Porsche 936

The Porsche 936 was a racing car introduced in 1976 by Porsche as a delayed successor to the Porsche 917, which was retired by the factory after 1971. Its name came from using a variant of the Porsche 930's turbocharged engine, as well as competing in Group 6 racing.

It was built to compete in the World Sportscar Championship as well as at 24 Hours of Le Mans under the Group 6 formula, which it won both of. It shared these victories with its smaller production-based sibling, the Porsche 935 which won in Group 5. The open top, two seater spyder was powered by an air-cooled, two-valve Convert|540|hp|kW|0|abbr=on single-turbocharger flat-6 engine with 2140 cc, or the equivalent of 3000 cc including the 1.4 handicap factor. The spaceframe chassis was based on the 917, with many of the parts also came from the car. The large air box above the engine that was fitted onto the car later in the season was basically useless for the air intake of a turbocharged engine, but instead mainly used for the intercooler.

From 1976 to 1981, the factory entered Porsche 936 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times with Jacky Ickx ('76, '77, '81), and came second twice ('78 and '80). In 1980, a special 936 was designated the Porsche 908/80 as it was entered privately by Joest Racing. Porsche did not intend to sell the 936 to customers, wanting them instead to use the 935 (which scored the Le Mans win in 1979). However Joest managed to get a spare chassis and some unofficial factory support anyway, but would not use the 936 name even though the car was nearly identical.

The successor Porsche 956 was introduced in 1982 after the new 2650 cc engine was tested in the 1981 winning car which was sponsored by "Jules", unlike Martini as in 1971 to 1978. At the inaugural year of the new Group C formula which the 956 was built for, privateer teams such as Kremer Racing and Joest Racing had to wait until 1983 for their 956. Thus, in an attempt to conform to the new Group C regulations, both teams built a new bodyshape that incorporated a roof onto their 936s. Joest's cars were designated as 936C while Kremer's cars became known as the CK5.

External links

* [http://www.porsche.com/usa/eventsandracing/motorsport/history/history-racingcars/ Porsche Racecars ]