RE: Porsche 935 K3 | Showpiece of the Week

RE: Porsche 935 K3 | Showpiece of the Week

Monday 7th October 2019

Porsche 935 K3 | Showpiece of the Week

It's 98 per cent of the car which won at Le Mans in '79. And it's road-legal



It was just over a year ago that Porsche unveiled its 935 tribute. Despite a lack of mechanical upgrades to the GT2 RS lurking beneath the throwback exterior, the 77 examples built were priced at £750,000 a piece. This lead to some initial skepticisproducing such a model. But far from being a quick money grab, the 935 represents quite a fitting tribute to the car which inspired it. Sam certainly enjoying his brief spell behind the wheel at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, at least. In order to correctly pay tribute to the iconic 935, however, you don't want a road-legal Porsche turned into a track-only monster; quite the opposite, in fact.

In the annals of outlandish motoring, the name Walter Wolf crops up more than once. Having left Eastern Europe with nothing in the aftermath of WW2, Wolf emigrated to Canada. By the 1970s had worked his way to the very top, the self-made oil magnate garnering quite the playboy reputation along the way, occupying himself at various times as an Olympic skier, deep-sea diver, helicopter pilot and F1 team owner, as well as founding his own ranges of Wolf cigarettes and cologne. It isn't so much how he spent his time that interests us today, though, but rather how he chose to spend his money.


In a back catalogue that includes a custom-built Lamborghini Countach LP400 S, a road-legal Procar-spec BMW M1 and a Ferrari 288 GTO, it's pretty hard for a car to stand out. Then again, it's pretty hard for it not to when it looks like this week's absolutely staggering Showpiece.

Built for Wolf by Kremer Racing of Cologne, this 935 'K3' is described by Kremer itself as being 98 per cent identical to the car which won the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours. Powered by the same 2.85-litre, twin-turbo, six-cylinder engine - detuned here to produce a more road-friendly 740hp at 8,000rpm(!) - the K3 also retains the same ratios for its 4-speed gearbox as were used to reach top speed down the Mulsanne Straight. A feature which may not make for particularly friendly Knightsbridge kerb crawling, but allowed the car to hit over 210mph on the Autobahn during testing.

The bodywork is comprised entirely of original K3 kevlar body panels - with indicators being the only necessary addition for legality at the time - while the original BBS race wheels are wrapped in custom-built Goodyear tyres. A new exhaust system took six months to develop, the Bilstein dampers doubled ground clearance from 50 to 100mm to enable more practical road use, and a vehicle registration certificate was procured from Alberta, Canada, allowing Wolf to drive the car anywhere in Europe.


Inside, components including the Recaro seats were borrowed from the 930 Turbo. The cabin is trimmed in dark blue leather with red piping, and Kremer even went as far as developing a new speedometer mechanism to satisfy Wolf's request that the dial be capable of displaying the full range of those Le Mans gear ratios. According to the ad he did draw the line at the addition of a passenger air-con unit, however, telling Wolf that it would be better to simply wear a polo shirt while driving in the summer months.

All in, the transformation cost 375,000 Deutschmarks, over £2,000,000 in today's money. Which, if the K3's stunning looks, unbelievable performance and one-of-a-kind rarity didn't already, goes some way to justifying hefty price tag. With only 10,124km on the odometer and still wearing its original front tyres, perhaps the K3 proved to be a step too far for even Wolf to use as a continent crosser, the ad laying down the gauntlet for a buyer "man enough to bring it back on the street." Should tomorrow's bumper Euromillions jackpot come in, we'd wager there'd be more than one PHer ready to give them a call.


See the full ad here

Search for a Porsche here


Author
Discussion

thelostboy

Original Poster:

4,562 posts

224 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Amazing. If my numbers came up, it would be the first purchase!

Maldini35

2,913 posts

187 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
What a fantastic thing

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Wow, what a thing. So much want.

NDNDNDND

2,001 posts

182 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Yes. Yes, please.

smithyithy

7,192 posts

117 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Absolute weapon. Need to get lucky on the Euromillions and buy this to pootle around the village for a loaf and pint of milk.

Rawwr

22,722 posts

233 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
I'll take it.

Nerdherder

1,773 posts

96 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
I've probably kept staring at those rear wheels and tail pipes for way too long. cloud9

Turbobanana

6,160 posts

200 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
PH said:
...98 per cent identical to the car which won the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours...
This is a weird claim: I'd suggest that by the time you factor in the legally necessary bits, the trimmed interior and "detuning", this is nowhere near 98% identical to the race car.

Not that I wouldn't want it, of course - proper dream car.

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
yes please sperm

Baddie

606 posts

216 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Wonder if it still has the ‘spool’ rear axle the 935’s had at Le Mans?

saxy

258 posts

123 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Wow. Yes please

Glosole

49 posts

144 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
It should be pointed out that Kremer are still active in Germany with race cars and if you want a road or race car K3R based on a 997 RS or turbo that looks just like the original 1979 they will build it for you for more like quarter of a million pounds not 2 million . And it can have the huge power as well 800 bhp plus if you want it for a price obviously. I was at Le mans in 1979 and always lusted after one.

Glosole

49 posts

144 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Also anyone who loves the 935 k and that 1979 win by the Whittington brothers should watch Youtube title.

Racing in the 1970s was just as awesome as you think it was, by Vinwiki

It should be a film it would make Ford v Ferrari look tame.

Venisonpie

3,231 posts

81 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Proper.

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Glosole said:
It should be pointed out that Kremer are still active in Germany with race cars and if you want a road or race car K3R based on a 997 RS or turbo that looks just like the original 1979 they will build it for you for more like quarter of a million pounds not 2 million . And it can have the huge power as well 800 bhp plus if you want it for a price obviously. I was at Le mans in 1979 and always lusted after one.
Not an.original though, all it'll ever be is a copy...a fake..
No different to a 'Bolex' watch available on any CDS seafront..


Water Fairy

5,478 posts

154 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Oooof!

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
Err, yes please. F**k yes please.

Straight out of a 1980s set of Top Trumps cards. Shame I got the wrong numbers in the lottery last week.

Glosole

49 posts

144 months

Monday 7th October 2019
quotequote all
A1VDY said:
Glosole said:
It should be pointed out that Kremer are still active in Germany with race cars and if you want a road or race car K3R based on a 997 RS or turbo that looks just like the original 1979 they will build it for you for more like quarter of a million pounds not 2 million . And it can have the huge power as well 800 bhp plus if you want it for a price obviously. I was at Le mans in 1979 and always lusted after one.
Not an.original though, all it'll ever be is a copy...a fake..
No different to a 'Bolex' watch available on any CDS seafront..
Hows it a fake its made by Kremer in the Kremer factory ok its got a lot of modern components and comes with a Kremer addition number chassis plate. I'd have one if I had the money as an original is not really usable on the road where as this can be.

sisu

2,576 posts

172 months

Tuesday 8th October 2019
quotequote all
Turbobanana said:
PH said:
...98 per cent identical to the car which won the 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours...
This is a weird claim: I'd suggest that by the time you factor in the legally necessary bits, the trimmed interior and "detuning", this is nowhere near 98% identical to the race car.

Not that I wouldn't want it, of course - proper dream car.
This was a technical challenge for Kremer, it wasn't just number plates and indicators, the Speedo was built just for this car. The larger diameter wheels necessitated that they make this and test it for accuracy.
But it has been for sale for years and now doing the rounds online, like the $17,000,000 VW type 64 they want 2014 money in 2019.

browngt3

1,409 posts

210 months

Tuesday 8th October 2019
quotequote all
Glosole said:
Also anyone who loves the 935 k and that 1979 win by the Whittington brothers should watch Youtube title.

Racing in the 1970s was just as awesome as you think it was, by Vinwiki

It should be a film it would make Ford v Ferrari look tame.
Here's the link

https://youtu.be/2U8Uy_0qFuk

Excellent story!