1984 Porsche

The only factory built Kremer K3 road version

Commissioned and driven by legendary F1 team owner and motorsport icon Walter Wolf

Extensive technical restoration carried out by Kremer Racing at a cost of €150,000

Original condition of the interior and exterior

Top speed of 338 kph

Driving condition

A unique piece of Porsche history

A once in a lifetime opportunity for top tier collections

Kremer Racing

Kremer Racing is one of the most significant private racing teams in German motorsport history and had a lasting impact on the golden age of endurance racing in the 1970s and 1980s in particular. Founded by brothers Erwin and Manfred Kremer, the team developed from a small Porsche workshop in Cologne into a globally recognised name in motorsport, one that remains closely associated with innovation, passion and extraordinary success to this day. It is particularly remarkable that, as a private team, Kremer Racing was repeatedly able to compete against major works teams and hold its own at the highest international level. The foundation of this success was the close connection to Porsche. From an early stage, Kremer Racing specialised in the development, preparation and deployment of high-performance Porsche racing cars. The team did not limit itself to simply fielding cars, but independently developed many concepts further. Kremer knew how to consistently optimise existing Porsche platforms and adapt them to the demands of international motorsport. It was precisely this combination of technical expertise, innovative spirit and racing experience that established the team as a fixture in endurance racing.

In the 1970s, Kremer Racing increasingly made its mark at prestigious racing events such as the German Racing Championship, the Interserie and, above all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There, the team came up against the world’s leading manufacturers and top drivers. Despite limited resources, Kremer Racing repeatedly managed to field competitive cars and surprise everyone with ingenious technical solutions. The absolute highlight of the team’s history came in 1979 with overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. To this day, this success is regarded as one of the greatest triumphs by a private racing team in the history of endurance racing. The car used was the legendary 935 K3, a vehicle independently developed by Kremer Racing based on the Porsche 935. The suffix ‘K3’ stood for the third stage of Kremer’s development and symbolised the team’s high technical standards. The 935 K3 differed significantly from the works cars in many respects. Kremer Racing optimised the aerodynamics, weight, cooling and handling, thereby creating a car that was perfectly tailored to the demands of Le Mans. In particular, the striking body design and sophisticated aerodynamics made the K3 one of the most iconic racing cars of its time. At the same time, the car impressed with its high reliability and tremendous speed over long distances.

In the 1979 race, drivers Klaus Ludwig, Bill Whittington and Don Whittington managed to steer the K3 to overall victory against stiff competition. This success was exceptional for several reasons. Firstly, it marked a triumph for a private team against established works entries. Secondly, the Kremer K3 remains to this day the only rear-engined car to have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The victory brought Kremer Racing worldwide fame and cemented the team’s reputation as one of the most innovative and successful private teams of its time. In the years that followed, Kremer Racing remained active in international motorsport and continued to develop its own racing cars and evolutionary models. Cars such as the CK5 or later Le Mans prototypes demonstrated that the team was always ready to break new technical ground. Furthermore, Kremer Racing competed in various international racing series and collaborated with numerous well-known drivers. Today, Kremer Racing holds a special place in motorsport history. The team epitomises an era in which private racing teams were able to conquer the biggest stages of motorsport through creativity, technical expertise and passion. Above all, the K3’s victory at Le Mans remains to this day a symbol of Kremer Racing’s extraordinary pioneering spirit and competitiveness.

The Kremer K3 Le Mans

Alongside the twelve racing cars, it is the only K3 road version built by Kremer and one of the most extraordinary interpretations of the legendary Porsche 935, combining uncompromising racing technology with road-going capability. The car was completed in 1984 based on the famous 935 K3, exactly like the one with which Kremer Racing won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979. Walter Wolf, an entrepreneur, Formula 1 team owner and motorsport icon, commissioned the Kremer brothers to build a bespoke road car that would carry the technology and appearance of the Le Mans winner almost unchanged. Walter Wolf was already a well-known figure in international motorsport in the 1970s. He celebrated Grand Prix victories with his own Formula 1 team. At the same time, Wolf developed a great enthusiasm for high-performance cars and, in particular, for the Kremer Racing 935 K3. Following its legendary overall victory at Le Mans, he decided to have his own K3 built for road use. The result was one of the most radical road-legal vehicles of all time. The so-called Kremer K3 Le Mans retained the extreme Group 5 bodywork with its striking fender flares, large air intakes and massive rear wing almost unchanged. The car was painted in a distinctive midnight blue with red and gold accents and Walter Wolf’s personal W emblem.

Mechanically, the car was based on the 935 K3, featuring an air-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine with twin KKK turbochargers. This engine produced 740 hp, whilst the car weighed just 1,175 kilograms. Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed inverted gearbox. Technically identical to the race car. With a top speed of 338 kph, the car was one of the fastest road-legal vehicles in the world in the 1980s, even beating the Ferrari F40. Particularly fascinating was the blend of uncompromising racing technology and luxurious details. Whilst the chassis, aerodynamics and engine were almost entirely derived from motorsport, the vehicle was fitted with leather upholstery, a high-quality audio system and numerous bespoke modifications in line with Walter Wolf’s vision, such as powered windows. Nevertheless, the character of the K3 remained extremely raw and motorsport-oriented. Contemporary reports described the driving experience as brutal, loud and unfiltered. ‘Like a Le Mans racing car with number plates instead of a classic road sports car,’ said a journalist who wrote the famous 1986 newspaper article ‘Das blaue Wunder’ for Auto-Motor-und-Sport, a copy of which is available. Walter Wolf drove the K3 Le Mans over 9,000 kilometres across Europe until he sold the car in 1987 to the collector and former racing driver Angelo Pallavicini in Switzerland.

He kept the Kremer for many decades until, in the mid-2010s, it came into the possession of Mechatronik, where it remained in storage for another decade as part of our in-house collection. In the summer of 2024, we decided to restore the vehicle to running order. For this, the K3 Le Mans was delivered to its creator, Kremer Racing, who successfully carried out the extensive mechanical restoration over a period of two years at a cost of €150,000. Great importance was attached to preserving the vehicle’s original condition. In honour of and entirely in the spirit of the first owner, Walter Wolf, the Mechatronik team undertook a three-day road trip as an endurance test, without any mechanical issues, from Pleidelsheim in Germany through the Dolomites to Lake Como in Italy, where the Kremer K3 Le Mans was presented to the public for the first time in a decade at the Fuori Concorso, having clocked up 10,250 kilometres. To this day, Walter Wolf’s Kremer K3 Le Mans is regarded as an icon of the turbo era and one of the most spectacular one-off cars in Porsche history, alongside Count Rossi’s 917K, the 1998 911 GT1 Straßenversion and the 963 RSP. The car embodies an era in which virtually limitless performance, uncompromising aerodynamics and a distinctive motorsport lifestyle were uniquely combined. At the same time, the car serves as a reminder of Kremer Racing’s extraordinary innovative spirit and of the legendary Le Mans triumph of the 935 K3, which is still regarded today as one of the greatest achievements by a private racing team of all time.

Our sales staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Please note that vehicle viewings are only possible by prior appointment.