Friday 25th May 2012

Pic of the Week: Porsche 962 Le Mans double

Derek Bell's back in a 962 - a great excuse for Porsche porn...

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One of the most evocative pairings in motor racing - that of Derek Bell and a Porsche 962 - will be revived again at the Le Mans 24 this year. Bell is once again to race a Porsche 962 at the Circuit de La Sarthe for the first time since 1992.

Bell will be back in a 962 for the Group C race, a one-hour event on the Saturday morning before the main race, in chassis CK6-88, which still wears the original Kenwood livery in which it finished 9th overall in 1988.

Which is all the excuse we need to give you a Porsche-based Le Mans double-whammy POTW, one of the five-times winner himself (albeit on the way to 3rd place in 1985, and one of the Kenwood car doing its thing back in 1988. Enjoy!

Rothmans
Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone etc)

Kenwood
Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone etc)

[S2000Etype]

Loving the Rothmans car, but can we see the Kenwood one 3 frames later and see that Jaguar in all its glory? Best Le Mans for the last 30 years?

[DugyC]

Love the Kenwood Porsche/Silk Cut Jaguar shot, and the Rothmans Porsche will always be a classic.

That's Bruno Giacomelli in the Porsche, but can anyone accurately guess which of Derek Daly, Kevin Cogan or Larry Perkins is driving Jaguar no.22 behind. Tough one.

One for the geeks...

[PascalBuyens]

Those were the days...

[Tango13]

Endurance cars or bikes always look better for a liberal coating of dead bugs and brake dust, they just look 'right' when they're dirty, it's almost like they're in their natural habitat. A cleaned and polished endurance machine is un-natural, all imho of course.

[suffolk009]

Didn't the corvettes a few years ago get carefully put away after the race and then treated to a liberal blowover with clear-coat - just to seal in all the dirt and bugs for it's post race promo tour round the dealerships?

[Eddy5]

Fancy a 962, I found this one for sale earlier on
http://beta.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[slarnge]

Great ! look forward to seeing in the flesh on the Satuarday What a lovely race car.

[DanDC5]

suffolk009 said:

Didn't the corvettes a few years ago get carefully put away after the race and then treated to a liberal blowover with clear-coat - just to seal in all the dirt and bugs for it's post race promo tour round the dealerships?

I think Bentley did the same thing with the Speed 8 aswell didn't they?

[El Guapo]

PascalBuyens said:

Those were the days...

Agreed. I was there in 88, hard to believe that it was 24 years ago.

[Felix7]

El Guapo said:

Agreed. I was there in 88, hard to believe that it was 24 years ago.

I think Derek is with you on that one as well. Thank you Riggers, see you on the 8th??

[williamp]

PascalBuyens said:

Those were the days...

You're forgetting le mans 2011. Now THAT was a great race!

[HeatonNorris]

I'm probably just getting old - but racing was so much better back then.

Porsche, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and Jaguar battling it out in Group C.

The madness of Group B rallying, with Ford, Peugeot, Lancia and Audi.

And F1, where you could have up to half a dozen drivers in with a shout of the title going into the last couple of races.

[fatboy69]

For even more porn check out the cover of the latest issue of MotorSport magazine.

The porn is in the shape of a SIlk Cut liveried Jaguar XJR9. A stunning looking car sporting iconic livery.

Same issue also features a Porsche 956 in Rothmans livery. Not just any Porsche 956 but 956/001 which is the Bell/Ickx from 1982.

I vividly recall that damp Sunday at SIlverstone when the car made ts debut. I recall being stunned at the sight of this stunning looking race car.

My photo's from that day have faded a little however they remind me of another great David racing even if the 956 did only finish second on the day because of those stupid fuel consumption rules that hampered the 956.

Makes me go all 'rose tinted' & wish we could return to the heady days of Group C. There is just something magical about Group C. Thank god I was lucky enough to be around in their heyday.

Also forgot to mention even more porn.

I give you the Martini Lancia LC2.

[fatboy69]

Eddy5 said:

Fancy a 962, I found this one for sale earlier on
http://beta.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

There is a also a 962 road car, built by Fabcar?, advertised in the new issue of MotorSport. Up for sale with Duncan Hamilton.

Looks like the same car to me. I thought that only Dauer built 962 road cars from the race chassis. Seems a waste if a good road car to me even though it would probably be the ultimate track day car!

[far57]

That brings back memories - driving in a convoy down to Le Mans in a friends Mitsubishi Gallant (He sold them for a living) we were guests of Kenwood and had a free run of the pits and hospitality above the pit lane. Climbed out of the window of the hospitality suite onto a ledge above the pitbox and sat dangling our feet just above the 962s as they came in for fuel/driver changes etc. I can't believe we were able to mingle with the pit crews as they went to work - health and safety wouldn't allow that now!

Despite being guests of Kenwood, we managed to blag our way into the Jaguar party after the race - not that we had to try that hard as it was a very laid back atmosphere in those days. We slept in the Gallant the night before race and forgot to lock ourselves in - fearing the worst on waking up we checked what we thought were the important items, wallets, beer, ferry tickets etc - all still there, however the most valuable items of our possessions had been nicked, two loo rolls!!

Happy days and I cant believe it is 24 years ago - you must go at least once as it is a unforgettable experience.