSA requirements, and following a number of race-crash injuries suffered in the global Group C series after 956s had experienced frontal impacts, Porsche created the replacement Typ 962 model by lengthening the wheelbase to accommodate the pedal-bearing footbox behind the front axle center line. A new design aluminum-skinned monocoque chassis was developed for the cars, and a very robust tubular-steel roll-cage was also integrated into the overall structure. Porsche used their Typ 934-derived ‘935’ flat-6 cylinder 2.8-liter air-cooled engine, with forced induction pressurized by a single KKK (Kühnle, Kopp und Kausch) turbocharger, model K36. This replaced the twin K27-turbocharged induction system used on the standard Group C Porsche 956. Twin-turbo systems had not been allowed in IMSA’s GTP class at that time. Now, by the middle of 1985, the newer Andial-built 3.2-liter fuel-injected flat-6 engine became available in the 962 chassis for IMSA GT racing. Until that time the naturally-aspirated large-capacity Jaguar V12 XJR cars had shown an advantage over the Porsches, which this engine enlargement sought to overturn. Meanwhile for World Sportscar Championship Group C versions engine enlargement would proceed in steps, from 2.8 to 3-liters and then to 3.2-liters only by 1986. The cars run under WSC regulations were designated the Porsche 962C to differentiate them from their IMSA GTP counterparts. The 3.2-liter engine which had been eligible under IMSA’s Group 3 category engine rules was finally banned by IMSA in 1987 but water-cooled twin-turbocharged Porsche engines wou